Officials with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry/CDC, Tuesday evening, made a presentation to about 25 people at the Cass County Community Center in Atlantic, with regard to PCE (Tetrachloroethylene) groundwater contamination and vapor intrusion from two separate former dry cleaning sites in town. The former Norge Dry Cleaning site near 7th and Plum Streets, was placed on the “National Priorities List (NPL)” for clean-up, in April 2016. EPA Superfund monies are being used for the process.

Bo Hull, Remedial Project Manager for the EPA’s Region 7 office in Kansas City said when a site is place on the NPL, that means there’s a problem. Susan Fisher, On-Scene Coordinator with the EPA’s Region 7 office in Kansas City, has previously stated that for the past several years, the agency has been assessing the groundwater in Atlantic, and found one area in particular to be contaminated with PCE, which is a manufactured chemical typically used in dry cleaning solvents.

The chemical PCE – a known carcinogen — was originally detected in 1982, when routine monthly sampling of an Atlantic Municipal Utilities (AMU) well resulted in the discovery of PCE. The well was immediately taken off line and pumped to the Wastewater Treatment Plant. Research then began on where the contaminant was coming from. Once the site was located, the process began to determine the extent of contamination and how to mitigate the impact. In the former dry cleaners parking lot, they found a high contamination of PCE in the soil. It extended below the soil into the Dakota Sandstone, a depth of about 40-feet.

The affected well, AMU 7, is old and failing. As a result, the contamination was moving towards the AMU 6 well. That well showed contamination and is no longer being pumped for drinking water purposes. In June 2015, when 7th Street was being torn up and resurfaced, the EPA Clean-up team removed about 45 truckloads of contaminated soil from under the street near the former dry cleaner site and replaced it with clean soil.

Last year, the EPA worked on finding a remedy to remove the source area of contamination, and came up with the idea of using TRS Electrical Resistance Heating (ERH), or in situ thermal remediation.

An example of an ERH system that will be installed in the parking lot near 7th and Plum Streets.

The work is expected to begin around February 21st. It’ll take three months for the ERH system installation and once on-line, it’ll run for about nine months. The entire process therefore, takes about a year. Once the source contamination is removed, the EPA will begin on removing the remaining plume that stretches about a half mile south through 3rd Street Place and Mulberry Streets. A ground water containment system including two extraction wells, will be installed south of the railroad tracks, near 3rd Street Place and Mulberry.

A second, separate PCE site on Chestnut Street was discovered in 2015 by sub-slab soil sampling and/or air sampling from several buildings along Chestnut. Officials say that was likely the result of six dry cleaning businesses that were in operation in the downtown area since the 1930’s. The samples showed elevated levels of PCE and TCE (Trichoroethylene), which is also sometimes associated with dry cleaning, metal degreasing and textiles. Under certain circumstance, officials said TCE can degrade and break down into PCE. The primary issue with the Chestnut Street site is what’s called “Vapor Instrusion,” which is when vapors come from the contaminated soil and groundwater to the ground surface via cracks in basements and foundations.

Of the 73 properties downtown, nine were identified as having “Elevated concentrations” of PCE/TCE. Vapor mitigation systems [VMS] (Similar to those for eradicating radon), were installed. No other properties to date have been identified as needing a VMS. Current studies show no portion of the City’s drinking water or private wells have been affected by the downtown PCE/TCE issue. The EPA will continue sampling of properties next week along Chestnut Street. Soil sampling will also be conducted. An EPA clean-up will be based on those results.

The total cost of the cleanup is estimated at $1.5-million dollars. Again, officials stress that the City’s of Atlantic drinking water wells are NOT affected by the PCE, and the water is safe to drink. Additional information is available online at https://www.epa.gov/superfund/pceformerdrycleaner

Authorities in Crawford County said today (Tuesday), the driver of a vehicle that crashed into Boyer River early Thursday morning was arrested Monday night on drug and other charges. 25-year old Ramon Hernandez, of Denison, is in the Crawford County jail on charges of drug distribution to minors, marijuana possession, reckless driving, driving under suspension, and failure to maintain control. He is accused of giving four teenagers marijuana about 10 p.m. last Wednesday at his house.

Law enforcement, fire and rescue personnel and volunteers have been search for 15-year old Yoana Acosta, of Denison, since she failed to surface from the submerged car following last week’s crash. Four other people survived that crash into the Boyer River, north of Denison, after the vehicle they were in drove through two fields before ending up in the river.

Just this morning (Tuesday morning), members of Iowa Task Force One, Sioux City Fire and Rescue Division, were activated by Iowa Homeland Security to assist local agencies in Denison with locating the missing girl. Members are providing search and recovery efforts as well as relief assistance to local officials.

(KNOD/Harlan)

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities have decided not to prosecute a man whose vehicle fatally struck an Iowa woman in southeast Nebraska. Nineteen-year-old Merzedes Hart, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, was killed late Jan. 13 as she crossed U.S. Highway 6 northeast of Lincoln. The vehicle that hit her continued on. The Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office says Hart and two friends had been at a nearby strip club.

A news release from Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday that investigators concluded the vehicle driver did nothing to cause the accident and left the scene only because he thought his vehicle had struck a deer. The 51-year-old man, Ricky Phillips, of Lincoln, was cited for driving with a suspended license.

Hart was a student at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and was on the track team.

Republicans at the statehouse have advanced a bill that would “defund” Planned Parenthood, as a large crowd of Planned Parenthood backers chanted and protested the move. The bill that cleared a senate SUBcommittee early this (Tuesday) afternoon would no longer allow Medicaid patients to get contraception, cancer screenings or reproductive health tests at Planned Parenthood. Medicaid patients would be required to go to OTHER clinics for those services. Republicans at the state and national level have made “defunding” Planned Parenthood a priority. Joan Thompson of the Iowa Catholic Conference urged legislators in Iowa to make that move.

“The conference supports this bill because it redirects government health care funds away from abortion providers,” Thompson said. “We believe that life is sacred and a fundamental right and abortion is a direct assault on the lives and dignity of women and children, and a rejection of our obligations to one another, particularly to the poor and vulnerable.” Suzanna de Baca of Planned Parenthood of the Heartland says if the bill becomes law, teen pregnancy rates will rise.

“Without a trusted provider they can rely on for care, teens will face the dilemma of trying to find birth control in their hometowns,” she says. “They may be afraid to go to clinics which they feel will share information with their parents or who may not respect their decision to be sexually active and may intimidate them from using birth control.” The hearing room for the discussion of this bill was jammed and dozens of people jammed hallways and staircases behind the senate to protest.

Some of today’s (Tuesday’s) protesters — like Ali Babcock of Ames — were wearing pink hats — the same hats they wore at the capitol this past Saturday for the massive women’s march.  “It’s very positive and it’s very important to everyone that’s here,” Babcock said. Jennifer Bowen of Iowa Right to Life praised the legislators who back the bill.

“We recognize that this opportunity provides more women more choices and so we’re very thankful for you,” Bowen says. Governor Branstad has said he’d sign the legislation and Senate Republicans have said this bill is one of their top four priorities. The next stop for debate on this proposal is a senate committee.

(Radio Iowa)

The Atlantic Police Department reports the arrest on Monday, of 39-year old Julie Luetje, of Walnut. Luetje was taken into custody for Driving While Revoked, and brought to the Cass County Jail.

The state’s unemployment rate dropped in December. Officials with Iowa Workforce Development said today (Tuesday) the unemployment rate dropped to three-point-six percent in December from three-point-eight percent in November. A statement from Workforce Development says Iowa’s economy has grown at a slower rate than in the past — but growth in construction, finance and healthcare offset losses in other areas.

The report says the number of unemployed Iowans dropped by nearly four-thousand from November to December. December was the third straight month the state saw a drop in unemployment, after holding steady at four-point-two percent in September. The U-S unemployment rate increased to four-point-seven percent in December.

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Lawmakers are considering a bill that would require a trained health care professional to evaluate concussions at some Iowa high school sporting events, but it’s still unclear how school districts would pay for it. A GOP-led House education subcommittee debated the proposed legislation Tuesday without taking action.

Iowa currently allows coaches or other officials to evaluate concussions during high school varsity sporting events. Some have argued over the years that the setup may create a conflict of interest that results in an athlete being placed back in a sporting event despite possible injury.

The bill doesn’t estimate a cost of the action but lawmakers and lobbyists acknowledged there would be an expense. Lawmakers say they’ll review those details before meeting again.

Nicholas Hunt, Chair of the Cass County Community Foundation, and Genelle Deist, Chair of the Audubon County Community Foundation, remind non-profit organizations in their respective counties,  that the deadline for submitting applications for the spring grant program is February 1, 2017.  Detailed application procedures, fact sheets, and a link to the application form can be obtained online at http://omahafoundation.org/swiowa.  Applications will only be accepted through the online system.  Contact any board member for additional information.

Please contact Dennis Nissen at 800-794-3458 (or dennis@omahafoundation.org or Denise Cardos at denise@omahafoundation.org) with grant application-specific questions.  All completed applications will be considered at the March board meeting with notification of results in early April.

Only organizations providing charitable services in Cass County or Audubon County are eligible in their respective counties.  They must be able to demonstrate broad community/county support and supply a copy of their 501(c)(3) IRS determination letter.  Requests for general operational funds will not be considered.

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Board members of the Cass County Community Foundation are Chair, Nicholas Hunt of rural Atlantic, 243-5485; Vice Chair, Gary Maas of Anita, 762-3434; Secretary/Treasurer, Roland K. Landsness, Esq. of Atlantic, 243-4154; Royal Bierbaum of Griswold, 778-2586; Beulah Follmann of Massena, 779-3457; and Mark D. Kyhnn, CPA of Atlantic, 243-1800.

Board members of the Audubon County Community Foundation are Chair, Genelle Deist of Audubon, 712-563-4288; Vice Chair, Jonnie Meislahn of Audubon, 712-563-2009 Secretary/Treasurer, Barbara Johnson of Audubon, 712-773-5732; Shelley Burr of Audubon, 712-563-2644; Joel Hoegh of rural Brayton, 712-249-3692; Daryl Olsen, DVM of Audubon, 712-563-2080; and Joseph T. Rasmussen of Exira, 712-268-6357.

Some Iowans are worried about the impact on the state’s billions of dollars in exports after President Trump signed an order Monday to pull out of talks on the Trans Pacific Partnership. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says trade is vital to several Iowa industries, chiefly agriculture, manufacturing and services. “You’re playing with fire when you talk against trade agreements that maybe could be better for the United States,” Grassley says. “I wouldn’t make any judgments that Trump’s wrong for trying to get a better deal for America. If he can do that, I’ll support that.”

Iowa exported more than 13-billion dollars in products during 2015 and Grassley fears Trump’s action could hurt the Hawkeye State’s options for overseas trade. “Particularly with Japan, I think it will,” Grassley says, “but if he follows it up quickly with some sort of bilateral negotiation with just Japan, particularly to help agriculture, it would fill that vacuum.”

Iowa sent one-point-one billion dollars in exports to Japan in 2015. The T-P-P involves the U-S and 11 other countries, including Canada, Mexico, Peru, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. As promised during the campaign, Trump signed an executive order which pulls the U-S out of future negotiations on the proposed partnership. “It may sound like I’d just be blaming Trump maybe hurting Iowa,” Grassley says, “but let me tell you, TPP would’ve had a very difficult time in the Congress getting a majority vote even if Obama was president.”

Grassley says people will appreciate that the new president is trying to get a better deal for American products. “Who can argue with that, but we don’t know yet, but he’s going down that road,” Grassley says. “We’ll just have to wait and see. I hope he’s successful. In the meantime, I hope he doesn’t hurt American agriculture in the process.”

Many agriculture commodity groups, including the Iowa Corn Promotion Board, supported the T-P-P as a way to stimulate trade.

Iowa U.S. Senator Joni Ernst said she was “Disappointed in [Monday’s] executive action to withdraw the United States from TPP. With one in five jobs in Iowa dependent on trade, access to new markets is critical to our state’s economy. However, we must not let this stop our country from pursuing increased trade opportunities for our exporters. With the growing demand for our agricultural products across the world, it is imperative that we ensure a level playing field for American farmers and manufacturers to have a fair opportunity to compete in these markets. Under this new administration, I will continue to advocate for ways to work together toward a stronger trade agenda on behalf of Iowans.”

(Radio Iowa)

The Union County Sheriff’s Office reports three, recent arrests. Last Friday, 27-year old Zachary Ryan McNeeley, of Greenfield, and 45-year old Kevin Jay Giles, of Orient, were both arrested at the Union County Law Enforcement Center, on Union County warrants for probation violation.  Giles is being held in the Union County Jail on $11,000 bond, while McNeeley’s bond was set at $2,000.

And, 54-year old Roger Allen Tinkle, of Des Moines, was arrested last Thursday afternoon at the Union County Law Enforcement Center, on a Union County warrant for failure to appear on the original charge of driving while barred.  Tinkle was released from the Union County Jail for time served.

Sheriff’s officials said also, a Creston man was injured during an accident Monday night. 32-year old Cole Michael Miller, who was wearing his seat belt,  was transported to the Greater Regional Medical Center for treatment of suspected serious/incapacitating injuries. Authorities say Miller was driving a 2008 Chevy pickup northbound on 2 Lakes Drive at around 8:50-p.m., and was being inattentive. His pickup went through a T-intersection with 160th Street, entered the ditch and hit an embankment head-on. The force of the collision caused the truck to spin and come to rest facing west. The vehicle sustained $20,000, and was declared a total loss.