″Fire ants appear to be attracted to electrical equipment and can cause shorts by chewing through insulation and by crowding into spaces around electrical contacts,″ the statement said. The impact statement, totaling some 10,000 pages, said the Texas site, near Waxahachie, is in an area infested with fire ants and that local residents report it has caused numerous problems with the operation of home and farm equipment. Warranting a special look, said the DOE in a 26-pound final environmental impact statement, are the design of electrical facilities and other underground components to prohibit fire ant infestation construction practices to protect workers from the ant’s painful sting and an environmentall y sound pesticide policy.
The Department of Energy says additional studies may be needed to evaluate the effect of the venomous fire ant, which has defied scientists’ attempts at eradication for decades, on the giant, underground facility that researchers hope will give new insights into the nature of matter. WASHINGTON (AP) _ Fire ants, infamous for chewing through underground power cables, have nibbled their way to the attention of federal scientists evaluating the Texas farmland designated as the site for the $4.4 billion super collider physics project.
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