A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The events of September 11, 2001, triggered a national re-examination of the security of thousands of industrial facilities that use or store hazardous chemicals in quantities that could potentially put large numbers of Americans at risk of serious injury or death in the event of a terrorist-caused chemical release. GAO was asked to examine (1) available information on the threats and risks from terrorism faced by U.S. chemical facilities; (2) federal requirements for security preparedness and safety at facilities; (3) actions taken by federal agencies to assess the vulnerability of the industry; and (4) voluntary actions the chemical industry has taken to address security preparedness, and the challenges it faces in protecting its assets and operations."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Air Force is developing the F/A-22 aircraft to fly at higher speeds for longer distances, be less detectable, and improve the pilot's awareness of the surrounding situation. The F/A-22 will replace the Air Force's existing fleet of F-15 aircraft. Over the past several years the program has experienced significant cost overruns and schedule delays. Congress mandated that GAO assess the development program and determine whether the Air Force is meeting key performance, schedule, and cost goals. GAO also assessed the implications of the progress of the development program on production."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The events of September 11, 2001, triggered a national re-examination of the security of many of the nation's critical infrastructures. Following these events, government agencies have struggled to find the right balance between the public's "right to know" and the dangers of inappropriate public disclosure of sensitive information. Professional and trade groups representing critical infrastructure sectors including the chemical industry generally oppose the release of information regarding the vulnerability of such facilities. These groups argue that terrorists could use this information to target the chemical facilities that are most vulnerable or located near population centers. Other groups support communities' right to information about hazards to which they might be exposed. Federal, state, and local governments have weighed these factors in reassessing the information publicly available in their publications and on their Web sites. For this reason, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is currently reviewing its management of the chemical facility information it has obtained under Clean Air Act provisions. Regulations promulgated under Section 112(r) of the Clean Air Act as amended in 1990 require chemical facilities that produce, use, or store certain hazardous chemicals beyond threshold amounts to …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Hospital emergency departments are a major part of the nation's health care safety net. Emergency departments report being under increasing pressure, with the number of visits nationwide increasing from an estimated 95 million in 1997 to an estimated 108 million in 2000. GAO was asked to provide information on emergency department crowding, including the extent hospitals located in metropolitan areas are experiencing crowding, the factors contributing to crowding, and the actions hospitals and communities have taken to address crowding. To conduct this work, GAO surveyed over 2,000 hospitals and about 74 percent responded. The survey collected information on crowding, such as data on diversion--that is, the extent to which hospitals asked ambulances that would normally bring patients to their hospitals to go instead to other hospitals that were presumably less crowded."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The federal government is in a period of profound transition and faces an array of challenges and opportunities to enhance performance, ensure accountability, and position the nation for the future. High-performing organizations have found that to successfully transform themselves, they must often fundamentally change their cultures so that they are more results-oriented, customer-focused, and collaborative in nature. To foster such cultures, these organizations recognize that an effective performance management system can be a strategic tool to drive internal change and achieve desired results. Based on previously issued reports on public sector organizations' approaches to reinforce individual accountability for results, GAO identified key practices that federal agencies can consider as they develop modern, effective, and credible performance management systems."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Civil penalties are an important element of regulatory enforcement, allowing agencies to punish violators appropriately and to serve as a deterrent to future violations. In 1996, Congress enacted the Inflation Adjustment Act to require agencies to adjust certain penalties for inflation. GAO assessed federal agencies' compliance with the act and whether provisions in the act have prevented agencies from keeping their penalties in pace with inflation."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO contracted with Clifton Gunderson LLP to audit the financial statements of the Senate Restaurants Revolving Fund for fiscal years 2002 and 2001. Clifton Gunderson LLP found that (1) the financial statements were presented in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles; (2) the Fund maintained effective internal control over financial reporting and compliance with laws and regulations; and (3) there was no reportable noncompliance with selected provisions of laws and regulations it tested."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In connection with fulfilling our requirement to audit the financial statements of the U.S. government, we audited and reported on the Schedules of Federal Debt Managed by the Bureau of the Public Debt (BPD) for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2002 and 2001. The review addressed both general and application computer controls. General computer controls are the structure, policies, and procedures that apply to an entity's overall computer operations. General computer controls establish the environment in which application systems and controls operate. An effective general control environment helps (1) ensure that an adequate entity-wide program for security management is in place, (2) protect data, files, and programs from unauthorized access, modification, disclosure, and destruction, (3) limit and monitor access to programs and files that control computer hardware and secure applications, (4) prevent the introduction of unauthorized changes to systems and applications software, (5) prevent any one individual from controlling key aspects of computer-related operations, and (6) ensure the recovery of computer processing operations in case of a disaster or other unexpected interruption. An effective application control environment helps ensure that transactions performed by individual computer programs are …

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to welcoming members of the Mt. Pleasant Leadership Group to the State Capitol.

The purpose of this study was to examine the hypothesis that clastic dikes could form a preferential flow path through the vadose zone to the water table at the Hanford Site. Clastic dikes are subvertical structures that form within sedimentary sequences after deposition, and cut across the original sedimentary layers. They are common throughout the Hanford Site, often occurring in organized polygonal networks. In the initial phase of the project, we analyzed the large-scale geometry of the clastic dikes and developed an algorithm for simulating their spatial distribution. This result will be useful in providing maps of the potential distribution of clastic dikes in areas where they are not exposed at the surface (e.g., where covered by windblown sand or by construction of facilities like tank farms at the surface). In addition to the study of the large scale distribution of the dikes, a major focus of the project was on field, laboratory, and modeling studies of the hydrogeologic al properties of the clastic dikes and the effect that they have on transport of water through the vadose zone. These studies were performed at two field locations at the Hanford Site. We performed an extensive series of field and laboratory …

Sludge has accumulated in the K East (KE) and K West (KW) Basins at the Hanford Site. This sludge contains metallic uranium and uranium oxides that will corrode, hydrate, and generate and consume gases during containerized storage. From these corrosion reactions, two sludge expansion mechanisms can be expected: 1) expansion of the volume of the sludge solids from the generation of corrosion oxidation products that occupy more space than the starting-state sludge; and 2) expansion of the bulk sludge volume from the retention of hydrogen gas bubbles. This report provides a review and updated projections of the volumetric expansion occurring due to corrosion and gas retention during the containerized storage of K Basin sludge. New design and safety basis volume expansion values are provided for the following sludge streams: KW Floor, KW North Loadout Pit, KW canister, and fuel piece sludge.

Semi-weekly newspaper from Clifton, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

This research project addressed the effect of clastic dikes on contaminant transport in the vadose zone. Clastic dikes are vertically oriented subsurface heterogeneities that are common at the Hanford Site, including in the subsurface sediments below the tank farms in the 200 West Area. Previous studies have suggested that clastic dikes may provide a fast path for transport of leaking fluid from the tanks through the vadose zone because they cut through the horizontally layered sediments at the site. The research tested the hypothesis that clastic dikes at the Hanford Site provide preferential pathways that enhance the vertical movement of moisture and contaminants through the vadose zone. Current flow and transport models of the vadose zone at the 200 Areas are based on relatively simple hydrogeologic models that assume horizontally layered sediments with no preferential vertical flow paths. To address those scientific needs, our research included field and modeling studies of the large-scale spatial distribution of clastic dikes, the hydrologic properties within dikes, and the potential effect of clastic dikes on fluid flow through the vadose zone. The data and models of the clastic dike networks produced for this project should be directly applicable to fate and transport studies conducted …

The Wabash River Integrated Methanol and Power Production from Clean Coal Technologies (IMPPCCT) project is evaluating integrated electrical power generation and methanol production through clean coal technologies. The project is conducted by a multi-industry team lead by Gasification Engineering Corporation (GEC), and supported by Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., Dow Chemical Company, Dow Corning Corporation, Methanex Corporation, and Siemens Westinghouse Power Corporation. Three project phases are planned for execution, including: (1) Feasibility study and conceptual design for an integrated demonstration facility, and for fence-line commercial embodiment plants (CEP) operated at Dow Chemical or Dow Corning chemical plant locations (2) Research, development, and testing (RD&T) to define any technology gaps or critical design and integration issues (3) Engineering design and financing plan to install an integrated commercial demonstration facility at the existing Wabash River Energy Limited (WREL) plant in West Terre Haute, Indiana. The WREL facility is a project selected and co-funded under the Round IV of the United States Department of Energy's (DOE's) Clean Coal Technology Program. In this project, coal and/or other solid fuel feedstocks are gasified in an oxygen-blown, entrained-flow gasifier with continuous slag removal and a dry particulate removal system. The resulting product synthesis gas is used …

The Wabash River Integrated Methanol and Power Production from Clean Coal Technologies (IMPPCCT) project is evaluating integrated electrical power generation and methanol production through clean coal technologies. The project is conducted by a multi-industry team lead by Gasification Engineering Corporation (GEC), a company of Global Energy Inc., and supported by Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., Dow Chemical Company, Dow Corning Corporation, Methanex Corporation, and Siemens Westinghouse Power Corporation. Three project phases are planned for execution over several years, including: (1) Feasibility study and conceptual design for an integrated demonstration facility, and for fence-line commercial embodiment plants (CEP) operated at Dow Chemical or Dow Corning chemical plant locations (2) Research, development, and testing to define any technology gaps or critical design and integration issues (3) Engineering design and financing plan to install an integrated commercial demonstration facility at the existing Wabash River Energy Limited (WREL) plant in West Terre Haute, Indiana.

In this quarter, we have made progress in the three approaches selected for preparing CO{sub 2}-affinity membrane. A defect free nanoporous membrane was prepared via slip casting. This membrane will then be used for post treatment to seal the micropores to become a non-porous membrane with CO{sub 2} affinity. This post treatment study will be our focus in the next several quarters. Polymeric gel as a precursor was successfully prepared, which will be used for subsequent thin film deposition. Preparation of a defect-free thin film from this precursor will be our future focus using the sol-gel approach. Finally, the third approach, in-situ impregnation approach, was modified. Although we were able to deposit the precursor within the porous of the membrane, we have not been able to enhance the pH in-situ. Designing an unconventional approach to alternate the pH in-situ will be our focus of the next quarter.

In the structure task, the goals for this reporting period were to: (1) complete field work on the NNW-SSE transect along the west side of Cayuga Lake; (2) collect data at additional field sites in order to (a) trace structural trends between the two N-S transects and (b) fill in data gaps on the NS transect along the eastern shore of Seneca Lake; (3) enter the data gathered from the summer field work; (4) enter data from the previous field season that still had to be analyzed after a personnel change. We have completed data reduction for all the goals listed above, including the NNW-SSE transect on the west side of Cayuga Lake. In the soil gas task, the goals for this reporting period were to: (1) trace Trenton/Black River fault trends between the two N-S transects; and (2) enter the data gathered from the summer field work. We have completed data reduction for all the goals listed above, and have begun constructing maps that portray the data. These data continue to demonstrate that integration of aeromagnetic and Landsat lineaments, surface structure, soil gas and seismic allows us to extrapolate Trenton-Black River trends away from confirmatory seismic lines.

The Wabash River Integrated Methanol and Power Production from Clean Coal Technologies (IMPPCCT) project is evaluating integrated electrical power generation and methanol production through clean coal technologies. The project is conducted by a multi-industry team lead by Gasification Engineering Corporation (GEC), a company of Global Energy Inc., and supported by Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., Dow Chemical Company, Dow Corning Corporation, Methanex Corporation, and Siemens Westinghouse Power Corporation. Three project phases are planned for execution over a three year period, including: (1) Feasibility study and conceptual design for an integrated demonstration facility, and for fence-line commercial embodiment plants (CEP) operated at Dow Chemical or Dow Corning chemical plant locations (2) Research, development, and testing to define any technology gaps or critical design and integration issues (3) Engineering design and financing plan to install an integrated commercial demonstration facility at the existing Wabash River Energy Limited (WREL) plant in West Terre Haute, Indiana. The WREL facility is a project selected and co-funded under the Round IV of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Clean Coal Technology Program. In this project, coal and/or other solid fuel feedstocks are gasified in an oxygen-blown, entrained-flow gasifier with continuous slag removal and a dry particulate …

The Savannah River Technology Center conducted four vicarious reflectance calibrations at Ivanpah Playa, California since July 2000 in support of the MTI satellite. The potential of the playa as a thermal calibration site was also investigated in the campaigns with a mobile Fourier transform infrared spectrometer. The multi-year study shows time and spatial variability in the spectral emissivity. The ground truth temperature and emissivity correlate quite well with the data from the MTI satellite imagery. The research paper will show the time-dependent emissivities measured during our ground truth campaigns and the corresponding satellite imagery.

Researchers at Argonne National Laboratory analyzed heavy-duty truck technologies to support the Energy Information Administration's long-term energy use projections. Researchers conducted an analysis of several technology options that have potential to improve heavy truck fuel economy and emissions characteristics. The technologies are grouped as fuel-economy-enhancing and emissions-improving. Each technology's potential impact on heavy truck fuel economy has been estimated, as has the cost of implementation. The extent of technology penetration is estimated on the basis of truck data analyses and technical judgment.

Weekly newspaper from Dell City, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Newspaper from Rose State College in Midwest City, Oklahoma that includes national, local, and campus news along with advertising.

Daily newspaper from Baytown, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Funeral program for Reverend E. Joseph Tanner, born December 5, 1921 and died March 11, 2003. The funeral was held March 14, 2003 at St. Paul United Methodist Church, officiated by Rev. J. Brendonly Cunningham.