6A
Friday, March 3, 1995
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Treatment plants must stop sludge
By Paul Todd Kansan staff writer
Lawrence's two water plants and one sewage treatment plant must make some changes to comply with Kansas Department of Health and Environment regulations on chemical and sewage discharge.
The city of Lawrence is considering ways it can avoid waste discharge violations and improve the city's sewer system.
According to the Department of Health and Environment, the Kaw Water Treatment Plant, Third and Indiana streets, is
releasing a lime-soffing sludge into the Kansas River. The sludge is a byproduct of the process the water treatment plant uses to remove heavy metals from the water before it is piped into the river.
The sludge makes the river muddier, making it difficult for an aquatic habitat to survive, said Greg Crawford, director of public relations for the department.
The department issued an order in late December to Mike Wildgen, Lawrence
While the lime-soffening sludge itself does not pose a direct threat to humans, it can hurt the overall, long-term health of the river, Crawford said.
ment. The Clinton Water Treatment Plant, the city's other water treatment plant, uses a system of lagoons to get rid of the limesoftenening sludge.
He said the city also was considering ways to revamp the entire Lawrence sewer
Wilden said the city was relying on a Kansas City engineering consulting firm, Black & Veatch, to help find another way to dispose of the sludge.
"Sludge is degradable to the river. If it occurs, it needs to be permitted discharge."
city manager, to submit a specific timetable by Jan. 8 for ending the lime-softening sludge discharge. The city appealed the order to the state's Secretary of Health and Environment, and the department moved the deadline to submit the timetable to May 1.
Greg Crawford Director of public relations Department of Health & Environment
"This is degradable to the river," Crawford said. "If it occurs, it needs to be permitted discharge."
Crawford said the order was part of the enforcement process that the department could use to make the city comply with standards set by the Clean Water Act.
The City of Lawrence does not have a permit to discharge the sludge into the river. The city is expected to apply for a permit when it files its report May 1 to the departing alternatives for improving Lawrence's wastewater treatment capabilities.
Crawford said that more stringent water quality standards were set last August for the wastewater plant, but the department would not evaluate how well the plant was complying with those standards until the plant's permit renewal period comes up.
David Wagner, superintendent for the wastewater plant, said the city was considering alternatives for improving Lawrence's wastewater treatment capabilities.
Options include expansion of the existing facility on the Kansas River and building a new facility east of Lawrence on the Wakarusa River.
However, any proposal for expansion would require an immediate permit review by the department even though the wastewater plant already has a permit to pipe its waste into the river.
According to a water quality report by the department published Dec. 29, the levels of water-soluble minerals and bacteria from human and livestock feces violate department standards for drinking water and non-contact recreation, such as canoeing. However, the report does not say how much of these minerals and bacteria come from Lawrence's water treatment facilities.
FORTRILEY — Two soldiers were killed and another was injured last night in a shooting at Custer Hill barracks on the Army base, authorities said.
One of the soldiers killed was believed to have done the shooting, Sgt. Greg Binford said. All three soldiers were men.
The shootings occurred about 5:30 p.m., said Maj. Ben Santos. The wounded soldier was in stable condition at 7 p.m. at Irwin Army Community Hospital on the base.
Two killed in Fort Riley shooting
The Associated Press
The soldiers' names were withheld while relatives were notified.
Binford said the Army was investigating how the soldiers died. No military weapon was used in the attack.
The Army provided no other immediate
details.
It was the second double slaying at Fort Riley in less than a year. In July, a male and a female soldier were shot dead after a dispute at a barbecue.
Pfc. Eddie Patterson, 22, of Stone Mountain, Ga., was convicted last month of premeditated murder and felony murder in those killings and is serving a life sentence at the military prison in Fort Leavenworth.
Abortion amendment stalls bill
The Associated Press
TOPEKA — A proposal to restrict abortions at the University of Kansas Medical Center will be removed from a budget bill, Kansas House Speaker Tim Shallenburger predicted yesterday.
abortion proposal
Shallenburger, R-Baxter Springs, said he believed the amendment, which was added Wednesday during a House debate, was the reason representatives failed to advance the bill. Others disagree with Shallenburger's interpretation of events.
Instead of tentatively approving the bill and scheduling a final vote, House members voted to refer it back to the Appropriations Committee. A majority of committee members voted against the
Shallenburger, who supported the Med Center amendment, expressed frustration that Democrats who oppose abortion — and voted for the Med Center amendment — voted to send the bill back to committee.
"If I were pro-choice, I probably wouldn't vote for the bill with that amendment." Shallenburger told reporters during a news conference. "If people who are pro-life think that's an important amendment, they ought to vote for the bill."
But State Rep. Jan Pauls, D-Hutchinson, is an abortion opponent, and she said she couldn't support the bill because of its proposal to cut $6 million from Gov. Bill Graves' budget recommendations.
The Med Center proposal would have prevented doctors from performing abortions other than those to save women's lives on property owned or leased by the state.
Anti-abortion groups have been pushing for years to place restrictions on abortions at the Med Center, which is in Kansas City, Kan. So Wednesday's 66-57 vote in favor of the amendment appeared to be a significant victory for the groups.
But Shallenburger and other legislators who oppose abortion said getting the amendment added to the bill was not really a victory. The bill must pass the House with the amendment intact, they said.
State legislators draft budget initiatives
The Associated Press
TOPEKA — Kansas House members are drafting two major budget initiatives: a constitutional limit on state spending and a plan designed to encourage hundreds of government workers to retire early.
Supporters think they can get bipartisan support for both proposals and are working with Gov. Bill Graves and his staff. However, Graves remained cautious yesterday about legislators' work.
Graves has proposed an amendment to the Kansas Constitution that would prevent state spending from increasing more than the growth in Kansans' personal income each year. However, House members want to put a similar limit on spending by local governments.
The governor said he could support proposals to encourage state employees to retire early so that their positions could be
abolished. However, both Graves and Lt. Gov. Sheila Frahm, secretary of administration, suggested the Legislature was moving too quickly.
The discussions about the two initiatives come as conservative House Republicans appear to be failing in their attempts to cut $100 million in spending from Graves' budget proposals. Their goal is to limit spending enough to allow for significant tax cuts.
"We've got a pretty good standoff in the brew," said House Speaker Tim Shallenburger, R-Baxter Springs.
During a news conference, Shallenburger said House Republicans, led by State Reps. Tom Bradley and Doug Mays of Topeka, have been drafting a proposal to encourage early retirement.
Under state law, government workers
cannot retire with full pension benefits until their age and their years of service equals 85. Shallenburger said the proposal would decrease the number of "points" needed to 70 or 65. It also would continue state health insurance for the retirees.
The idea is that the retiring employees would not be replaced. Shallenburger said supporters hoped to cut the state work force by 10 percent — roughly 4,500 jobs.
Even with the cost of retirement benefits and health insurance, he believes the program could save $20 million in fiscal year 1996, which begins July 1.
Graves and Frahm said they wanted to determine which agencies had large numbers of potential early retirees.
"The agencies still need to be able to function, so we have to move through carefully," Frahm said.