Saturday, Augus# xE, i 977
THE M1CHf GAN D AlLY
Pope Five rl
Project Seafarer safety questionable
WASHINGTON IA') - A scien-
tific study said yesterday that a
massive underground radio an-
tenna system proposed by the
Navy probably would have no
serious adverse effects on peo-
ple, plants or animals at the pro-
posed construction site in Michi-
gan's Upper Peninsula.
However, the Nationel Re-
search Council said the 4,000-
square-mile Seafarer antenna
grid, designed to communicate
with submerged submarines,
should not be approved without
two design changes because of
possible prgblems from electri-
cal shock under specific condi-
tions.
CONGRESS has blocked con-
struction of the system, at least
for the time being.
In a reporot based on an 18-
month study, the council's com-
mittee gave the proposed pro-
ject "a qualified clean bill of
health." It said fears raised
about the effects of the project's
extremely low-frequency radia-
tion are "invalid and unwarran-
ted" and concluded that "the
likelihood of serious adverse bi-
ologic effects is very amall."
The $150,000 study, funded by
the Navy, focused an potential
problems from the electric and
magnetic fields of the system.
THE PANEL said the project
"would not systematically pro-
duce shock to those who walk
over the buried lines or over the
ground terminals." But it outlin-
ed a worst-case possibility
wherea person could get a haz-
ardous and potentially fatal
shock.
For example, the scientists
said, a barefooted person with a
cut on his foot, dragging a long
altmninum canoe and standing
in a puddle of water around the
terminals near the periphery of
the grid could be electrocuted.
Thus it recommended that the
15-volt-per-meter maximum spe-
cified by the Navy be reduced
by burying the terminals deeper
or by changing their shape and
distribution.
CRITICS OF the project have
said it would damage the en-
vironment . make the area a
prime nuclear target and would
give off radiation.
Michigan Gov. Wiliaim Milli-
ken said last March he was ex-
ercising his veto power over the
Navy's plan to build the pro-
ject.
In a letter to Milliken, De-
fense Secretary Harold Brown
said Seafarer "would not be in-
stalled should there be an over-
whelming consensus of the peo.
ple of Michigan against such an
action." Milliken said Brown
was backsliding on promises
that the governor would have
veto power over Seafarer.
T HE NATIONAL Research
Council, an arm of the National
Academy of Sciences, faulted
the proposed design for the sys-
tem's procedure to d e t e c t
breaks in the underground ca-
bles. The council also disagreed
with the design of proposed
ground terminals that would
feed electric current into the
earth.
As presently designed, the
committee said, both elements
could - under certain circum-
stances - p r o d u c e electric
shocks in animals and humans
venturing very near a broken
cable or a ground terminal.
The panel said neither prob-
lem would result from the low-
frequency radiation, but were
"classic engineering problems
associaited with large electrical
systems and likely subject to
design solutions"
THE COMMITI'EE said it
was unable to "identify with
certainty any specific biologic
effects that would definitely re-
u slt from exposure to a propos-
ed Seafarer field."
However, it recommended that
if the project is built, "an ener-
getic and carefully designed
long-term program of monitor-
ing should be coupled with ba-
sic research." It said particular
attention should be paid to any
effects on bird flight patterns
and the behavior of fresh-water
fish in areas within the buried
antenna grid.
Public opinion is strongly
against the project in Upper
Peninsula counties that have vo-
ted on it.
UNDER INSTRUCTIONS from
Congress, the Navy is studying
the possibility of a smaller sys-
tem that would include a 130-
mile-long antenna system in the
Upper Peninsula linked with a
test facility already built at
Clam Lake, Wis.
Late last month, House and
Senate conferees agreed to ap-
prove $15 million for the project
at President Carter's urging.
Carter said in a letter that the
system would not be put in Mi-
chigan without his personal ap-
proval.
The Navy says the Upper Pen-
insula has not been ruled out
as a site and that it still views
the area as the best location
ANGELL HALL
AUD. A
Saturday, August 6
SM.ES OF A SUMMER'S NIGHT
Director, ingmar Bergman (1955)
Bergman captured in a rare mood of comedy and
romance, in this classic exercise in spicy partner
switching. This Cannes Film Festival winner in-
spired Steve Sondheim's hit Broadway musical,
A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC. Starring the usual
stable of Bergman's regulars. Swedish with sub-
titles.
7:30 & 9:30 $1.50
-
ANN ALIIW 11144 C4D-CI
Saturday, August 6.
TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN
tWoodv Allen: 1969) 7 & 10:20-MLB 3
In his directing debut, Allen plays Virgil, product/result of an
unfortunate childhood: broken glasses, neighborhood bully, bicker-
ing parents, acute cella playing, and a neurotic tendency to win a
girl by stealing money. His downfall comes when he misspells "gun"
on his holdup note. Stars Allen and Janet Margolin.
THE PRODUCERS
(Mel Brooks, 19681 8:45 ONLY-MLB 3
Zero Mostel plays the producer. When his accountant (Gene Wilder)
shows him hew producing a Broadway flop can make more money
than a hit, he buys a horrible, hilarious musical called "Springtime
for Hitler." One of the funniest movies in recent years, it was
Mel Brooks' first movie and he still hasn't topped it. "Pure lunacy
. . uproariously funny±"--TIME. Academy Award-Best Origini
Screenplay.
ADMISSION: Still only
$1.25 sintle feature, $2.00 double feature
Martin Scorsese's 1973
MEAN STREETS
Scorsese's first critically acclaimed film
comes out of his heritage in New York's
Little Italy where the Mafia influence is
accepted as a part of everyday life. With
Harvey Keitel and Robert DeNiro.
SUNDAY FREE SHOWINGS
Pudoukin's MOTHER (at 8
CINEMA GUILD Taniqht at OLD / RCH. AUD.
7;30is 9:30 Adreassion $1.50
D CANCER
ND I LIVED.
It's possible to go into an annual checkup feeling terrific.
And come out knowing something's wrong. It happened to
me. The doctor found what I couldn't even feel ... a little
lump under my arm. If I had put off the appointment for
one reason or anotheriI probably wouldn't be here today.
Because that little lump I couldn't feel was a melanoma, a
highly aggressive form of cancer that spreads very quickly.
It's curable-but only if found in time.
So when I tell you, "Get a checkup," you know it's from
my heart. It can save your life. I know. It saved mine.
Have aregular checkup
ft can save your life.
American Cancer Society.
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