Alaska: Pipeline repair, cleanup rises to $20 million

The cost of repairing the trans-Alaska pipeline and cleaning up a 286,000 gallon oil spill caused by a bullet hole has risen to $20 million, according to the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company.

Last October, Daniel Carson Lewis allegedly shot a hole in the pipeline north of Fairbanks with a .338-caliber rifle. He will stand trial in September.

The cleanup has almost been completed, officials say. Less than 1,000 gallons remain trapped in the gravel pad of the pipeline’s access road, said Kalu Kalu, Alyeska project manager.

About $6 million of the $20 million cleanup bill was for labor costs and another $6 million will go toward the treatment and recovery of crude collected from the contaminated soil, Kalu said.

The rest of the expense went toward equipment and remote camp costs.

New York: Post-trauma stress still afflicting N.Y.

One in three New York-area residents remain at risk for post-traumatic stress months after the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center, according to a Red Cross study released Sunday.

In addition, the study found, 43 percent have feelings of hopelessness or fear about the future, and 31 percent worry about the ongoing threat of terrorism and more deaths.

“Stress and trauma transcend geographic, ethnic and economic borders,” said Dr. Paul Ofman, Red Cross chairman of emergency services in New York.

On a more upbeat note, the survey found that 69 percent of New York area residents said they were “coping well” in the aftermath of the attacks that killed more than 2,800 people in Lower Manhattan.

The random telephone survey of 1,000 adult residents has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.

Tennessee: Lab tests substance found at fatal crash

Police said a crime lab would conduct tests on a bag suspected of containing marijuana that was found in the pants pocket of a day-care van driver, who died in a crash that also killed four children and critically injured two others.

The bag was found on Wesley Hudson, 27, as his body was being prepared for an autopsy, Deputy Police Chief Charles Cook said Friday. Cook said the autopsy will determine if Hudson had been smoking marijuana at the time of the crash on Thursday. Results could take weeks.

Hudson, who had a prior marijuana offense, and six children were in the Tippy Toes Learning Academy van when it smashed into the supports of a highway overpass on Interstate 240.

The two surviving children remained hospitalized in intensive care Friday.

New Mexico: Winds, lightning hamper battle against wildfire

Hundreds of firefighters worked on Saturday keep a 37,000-acre wildfire from spreading, despite gusty wind and lightning that were accompanied by only a little rain.

The fire in the Gila National Forest near Reserve was about 40 percent contained, unchanged from Friday.

Crews worked to clear brush and create a fire break around about 20 summer cabins in the Elk Springs subdivision, fire information officer Dave Wells said. The subdivision was about 3 to 4 miles northwest of the fire in southwestern New Mexico and no homes were in immediate danger, he said.

About 550 firefighters, plus 11 air tankers, two helicopters, 27 engines and six bulldozers were assigned to the blaze.

It was the state’s second large wildfire in less than a week.

Arizona: 26-car highway pileup blamed on dust storm

A dust storm caused a 26-vehicle pileup Saturday near Coolidge, but no serious injuries were reported, authorities said.

The crashes happened on a southern Arizona highway through an agricultural area where farming kicks up dust that can reduce visibility to zero, said Arizona Department of Public Safety officer Tom Larson.

The storm and accident caused authorities to close State Route 87 in both directions.