Waterloo Courier Cedar Falls (Newspaper) - July 1, 1992, Waterloo, Iowa County puts end to tuition Fears of the Big One grow 11 Q Bush grants ag credits to Flower lovers have many Waterloo 34 sections WEDNESDAY Cedar Falls 50 cents Copyright 1992 Waterloo Courier WATERLOO IOWA SPLIT East and Cedar Falls trade Some worry about who will build weapons in future Fourth in a series By LLOYD PRITCHETT Scripps Howard News Service A solemn countdown is under way in Lima Ohio The city's largest employer and factory is losing its only customer the U.S Army The plant is the nation's sole remaining producer of battle tanks As soon as the final 250 are built the factory likely will close and with it will go of the city's best-paying jobs and a million annual roll Layoffs already have begun The dividend is a peace bust here in Lima In fact it's a bust in scores of cities all over America that support the nation's defense industrial base From New London Conn home of the nation's pre- mier nuclear submarine builder to Los Angeles with its concentration of aerospace tries peace has meant pink slips The loss of jobs is only the most immediate and ble impact More worrisome to others is the possibility that America could lose the industrial capability for building the weapons it needs to defend itself We in the West are about to dismantle the arsenal of democracy so painstakingly built over the last 40 years in one of the greatest military in says James Blackwell of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington Rep Dave McCurdy a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee agreed We are with defense cuts in an unorganized unplanned and ad hoc fashion with little or no thought to what capabilities the country might need in the future The Pentagon's get for buying weapons and spare parts has been cut by 54 percent a total of billion since 1986 and 100 weapons systems have been canceled More billions will be slashed in the coming years Let there be no says McCurdy This is only the beginning The cuts are convulsing whole industries including tank production shipbuilding aerospace and naval tor construction While some producers will continue to stay alive on reduced orders others may have no recourse but to shut down since little or no demand exists in the civilian marketplace for tanks submarines missiles smart bombs or meals For the past 10 years the number of manufacturers building military components has plunged Between 1982 and 1987 for example the number of companies selling products to the U.S military plummeted from to This has led to a concentration of the nation's defense industrial capacity into fewer and fewer production lines As a result only five producers are left that build military aircraft Only four manufacturers still make helicopters Three produce field rations and only two can build nuclear submarines Several critical military products have only one ducer including aircraft carriers depth charge nents parachute recovery systems specialized marine vessels several types of machinery some types of rope nonmetallic pipe specialized electric crystals and textile and clothing products says the problem is epitomized by what is happening at Electric Boat Division of New London the nation's premier manufacturer of nuclear submarines Production lines there will close by 1996 if Congress doesn't find billions of dollars somewhere in the budget to build more attack submarines At Electric Boat they know they can't build thing but says Blackwell The workers know there's no way they can make school buses Referring to the problem Rep Les Aspin chairman of the House Armed Services Committee says If we continue with business as usual we soon won't be doing much business at all Once production lines are closed it would require a herculean effort bunkers full of cash and many years to restart them for the next war or national emergency says Blackwell Just reassembling the skilled work force necessary to See MILITARY I page A2 WEATHER Thursday Mostly cloudy High 80s Low 60s Details on A2 INDEX Daily Business C6 Cipher D8 Classified ES Area enjoying construction boom Waterloo total is second best ever By TIM JAMISON Courier Staff Writer The value of construction in Waterloo during the fiscal year ending Tuesday is apparently the second highest total in the city's Waterloo Building Department officials said building permits for nearly million in new con- sanction renovation and eling were issued during Fiscal Year 1992 City Building Official Louis Cutwright said that amount was only eclipsed by Fiscal Year 1990 when several large com- projects including an million expansion at Covenant Medical Center on West Ninth Street and an lion construction of IBP inc boosted the value to a record million The only extremely large mit issued this year was once again to a hospital Allen rial Hospital took out a permit earlier during the fiscal year for an approximately million expansion A breakdown of the year's other large construction projects is not expected to be ready for release until next week Cutwright said This year's totals were a drastic turnaround from last year when the value of the permits amounted to a paltry million The number of permits issued not including unavailable June totals also jumped from last year's to Cutwright said About million was for commercial construction while residential construction registered million he said There were permits for 73 new homes taken out during the year I personally think it's a solid economic Cutwright said Mayor Al Manning was even more optimistic about the announcement I think Waterloo is on a roll right he said You can see the new construction all over the community Cedar Falls valuations increase from last year By MARGARET O'ROURKE Courier Staff Writer CEDAR FALLS The city grew 84 houses bigger and saw million in overall tion projects this past fiscal year city building officials said Project valuations increased by 30 percent compared with fiscal year 1991 Last fiscal year saw 63 new houses built and total construction valuation of million Officials in the building inspections office said not only are more new homes being they also are higher priced A house built this year had an age valuation of while a house built in fiscal year 1991 had an average valuation of Several business expansions commenced during the year as well as a handful of new multi- family complexes The housing complexes provided the top two most expensive projects Windermere com- Scc CEDAR FALLS I page A2 1 WINDERMERE 5018 S Main St new valuation million 2 COLLEGE SQUARE VILLAGE Maplewood Drive new valuation million eight multi- family units at each 3 UNIVERSAL INDUSTRIES INC 5800 Nordic Drive new industrial valuation million 4 VIKING PUMP 406 State St industrial remodel valuation 5 AMERICAN PROFESSIONAL COLOR CORP 713 E 18th St cial tion valuation 6 STATE FARM INSURANCE 3809 Cedar Heights Drive new commercial valuation 7 CARVER HARDWARE 715 E 18th St commercial expansion 8 THE WESTERN HOME 420 E 11th St institutional remodel valuation 9 WAL-MART 6301 University Ave commercial ations valuation tO TAYLOR VETERINARY CENTER 315 State St commercial addition valuation Riding the wind GREG staff photographer Jane Shuttleworth takes advantage of the George Wyth Park Tuesday warm gentle breezes while windsurfing at chlorinated water boosts cancer risk Post People who drink chlorinated water for prolonged periods have a greater risk of developing cer of the bladder or the rectum than people who drink water a new study has found The increased risk stems from com- pounds that are formed in minute concentrations when chlorine gas reacts with naturally occurring organic contaminants in water The contaminants are more common in water systems plied by rivers and reservoirs than in those supplied by wells ly more than half the U.S lation is served by such ed surface water systems which pose the greatest risk The analysis published in today's edition of the American Journal of Public Health mates that about 9 percent of all bladder cancers and 15 percent of rectal cancers could be attributed to consumption of chlorinated water This amounted to about cases of the for- mer and cases of the latter per year the authors calculated Numerous studies done over the last decade have suggested a link between chlorinated water and cancer The new report com- the best of these studies in a way that gives researchers a more powerful measure of their validity It would be foolhardy to say we should not purify the said Robert D Morris an epi- at the Medical Col- lege of Wisconsin who headed the study It may be that this just a risk we have to live with but I think we need to examine that question more carefully The chlorination of drinking See CHLORINE I A2 Low level of chemical used in metro area By ANNE PHILLIPS Courier Staff Writer Metro area residents may be exposed to less chlorine than residents of some other communities thanks to the Cedar Valley Aquifer The aquifer which serves as the source of the water for Waterloo and Cedar Falls contains far fewer organic materials than a surface water ply requiring lower levels of chlorine for sterilization said Reed Craft Waterloo Water Works manager Craft said little if any organic materials are found in the city's wells water in fact passes bacteria tests prior to in regular well tests But Craft said chlorine equal to one pan per lion is added to the water at each of Waterloo's 10 well sites to combat tion that might occur in the pipeline between the well and a home That level dis- by the time it es local homes he said A city with a surface water supply such as a river or lake have to use higher levels of rine to sterilize the much higher concentration of organic mailer found in those water resources See WATER I A2 Booms in place to contain Wisconsin chemical spill P T TIS SUPERIOR Wis AP Workers in oxygen masks skimmed chemicals from a river and prepared to move a derailed tank car today after a spill that killed a large number of fish and prompted the evacuation of at least people Skimming efforts are under way and they appear to be They're going to take it out of said John director of gency goverment for Douglas County The workers at the accident site on the River where 14 cars of a Burlington Northern freight train derailed early day were trying to keep the chemicals from the one ruptured tanker flowing downstream toward Lake Superior The spilled chemicals ing benzene formed a toxic cloud over Superior and adjacent Duluth Minn The cloud dissipated and most residents were allowed to return home late Tuesday But some 40 families in a rural area within 5 miles of he spill site had to spend the night out of their homes were unable to say how long the cleanup would take No serious injuries were reported Tuesday though at least 33 people including eight police officers were treated at hospitals Officials warned that exposure could cause dizziness headaches and burning of the eyes and skin The vapor had a sickeningly sweet smell similar to insect repellent said Dan Bogucki of Duluth I could really it You couldn't get rid of he said Stores in Duluth remained dark and streets deserted hours after residents and shopkeepers were given the OK to return I thinks folks are worried I'm not chicken about it though I See page A2
