A2 Tuesday, April 26, 2011
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Roswell Daily Record
Feds looking at N.M. for radioactive waste site
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — The federal government is looking at three sites in New Mexico to dispose of radioactive waste that currently has no place to go. The Albuquerque Jour nal reported in a copyright story Monday that three of the seven total sites under consideration are in New Mexico, including the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad. A second site near WIPP and Los Alamos National Laboratory also are on the list. Much of the waste, from
machinery in old nuclear power plants, is technically categorized as low level. Most low-level radioactive waste can be disposed of in relatively simple landfills under federal law. But this particular type of waste is sufficiently dangerous that it must be put into deep holes bored into the ground or into a deep underground disposal site like WIPP, according to a draft analysis by Arnie Edelman and colleagues. Edelman heads an Energy Department study on the issue. The waste is less radioactive
than the power plant fuel rods but more radioactive than much of the waste now being buried at WIPP, which stores plutoniumcontaminated waste from nuclear weapons manufacturing. Don Hancock, who heads the nuclear waste safety project for the Southwest Research and Infor mation Center in Albuquerque, criticized the government for singling out New Mexico for three of the seven sites under consideration. “That’s not OK, and the people of New Mexico need to tell them it’s not OK,” Hancock said.
The waste is formally known as “Greater than Class C Waste,” and Congress has given the federal government the legal responsibility for disposing of it. WIPP is not legally permitted to accept Greater Than Class C waste, and Congress would have to act to change that, Edelman said. Much of the waste in question will come from decommissioned nuclear power plants, primarily metal exposed to high levels of radiation during reactor operations, Edelman said. WIPP, excavated 2,150 feet
underground in a salt formation in southeastern New Mexico, is potentially attractive because it’s the only operating underground radioactive waste site in the United States. Other options include drilling deep bore holes into the ground, and the government is studying doing that at Los Alamos or another site near WIPP. The environmental impact statement now under way is only a first step, Edelman said. It will be at least another year before the federal government picks a preferred option.
Airstrike on Gadhafi HQ raises pressure TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — The latest NATO airstrike on Moammar Gadhafi’s compound that reduced parts of it to a smoldering ruin steps up pressure on the increasingly embattled Libyan leader as he struggles to hold onto the western half of the country. A Libyan government spokesman denounced Monday’s bombing as a failed assassination attempt, saying the 69year -old leader was healthy, “in high spirits” and carrying on business as usual. A separate airstrike elsewhere in Tripoli targeted Libyan TV and temporarily knocked it off the air, a government spokesman said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief reporters. Since an armed uprising erupted in mid-February, Gadhafi has been clinging to control in the western half of Libya, while opposition forces run most of the east. A NATO campaign of airstrikes has sought to break a battlefield stalemate, and the U.S. last week added armed U.S. Predator drones to the mission. Italy said Monday its military will join in strategic bombing raids in Libya. NATO said its latest airstrike sought to destroy a communications headquarters used to coordinate attacks on civilians. A spokesman for the alliance said it is increasingly targeting facilities linked to
Change machine stolen
AP Photo
In this photo made on a government organized tour, Libyan government soldiers walk through debris caused by a NATO airstrike, in Tripoli, Libya, Monday. An airstrike on Moammar Gadhafi’s sprawling residential compound early Monday badly damaged two buildings, including a structure where Gadhafi often held meetings. Gadhafi’s regime. “We have moved on to those command and control facilities that are used to coordinate such attacks by regime forces,” the spokesman said of the strike on Bab al-Aziziya, which was hit last month, early in the NATO air campaign. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with military briefing regulations. Gadhafi’s forces unleashed new shelling Monday on Misrata that killed at least 10 people, following a weekend pounding that belied government claims its troops were holding their fire as they withdrew from the western city that has been
besieged for nearly two months. Among the dead from a shattered residential neighborhood was an entire family, according to a doctor in Misrata. Mourners later carried six crudely constructed coffins of family members, plus one child who had been visiting, to a funeral near a mosque. Local hospitals have been overwhelmed by the rising casualties. “As soon as we clear out the hospital of injuries, Gadhafi fills it up for us again,” said the doctor, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal. The assault on Misrata, which has claimed hun-
dreds of lives, has deepened Gadhafi’s international isolation. It has also prompted new demands that Libya’s ruler of 41 years be ousted as part of the international bombing campaign, unleashed a month ago to protect Libyan civilians from Gadhafi’s forces. In the attack on Gadhafi’s Bab al-Aziziya compound, which was at least the third NATO strike on the site in the capital, two powerful guided bombs struck a multistory library and office building. Loose pages from books were scattered across the debris-filled ground covered by soot and water from fire trucks.
As economy gains strength, Fed weighs what’s next
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve is increasingly confident in the economy and about to end a $600 billion program to support it. Now for the next step — figuring out how to keep inflation from taking off. Since late last year, the Fed has bought government bonds to keep interest rates low. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues are expected to signal this week that they will allow the program to expire as scheduled in June. The end of the bond-buying program would mean that, aside from tax cuts, almost all the extraordinary measures the government took to prop up the economy are over. Congress is fighting over how deeply to cut federal spending, not whether to spend more for stimulus. Since the Fed announced the plan last August, worries that the economy would fall back into recession have all but disappeared. The private sector is adding jobs, and the stock market is at its highest point since
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the summer of 2008. But higher oil and food prices pose a threat. If companies are forced to raise prices quickly to make up for escalating costs, that could start a spiral of inflation. Exactly how much of a threat inflation poses to the economy right now is a matter of disagreement within the central bank. A vocal minority, including the Fed regional chiefs in Philadelphia and Minneapolis, believe the Fed may need to raise interest rates by the end of this year to fight inflation. The Fed has kept its benchmark interest rate near zero since December 2008. And, Richard Fisher, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, argues that the Fed has done its job and should consider halting the bond program now, not in June. “Now we at the Fed are nearing a tipping point,” Fisher told reporters earlier this month, referring to inflation. The majority — including Bernanke, vice chairwoman Janet Yellen and William Dudley, president
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of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York — believe interest rates should stay low longer, and the bond-buying program should run its course. Bernanke has predicted that the jump in oil and food prices will cause only a brief, modest increase in consumer inflation. Excluding those prices, which tend to fluctuate sharply, inflation is still low, he has argued. Bill Gross, who manages the world’s largest mutual fund at Pimco, worries that rates on Treasury bonds will rise when the Fed stops buying them. If other buyers don’t step in and there’s less demand for Treasury bonds, then the rates, or yields, on those bonds would rise. That would drive down prices on bonds. Rates on mortgages, corporate debt and other loans pegged to the Treasury securities would rise, too. Higher borrowing costs could slow spending by people and businesses, and slow the overall economy.
Police responded to a call from GE Laundry, 1703 S.E. Main St., Monday, after someone smashed the front door, gained entry into the building and removed the change machine. The machine and cash are valued at $2,300. Costs to repair the front door are estimated at $300. • Police were dispatched to Bent Tree Road on Sunday where subjects removed tools from the back of a vehicle, including a welding machine, a cordless impact driver, a cordless drill, two Hilhi impact drivers and welding lead. The victim said that he found some of the tools neatly stacked and organized in his driveway. Total value of missing items is estimated at $2,800. • Police were called to the 900 block of North Beech Avenue on Sunday after the residents returned from church to find both front and back doors open. The residence had been ransacked and a Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 were reported missing. • Police were dispatched to the 500 block of West Fourth Street, Sunday, to take a report of a vehicle burglary where a Pioneer Stereo, a Kicker 2000 watt amplifier, two Kicker 15-inch solo speakers and a subwoofer were stolen. Estimated value of missing items is $2,200. Anyone having information on these or any other crimes should contact Crime Stoppers, 888-594-TIPS (8477). Callers may remain anonymous and could be eligible for a reward.
Police are seeking suspect regarding embezzlement case JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
The Roswell Police Department is seeking information on the whereabouts of Scott Utter. Utter, 30, is wanted on charges of embezzlement over $2,500 and criminal damage over $1,000. Utter was employed as security guard for a building and the surrounding grounds located at 1007 N. Garden Ave., which is owned by Roswell Investment and Development Corporation of Tucson, Ariz. Utter is accused of removing brass and copper pipe, wires and tubing from the building, also known as the old Glover building, over a period of nine months, which he then sold to local recycling centers. From June 2010 to March 2011, he sold 4,000 pounds of metal in total of 32 transactions, for $13,000, according to police. Utter rented the equipment to facilitate the removal, causing considerable damage to the property. “Because of the dollar amount, the embezzlement is a third-degree felony. Since he was employed by the company, it is considered embezzlement rather than larceny or burglary,” said RPD Public Information Officer Travis Holley.
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Criminal damage in excess of $1,000 is a fourth-degree felony. A third-degree felony charge carries a sentence of up to three years in prison while a fourth-degree felony carries a sentence of 10 months. Utter is described as 6foot, 5-inches tall, weight 230 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes. His last known address was 39 Riverside Dr. A warrant has been issued for his arrest. Anyone having information about the whereabouts of Utter should call the RPD at 624-6770. For a possible reward, people may contact Crime Stoppers at 1-888-594TIPS (8477). Callers to Crime Stoppers can remain anonymous. j.palmer@roswell-record.com
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