WB_VOICE - CVDAILY - 2 - 08/11/10 WB_VOICE/PAGES [T02] 08/10/10 23:00 SUPERIMPWB INSIDE TODAY’S VOICE LOTT ERY NUM BERS COMPLETE WEATHER DATA ON PAGE 39 Drilling meeting in N.Y. postponed Thousands were expected to attend a stadium-style hearing on a landmark study of natural gas drilling. Page 12 Political figure dies in Alaska plane crash Amphibious plane car- rying former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, four others, crashes into mountainside. Page A1 Scranton business cutting back Diversified may shed jobs. Page A3 Out & About The Wilkes-Barre Farmers Market goes to the kids. Page 23 ON THE COVER Former President Bill Clinton waves to the crowd after speaking at Scranton High School on Tuesday. (JASON FARMER / TIMES-SHAMROCK) Daily Number Day: 500 Daily Number Night: 78 2 Big 4 Day : 6320 Big 4 Nig ht: 991 0 Quint o Day: 54369 Quin to Nigh t: 3262 1 Treasure Hunt: 1, 12, 18, 22, 25 Cash 5: 13, 14, 17, 31, 37 (ISSN 1070-8626) USPS 450-590 The Citizens’ Voice is published daily by Times-Shamrock, 75 N. Washington St., Wilkes- Barre, PA 18711. Periodicals postage is paid at Wilkes-Barre, PA. Additional mailing offices: Send address changes to The Citizens’ Voice, 75 N. Washington St., Wilkes-Bar re, PA 1871 1. 1-year, Luzerne County, $239.20. INDEX Almanac 39 Advice 16 Birthdays 1 7 Business A3 Cl as si fi e d A7 -1 6 Comics 20-22 E di to ri a ls 14-15 Horoscope 16 National A1 P ub l ic no ti c es A7 Puzzles 22 Sports 29 Stocks A4 Television 16 T own Crier 23 OBITUARIES BUTCOFSKI, Eleanor CASCIANI, Samuel H. KACHALA, Victor ia G. LASTOSKY, Ethel A. LEWIS, Malvi na LICATA, Fred S. MANCINI, Suzann e T. Fanti McANDREW, Cecilia A. McGUIRE, Patric ia Diane PAYSON, Dora M. RYNKIEWICZ, Robert John SCAVONE, Rolland SPERLAZZO, Angelo P. WEST, Raynor Obituarie s, pages 24-26 THE CITIZENS’ VOICE FILE Freon leak puts power plant on alert By Patrick Sweet Staff Writer SALEM TWP. — A Freon leak forced the partial evac- uation Tue sday of Unit 1 of the Susquehanna Nuclear Pow er Plant. At 9:22 a.m., plant opera- tor PPL declared an “alert” and notified surroundi ng municipalities of the event, according to PPL and Luzerne County’s Emergen- cy Management Agency. An “alert” — the second- lowest of four emergenc y classifications — means the le akwas an“actu alor pot en- tial” risk to plant safety but included very small or no radioacti ve material,accord- ing to the Nuclear Regulato- ry Commission’s website. In this case, PPL said no radioactive material was involved but the area con- tains “plantsafety systems.” The Freon, a refrigerant, l e a k e d from the chilling system in Unit 1’s r e a c t o r building, P P L spokesper- sonJoseph Scopelliti said. Thechill ing sys tem, a glo - rified air conditioner , is used to cool the reactor building. “Plant employees are investigating the cause of the leak,” Scopell iti said, “while focusing on stopping the leak and getting the Fre- on out of that area of the reac tor buil dingthroughthe plant’s ventilationsystem.” Neil Sheehan, a NRC spokesman, said workers with air packs were enter- ing the building to work on the leak. Breathing large amounts of Fre on fo r shortperi od s of time can affect the nervous system, causing dizziness , lack of coordinat ion and irregul ar heart bea t, accor d- ing to the U.S. Environmen- tal Protecti on Agency . PPL eva cuat ed thereactor building, but not the entire plant. “There have been no inju- ries,” Scopelliti said. “All plant workers have been safely accounted for .” About 10 p.m., Miriam Myli n, spok esw oman for the Susquehanna plant, said “work is goi ng we ll. ” “The leak has been signif- icantly diminished,” she sai d in a pre par ed rel eas e. PPL transitioned to its back-up chiller system once the leak was identified. The back-up is a 100 percent redundantsystem, Scopellit i sai d, mea ning it can ope rat e identically to the main unit. The backup chilling system allo ws PPL to continue oper- ating Unit 1 at full power. Unit 2 was not effected by theFreonleak. Stephen Bekanich, emer- gency management coordi- nator for Luzerne County , said the situation is similar to an event on Oct. 27, 2008. In that event, high nitrogen levels forced plant employ- ees to evacuate Unit 2’s pump room. The amount of nitrogen created an oxygen- deficient environment . Tuesda y’s “alert” came only six days after PPL brought Unit 1 back online after flooding shut it down forroughly 20 da ys . The NRC was monitoring PPL’s response to Tuesday’s Freon alert . K ENT JACKSON, staff writer, con- tributed to this report. [email protected], 570-821-211 7 Court notes 27 FOR THE RECORD Mega Millions results appear on page 8. TODAY’S FORECAST WILKES-BARRE EXTENDED FORECAST Forecast s and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2010 Sunshine and some clouds today. Winds north 4-8 mph. Partly cloudy tonight. Winds east 3-6 mph. 89 63 82 65 Average normal highs/lows for the week: 81/61: A thun- derstorm in the area tomorrow afternoon. Winds south 4-8 mph. Clouds and sun Friday. Winds east-southeast 6-12 mph. Sunshine and patchy clouds Saturday. T HURSDAY A t-storm in spots Lastyear: 83/65 78 62 FRIDAY Clouds and sun 80/65 83 66 SAT URDAY Mostly sunny 83/63 85 66 SUNDAY T-storms possible 85/63 85 64 MONDAY A t-storm possible 88/63 Delivered live to the pagers, cellphones and e-mail of read- ers moments later. NEWS FLASH Tuesda y @ Tuesday @ 10: 38 a. m. 10:38 a.m. FIRST REPORTED CITIZENSVOICE.COM Inmate in prison beating remains in critical condition By Joe McDonald Staff Writer Fourmonths befor e Nicho- lasPintowas nea rl y sto mpe d to death at the Lackawanna Cou ntyPriso n, a pri estwrote a letter to the county com- missioners warning he feare d for the safety of the inmate awaiting sentencing on federal pornography charges, who he said had been sexually assaulted and wasa “li kel y tar get .” On Sunday, the Rev. Wil- liam B. Pick- ard’s fears turned into reality inside the protecti ve custody sec- tion of Delta Unit. Inaflashof v i o l e n c e inflicted by another inmate, Pinto’s head was repeatedly stomped, leaving him in the intensive care unit at Com- munity Medical Center , where he remained in criti- cal condition Tuesday. Pickard, known for championing the rights of inmat es at the county pris- on, held his head in his hand and his eyes began to tea r Tue sda y whe n he tal ked abo ut Pint o andhis let ter . “I did all I could do,” he said, referring to the letter da tedMarc h 30.In the let ter, Pickard said, “Please seri- ously consider transferrin g the victim of mistreatment, Pinto , to anoth er correct ional facility . His outspokenness makes hima lik el y tar get of sever e institution al retalia- tion.” No charges had been filed in the assault on Pinto and city detectives were still inter viewi ng priso n staff and inmat es on Tue sda y in wha t author ities hav e descri bed as an attem ptedhomici de case . Pinto Simonson The PPL Susquehanna Steam Electric Station in Salem Town- ship as seen from Bell Bend Road. A Freon leak on Tuesday forced the partial evacuation of Unit 1 of the Susquehanna Nuclear Power Plant. SEE PRISON, PAGE 26 2 T H E C I T I Z E N S ’ V O I C E W E D N E S D A Y , A U G U S T 1 1 , 2 0 1 0