Wednesday, April 30, 1997
Ruling on leaking oil storage tanks thrills
them
By RICHARD HORN Senior Staff Writer
Thrilled Taylor County commissioners Tuesday asked the state
to finally let them abandon leaking underground oil storage tanks
they've been monitoring for years.
"Hallelujah!" Commissioner Neil Fry exclaimed after
commissioners heard a consultant recommend closure of the tanks
and plugging of the wells drilled to monitor environmental effects
at the sites.
The final decision will be made by the Texas Natural Resources
Conservation Commission, which also will reimburse the county
for the consultant's report and abandonment costs, estimated at
about $35,000.
David Lawrence of Allphase Environmental, Inc. said there's
no guarantee the state will not seek further tests before approving
abandonment, but his report says there's no environmental risk
remaining and no problem detected in groundwater samples.
"We can send it in and see what happens," he told
commissioners.
The sites on county property in Merkel and on Oak Street in
Abilene have not been used for years, and for at least seven years
the county has been monitoring them under state requirements,
County Judge Lee Hamilton said.
There has been minimal seepage at the sites, he said, and no
health risks or environmental damage. The state has covered the
"vast majority" of the monitoring costs, which over
the years have reached into hundreds of thousands of dollars,
he said.
Also Tuesday, commissioners:
- Adopted a code of ethics and standards for election officials.
Taylor County Elections Administrator Pauline Pitman was one
of 15 election officials from around the country who worked together
to write the code earlier this year.
In the standards, elections officials among other things agree
they are "accountable for maintaining public confidence in
honest and impartial elections" and agree to conduct them
"in a fair, efficient and accurate manner."
- Heard a report on new technology elections officials will
test during this weekend's city council elections. Laptop computers
will be used at three polling places and linked to the main courthouse
computer.
Election officials will call up voters' names on computer instead
of looking through the county's huge voter list manually.
If officials decide to expand the system to other Abilene and
Merkel precincts, it could save election costs in the future,
Pitman said. Expansion would take about four years, she estimated
"We'll be comparing costs of printouts and labor needed
for the voting procedures required by law," she said.
The county purchased three laptops, which will also be used
for voter registration drives. The secretary of state's office
paid half of the costs.
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Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications
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