INL halts cleanup after waste explosion
Idaho Falls, Idaho Work has been halted in an excavation pit at the Idaho National Laboratory in eastern Idaho after a 55-gallon drum of hazardous waste exploded and started a small fire.
No one was hurt in the explosion and no contamination spread outside a containment structure where drums of recently excavated waste were being stored, officials said. The explosion occurred Monday at the highly secure compound northwest of Idaho Falls, but CH2M-WG Idaho, the U.S. Department of Energy contractor responsible for the Idaho Cleanup Project, did not announce the accident until Tuesday.
Officials said some of the material being excavated from the waste burial site known as “Pit 4” may catch fire when it’s exposed to air.
“We don’t quite yet know what the cause of this incident was, but we suspect it had something to do with the waste that was in the drum,” said Amy Lientz of CH2M-WG Idaho. “We are taking this very seriously because there are a lot of drums in the retrieval area.”
A preliminary investigation found that the explosion occurred in one drum and spread fire to an adjacent drum that had been placed in a “cold area” of the Accelerated Retrieval Project, where buried hazardous waste from Cold War-era nuclear weapons production and other defense programs is being dug up and placed inside drums for disposal.
The fire was extinguished quickly because equipment operators in the storage area had been trained to deal with pyrophoric chemicals, which can ignite spontaneously in air when they reach a certain temperature.
Less than a dozen workers were in the containment structure when the explosion occurred and Lientz said all were evacuated.
15-year-old convicted in teacher’s death
Kennewick A 15-year-old boy was convicted of murder Tuesday for stabbing a football coach to death during a 2004 robbery attempt.
Jordan Castillo was also convicted by a Benton County Superior Court jury of attempted theft in the death of King Robert “Bob” Mars, 44.
Castillo could face up to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced.
Mars, a Kiona-Benton High School assistant football coach, was killed on Sept. 4, 2004.
In March, co-defendant Robert A. Suarez, 17, was sentenced to a 26-year, eight-month prison term for his part in the crime.
Mars, a veteran sixth-grade teacher who lived in Richland, was stabbed in the stomach during an attack in the hallway at the middle school where he taught.
Wanted sexual predator arrested near Hayden
A violent sexual predator, wanted for failing to notify authorities that he changed his address, was arrested Saturday.
Ricky Lee Milks, 39, was arrested not far from his last known address on Hudlow Road, north of Hayden. Authorities said Milks was living in his car.
He was convicted in Kootenai County for sex abuse of a minor under age 16 in 1990.
County Web site aims to assist crime victims
The Kootenai County Prosecutor’s Office has added pages to the county’s Web site to help crime victims look up their cases and get other information.
The site includes information on the services available to crime victims, the crime victim’s Bill of Rights, information for witnesses and a children’s page with a coloring book.
To access the site, visit www.co.kootenai.id.us/departments /prosecutingattorney/douglas.asp.
Youth Ranch seeks sponsors, gifts for party
Idaho Youth Ranch is looking for businesses and others to sponsor a foster child for the annual holiday Christmas party for foster children.
Idaho Youth Ranch contracts with the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare’s Children and Family Services Division to recruit, train, license and support foster families in the five northern counties.
The annual party is a way to say thanks to foster families and to provide gifts for foster children. This year’s party is Dec. 17 at Post Falls High School. The kitchen staff at the school volunteers time every year to cook the meal, which is made with donated ingredients.
Last year, 234 children received gifts specially chosen for them. This year, Idaho Youth Ranch expects 280 foster children to attend the party.
To donate gifts or cash to purchase gifts, contact Donna Euler, senior adoption specialist at Idaho Youth Ranch, at 667-1898.
Thanksgiving service location changed
The location of Thursday’s Interfaith Thanksgiving Service has been changed to St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, 316 E. 24th Ave. on Spokane’s South Hill.
The event, which had been planned for Temple Beth Shalom, starts at 10 a.m.
The Rev. Martin Wells, bishop of the Eastern Washington/Idaho Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, will be the speaker.
The service is an opportunity for participants to share cultural Thanksgiving stories while collecting food and funds for hunger relief.
For more information, call the Interfaith Council of the Inland Northwest at 329-1409.