CAPITAL TIMES, November 15, 1989
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file photo
Even on a dreary day, the cooling towers of the Three Mile Island nuclear power can
be seen from Olmsted.
TMI to evaporate
radioactive water
Jon Fleck
Capital Times Staff
Three Mile Island plans to start
evaporating the 2.3 million gallons of
water left over from the March 1979
accident and cleanup, and that has many
people concerned.
The process, which will cost $4
million and take 15 to 24 months to
complete, will evaporate water "slightly
tainted" with radioactive tritium, said
Bill Gross, TMI public relations
manager.
Gross said there should be no concern
over the radioactive exposure and said
that it is much lower than the exposure
from watching for a year. "The total
radioactive dose has very little
consequence when put into perspective,"
Gross said. "People don't understand how
harmless the process really is."
Three Mile Island Alert, an anti
nuclear group established in 1977, is
attempting to stop the procedure. The
state Department of Environmental
Resources is holding hearings today and
tomorrow, to determine if the
evaporation process should be shut down
temporarily until a full-fledged hearing
can be 11:1d.
"We don) i • - ce with Three Mile
Island," said Kay Pickering, office
coordinator for TMIA. "We are concerned
N A ithoui exposure to the general
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public, but also about the workers on
site at the evaporator."
Pickering pointed out that it appears
that TMI is having problems with the
evaporator when it is tested using water
with chemicals.
Scott Huebner, a Penn State
Harrisburg environmental instructor,
attributes the concern to the closeness of
the plant.
"Most of the opposition to the plan
of on-site evaportation is part of the 'not
in my back yard' syndrome," Huebner
said. "I have mixed emotions because I
don't have all of the details yet."
Huebner added that if the weather
conditions and radioactive releases are
closely monitored that the evaporation
can be done safely.
The process is the same one used by
other industries which use a lot of water.
Gross compared it to the proces that
makes evaporated milk. The system will
also automatically shut down if
excessive radiation levels are detected.
When asked about the ten-year time
span between the accident and the
evaporation process, Huebner said that
the gap is not as long as it sounds.
"Most of what they're doing in
respect to the accident is the first time
through," Huebner said. "Nobody's dealt
with a nuclear accident of this size in the
U.S. before."
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Church dates to 1767
Jodie Whitekettle
Capital Times Contributor
As the sun set on Sept. 12, the bells
rang out in the steeple of Saint Peter's
Kicrch in Middletown. The Reverend
David C. Newhart stepped from a
maroon, horse-drawn carriage followed
by a man wearing a black, pilgrim suit
with a white tie and large cuffs.
Two men dressed in colonial
clothing, each holding a flintlock and a
musket, stood at each side of the church
door as members of the congregation
filled the ground-floor and balcony on
three sides of the church.
They were celebrating the 220th
anniversary of the Kierch, a historical
landmark whose cornerstone was laid on
July 13, 1767.
The 278-year-old pilgrim was Dr.
Henry Mcichoir Muhlenberg, played by
Dr. Henry Diers, Dean of the School of
Arts and Communication of
Susquehanna University.
"I came here from Philadelphia to
celebrate the dedication of this church,"
Diers said.
The church has not changed much
since Muhlenberg's last visit.
Muhlenberg was the pastor of a church
in Trappe, Pennsylvania and a patriarch
of the Lutheran Church during the
1700 s. He assumed the role of a bishop
because he was the overseer of many of
the churches in central and eastern
Pennsylvania. Muhlenberg arrived on a
horse to dedicate the church and gave the
first sermon on Sept. 12, 1769.
Muhlenberg's journal for Monday,
Sept. 11, 1769, read, "Prepared for my
journey The Elders and Deacons of
the Evangelical Lutheran congregation
were there quickly assembled and
welcomed us with tears of joy."
The church was silent as the
impersonator of Dr. Henry Melchoir
Muhlenberg, wearing a white wig,
walked up to the blue and white, wooden
pulpit to present his sermon.
Dicrs gave a sermon on Jacob: "We
think of Christians needing an example
of some kind and we all know the story
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of Jacob."
If Diers really had been Muhlenberg,
he preached on the correct topic because
Muhlenberg's journal on Tuesday, Sept.
12, 1769 said, "We sang hymns of
praise, and I preached on Genesis 28:20,
'And Jacob made a vow.'"
Diers' German accent reflected the
research that he put into preparing for
the role of Muhlenberg.
"He could impersonate Henry," said
AssiStant Pastor, Reverend K. Robert
Schmitt, "and we chose him for that
reason."
In his welcome, Pastor Newhart said,
"The building is a symbol of our faith,
but it is not our faith."
A few minutes passed between the
time the people entered the church and
the when the service began. The
congregation, hot though the clear glass
windows were raised, fanned themselves.
Their restlessness was halted by the
harmonious sound of the choir singing
from a hymn book copyrighted inlBl7,
accompanied by an organ that dated from
an 1850 remodeling project.
Two Dauphin stoves, sitting on each
side of the room were used until
electricity replaced them in the 19305.
They were built in Middletown by
Raymond & Campbell.
The celebration touched past and
present. Among the congregation, one
woman was dressed in an old-fashioned
long, floral dress down to her ankles and
a bonnet while the lady beside her wore
modern polyester dress pants with a
frilly blouse.
The congregation voted to build a
new church in 1876 because membership
was increasing. In 1879, the kierch held
a short service and then the members
marched to the new St. Peter's
Evangelical Lutheran Church in
Middletown. Now only three services
are held in the kierch annually.
When asked why he chose the special
appearance of Muhlenberg to celebrate
the anniversary, Pastor Newhart said,
"It's a way for the congregation to
celebrate and recall the history."
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