Clarion 1985-11-08 Vol. 61 No. 07

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Clarion.
Vol. 61 No. 7
Bethel College 3900 Bethel Dr., St. Paul, MN
8 November 1985
New Brighton water supply deemed safe;
Superfund program assures clean future
by Sarah Cole
Freshman Laura Tibstra
found her goldfish floating belly-up in a bowl full of tap
water a few months ago. She
forgot to add the neutralizes
The safety of the water for her
wasn't a concern.
Suppose Laura lived at
Fountain Terrace back in 1981,
Chlorine would've been only
one of the substances that
killed her goldfish and she
would've had reason to stay
away from the drinking water.
That summer, New Brighton's private and municipal
wells contained hazardous hydrocarbons including TCE
(trichloroethylene) an industrial degreaser and paint solvent, and others believed to be
carcinogenic if consumed over
a long period of time. This was
concluded as a result of an
investigation by the Minnesota
Pollution Control Acency
(MPCA) of a suspected sani
tary sewer spill at the Twin
Cities Army Ammunition
Plant in Arden Hills.
During this time, an US Army document on the arsenal's
disposal practices was issued
them by a nearby resident concerned about the safety of the
water.
"She was concerned that the
Plant may have been dumping
hazardous waste into Round
Lake near her home when she
learned of the document and
read it," said Susan Brustman,
Information Officer of the
MPCA. According to Brustman, the MPCA sampled private wells after finding the
dumping practices of the Plant
unsafe and subsequently detected the contamination. Then
the Minnesota Department of
Health tested municipal wells
and both agencies found hydrocarbons such as TCE. They
determined these levels to be
too high and unsafe for human
consumption over long periods
of time. '
What is considered safe? "It
is not clear cut," said Dick
Clark, Supervisor of the Engineering Unit of the division of
Environmental Health for the
Minnesota Health Department.
"No one knows what levels are
safe. We have extrapolated
from animal laboratory experiments levels which are unsafe." He said that it is reasonable to expect that substances
that cause cancer in animals
are'likely to cause cancer in
people.
In their experiments, scientists inject or feed a chemical
into animals or paint it to
shaved areas of their skin.
Then they wait to see whether
the animal will develop cancer.
Thanks to a federal five-
year Superfund program to
clean up toxic waste in New
Brighton and other areas,
Fountain Terrace residents can
be assured the water coming
out of their faucets is safe.
Passed by Senator Dave Dur-
enburger and his colleagues on
Sept..26,1985, it is expected to
raise approximately 7.5 billion
in tax dollars from an excise
fax on many types of large
chemical manufacturers.
"Affected wells have been
shut down and deeper ones
have been installed. It took
nearly two years to switch
over," said Clark. "We dug
deeper wells and the municipal
wells have been rid of contaminants, all thanks to the Super-
fund program dollars."
According to Clark, the -water is treated and put in a series
of wells which are pumped and
serve as a barrier against the
further spread of waste. The
clean water leaves the site and
is discharged to a creek or
river. "We decide which is the
Water cont p. 6
Air Bands hypnotize; Von Trapps fake prize
by |im Medema
The Von Trapp family
moved another audience beyond tears last Friday night at
the Campus Coordinator's Air
Band Contest. This time, however, it was tears of laughter.
Before the last measure of each
song the Von Trapps performed every seat was emptied. The three standing ovations were unified choruses of
laughter, tears, whistles, and
smiles. Even though Maria
hadn't even finished her first
chorus many sensed that the
contest was settled.
"We came up with the idea
last year," said Greg Lindberg,
now known in the stage world
as Maria. "Todd Hansen's parents and my mom helped with
the costumes." The nine guys
used the Sound of Music videotape as a guide and practiced 2
or 3 hours for the show. "We
thought we had a chance but
we never expected such a response," said Paul Johnson.
Rick Zuelke agreed and said,
"If the audience hadn't been so
great we couldn't have done it.
We couldn't see anyone but as
soon as Lips (Greg Lindberg,
Maria) started singing 'ABC
we knew they were there." The
same Captain Von Trapp (Jim
Douville) who once forbade his
children to sing said this about
his children—"I've got the hot-
Lead by a 200 pound imitation of
test kids in Austria."
The west side of the gym
was packed, aisles included,
and around 80 had to enjoy the
show from the floor. John Dennis, Campus Coordinator in
charge of the contest, said that
many of the students attending
were prospective students who
were here for the college visitation weekend. "We had scheduled the contest for this weekend and it just happened to
coincide with the weekend set
Julie Andrews with whiskers, the Von Trapp's stole the show.
up by the Admissions department."
Comments gathered before
the concert revealed what
many wanted to see: "excitement," "the Fat Boys," "ones
that are funny—not professional," "I hope the Christian
music wins out" and "I hope
George Beverly Shea sings
'Just As I Am'. There was full
agreement on one issue however—NO GUYS IN DRESSES!
"We worry about them enough,"
added three un-named, giggling Bethel females. Did they
see what they wanted?
The M.C.'s for the evening,
Geoff Dennis and Reed Berg-
gren, sophomores, introduced
a wide assortment of groups
varying in size, type of music,
and style of presentation. Paul
Victor, better known as
"Swan," worked his audience
A spaghetti dinner is simmering for the Peace and Justice Committee. On Nov. 14 the
Committee will cook a spaghetti dinner and present a skit
for residents of a transitional
housing project operated by
Catholic Charities.
Peace and Justice Committee.
chairman Russell Rathbun explained, "We planned this to
give a chance for people to get
involved without long term
commitments."
Transitional housing is designed to provide residence for
people who are in the process
of leaving a life of destitution
in pursuit of employment and a
more stable lifestyle. P&J
member Steve Schlossberg
saw this as a good opportunity
for both Bethel students and
the residents. "We're trying to
build a bridge between the
community here and our brothers and sisters in the inner-
city," Schlossberg said. "This
provides an opportunity for
people to serve."
Any interested students who
can serve by providing sup-
' plies, cooking, or putting together a skit should contact
Russell Rathbun, PO 431.
The Capitol Historic Site
Program of the Minnesota Historical Society is assisting the
Vietnam Veterans of America
Twin Cities Metro Chapter 62
in arranging an exhibit at the
Minnesota State Capitol. "The
Minnesota Vietnam Veteran:
Memories of an Era" exhibit
will be open to the public on
Monday, November 11, 1985
from 10 a,m.-5 p.m. Vietnam
Veterans will be at the exhibit
to explain displayed items, including letters, clothing, medals, books, and other items relating to the Minnesota Vietnam Veterans' war experiences.
During the week of Nov. 18-
22, the Outreach Ministries office will sponsor a Sock and
Underwear Drive. Each Bethel
student will be asked to donate
one new pair of socks and underwear. The reason for the
drive is to meet the needs of
those who are only given pants
and shirts, etc. What a wonderful way to meet the needs of
people in the community. Lorn
Apel, inner city ministries coordinator, is responsible for
the drive and contacts agencies
Air Band cont p. 6 Briefs cont p. 6