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The Times Leader timesleader.com
WILKES-BARRE, PA
SUNDAY, APRIL 17, 2011
BUTLER MINE TUNNEL
$1.50
JUDICIAL ELECTION
Danger from below?
Verdict: Race is key to future of the county Sixteen candidates are vying for six seats on the bench for 10-year terms. By TERRIE MORGAN-BESECKER tmorgan@timesleader.com
S. JOHN WILKIN/THE TIMES LEADER
Chuck Menichini, 58, who was diagnosed with large B-cell lymphoma, stands on Carroll Street in Pittston. Menichini believes contaminants in the Butler Mine Tunnel have created a cancer cluster in the area.
Ill man blames pollution
By MATT HUGHES mhughes@timesleader.com
you the disease might have an environmental cause, you start asking bigger questions. Menichini went looking for a cause, and he thinks he has found it. Menichini lives at the end of Carroll Street, a few hundred yards from where the Butler Mine Tunnel drains into the Susquehanna River. He be-
In February, Chuck Menichini, 58, of Pittston, was diagnosed with large B-cell lymphoma. His physician told him the cancer has an environmental cause, typically exposure to the chemical benzene. When you get a diagnosis like this, it’s natural to ask why; what did I do to cause this? And when a physician tells See BUTLER, Page 16A
Much waste remains beneath Pittston lion gallons of oil, liquid cyanide and carcinogenic petrochemicals into mined-out coal veins beneath the city. In 1979 and again in 1985, an oily liquid spewed from into the Susquehanna River from the Butler Mine Tunnel, a passage used to drain water from the mines below Pittston.
By MATT HUGHES mhughes@timesleader.com
If you didn’t know, there are about 70,000 gallons of oil and industrial waste pooling beneath the city of Pittston. That’s about 10 of the petroleum tankers you’ve seen at your local gas station. In the late 1970s, truck drivers for the Hudson Oil Refining Corp., of Edgewater, N.J., illegally dumped between 1.5 and 2.7 mil-
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5 5 5 5 6 5 & 25 / 7 / 5 5 5 5 5 0 The Butler Mine Tunnel upstream from the Fort Jenkins Bridge on the Susquehanna River in Pittston.
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By ANDREW M. SEDER aseder@timesleader.com
See NAME, Page 6A
WEATHER Logan Shusta. Partly sunny, windy. High 55. Low 36. Details, Page 16C
In this photo, part of an award-winning photo package by Aimee Dilger, veterinarian Sharon Horn and vet technician Marie Bejeski give an adopted kitten a shot before neutering him. The Wilkes-Barre Publishing Co. won 32 Keystone Awards.
and was named the sweepstakes winner for its division. Go Lackawanna, the weekly newspaper in Scranton that was in existence for only half of 2010, captured six awards. The Sunday Dispatch in Pittston won three awards. “The Times Leader alone received more Keystone Awards than any other daily newspaper in Northeastern Pennsylvania this year,� said Prashant Shitut, president of the company. “The tremendous number of awards
The Wilkes-Barre Publishing Co.’s newspapers won 32 Keystone Press Awards, the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association announced Friday. In addition to 15 for The Times Leader, in Wilkes-Barre, the Abington Journal in Clarks Summit won seven See AWARDS, Page 8A
WILKES-BARRE – Statistically speaking, this year’s judicial race provides the best opportunity ever for area attorneys who are seeking a spot on the Luzerne County bench. Sixteen candidates, all of whom have cross-filed on the Republican and Democratic ballots, are seeking nominations in the May17th primaries to run for six seats on the bench – the largest number of seats ever to be open at one time in recent history. It’s made for a wide open race. What will be the
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Wilkes-Barre Publishing Co. captures 32 Keystone Awards The Times Leader alone wins more honors than any other daily paper in the area.
Name may be factor in win By TERRIE MORGAN-BESECKER tmorgan@timesleader.com
BILL TARUTIS/FOR THE TIMES LEADER
See JUDGES, Page 6A
See PITTSTON, Page 16A
WILKES-BARRE – As the region continues to rebound from the corruption probe that led to an unprecedented judiciary upheaval, political and legal experts are looking to the upcoming election as one of the most important races in the county’s history. With six new judges set to take the bench for 10year terms, the choices made by voters “The imwill dictate the court’s path for pact these at least the judges will next decade, and likely be- have on yond as many the court of the candidates are young will be felt enough to serve two terms. “It’s of monumental im- for decportance,� Luzerne County ades into President Judge Thomas Burke said. “This year’s the fuelection has the potential ture.� to put in place 60 judicial Thomas Burke years. The impact these Luzerne County judges will have on the president judge court will be felt for decades into the future.� As the 16 candidates vying for the six seats attempt to make their mark, some political analysts have expressed concern that voters won’t take the
AIMEE DILGER/THE TIMES LEADER
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