The Michigan Daily
Vol. LXXXVI, No. 18-S
Ann Arbor, Michigan-Friday, May 28, 1976
Ten Cents
Twelve Pages
....
ON-SITE BOMB INSPECTION INCLUDED
U.S., Soviets reach accord
WASHINGTON (P)-President Ford and Soviet
leader Leonid Brezhnev will sign an unprecedent-
ed agreement today to permit American inspec-
tion of some Russian nuclear testing sites.
The twin ceremonies here and in Moscow close
out 18 months of complex negotiations to limit
peaceful underground testing and clear the way
for Senate ratification of a parallel treaty re-
stricting weapons tests.
NEITHER POWER will be permitted to con-
duct underground nuclear explosions exceeding
150 kilotons - the equivalent of 150,000 tons of
TNT. Also, for the first time, American and Rus-
sian observers will be on hand to check for vio-
lations.
Until now, the Russians have been steadfast in
barring any inspection on Soviet soil. Under the
agreement to be signed here by Ford and in
Moscow by Brezhnev, the observers will be al-
lowed to check only on tests designed for peace-
ful purposes.
Still, the accord, projected two years ago at
the Moscow summit, is of major significance
since it both establishes the precedent of foreign
inspection and comes at a time of strain in U.S.-
Soviet relations.
NEGOTIATIONS are lagging in Geneva on an
agreement to impose ceilings on the two super-
powers' nuclear weapons arsenals and the two
sides have exchanged sharp rhetoric over Africa
and over compliance with arms and security
accords.
While establishing the principle of on-site in-
spection, the treaty appears to have little prac-
tical meaning for the United States.
Years ago American scientists gave up the
idea of experimenting with underground nuclear
explosions as a means for changing the course
of rivers or for mineral excavations.
BUT THE Soviets remained interested in such
projects.
Terms of the treaty permit that work to go
forward, provided no blast exceeds 150 kilotons.
A series of explosions may total up to 1,500 kilo-
tons - provided they are spaced no more than
5 seconds apart.
Ford
oreznnev
Fighting pollution at EPA
ByIICIHAEL BLUMFIELD
arom the look of its unpretentious facade,
use would never guess that the low, brown-
hrick building on Plymouth Rd. was one of
the E'ironmental Protection Agency's most
ilortant testing facilities.
With oVer 275 scurrying employes, the EPA's
\totor Vehicle Emissions Laboratory is charged
with testing the emissions of every kind of
kind-vehicle in the U.S. Created by the federal
"Clean Air Act" of 1970, the laboratory con-
centrates on automobile pollutants, but tests
truck engines as well. Motorcycle tests are
scheduled to begin soon.
UPON MOVING into their offices in October,
1971, the EPA engineers were faced with the
tough task of marking out guidelines and pro-
edir s for strict, yet fair, emissions tests
wnd standards-a job that would explore a new
frontier in federal controls.
"We had to choose between different ways
tf measuring pollution itself," said director
IDavid Alexander. "Should we go by grams of
carbon monoxide per mile or per cubic foot?
Should we test the car at idle only or over a
course'
The sole guiding doctrine was the Clean Air
iaw itself, which had only broad requirements
for reduction of pollution levels-a certain
percentage reduction by one year, a further
reduction the next, etc. By law, the cars had
to remain below the pollution levels for 50,000
miles. For practical reasons, the auto manu-
facturers were to perform part of the testing
themselves.
SOME TESTS are made on the road but
most are made with special laboratory equip-
represented speed trends and used the speeds
in conjunction with the "dynamometer," a set
of large metal rollers beneath the rear wheels
of a test vehicle. A technician drives the sta-
tionary car at the exact speed called for on
the simulation chart.
"The driver has to keep the needle that
shows how fast he is going right on the line
that the chart calls for," explained Chief En-
gineer Paul Jones. "If he gets off by two
miles an hour for two seconds, we have to
throw the whole test out and start all over
again."
A SPECIAL filter collects the fumes from
the exhaust pipe and channels them into plas-
tic bags for examination.
By separating the exhaust according to the
different phases of engine operation (i.e. cold
start, normal driving, hot start), the engineers
are able to perform a more detailed analysis.
The separated gases are analyzed by equip-
ment connected to a University computer,
which determines the exact quantities of car-
bon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and hydro-
carbons.
Though a great deal of the testing is carried
out by the manufacturers themselves, the gov-
ernment people don't worry much about the
auto makers falsifying their tests. If they lie
about the results, it will usually be discovered
when the EPA does its own testing. And it
can be quite expensive if the manufacturer
gets caught.
THE EPA FOUND that one trick was to do
more maintenance than prescribed in the ve-
hicle's warranty-a violation of the testing
law.
sr
! / 1 r {
i /+: { r .
ment. Doily Photo by STEVE KAGAN -
EPA engineers thought that the best meth "Ford has been doing some over-extensive Engineer Dan Stokes inspects a motorcycle being tested on a
of testing the cars, which are prototypes of the maintenance on one of their models in 1972 dynamometer at the Environmental Protection Agency's Emis-
models scheduled for re pts f the reported Alexander They had been doig so sion Laboratory. In the background are meters that tell the
year, was to simulate everyday driving speeds much reworking on the model that it was rider how fast to run the machine during the tests. The hose
in the laboratory. They devised a chart which See FIGHT, Page S in the foregroundleads away to pollutant analyzers.