Pubdate: Mon, 21 Jul 2003
Source: Daily Press (VA)
Copyright: 2003 The Daily Press
Contact:  http://www.dailypress.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/585
Author: Patrick Lynch
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hemp.htm (Hemp)

HEMP CAR DRIVER IN NO RUSH FOR NEW TRIP

HAMPTON -- After driving 13,000 miles in three months in a hemp
biodiesel-fueled Mercedes, crammed with three other people, Grayson
Sigler still doesn't call himself an activist.

At best, he said, he's a "reluctant spokesperson."

Two years ago, the Hampton pianist and graphic designer set out on a
round-the-country trip to promote biodiesel fuel made from hemp seed
oil. The Daily Press featured his trip in August 2001, a month after
he started.

He estimated that the Hemp Car - as it came to be known - was seen or
heard of by 150 million people, based on the international media
attention and Web site visits it spawned. That certainly counts for
promoting the cause, but Sigler said that since he's returned, his
role in the hemp biodiesel movement has been mainly limited to
answering e-mail that comes via www.hempcar.org and answering phone
calls every now and then.

"I wasn't a hempster before doing this," said Sigler, who is 35 and
works as a self-employed Web and graphic designer. "I'm not a
Deadhead. It just seemed like a great idea. And we pulled it off."

The trip - which Sigler made with his wife, Kellie, and friends Scott
Furr and Charles Ruchalski - scored possibly its biggest media hit
when the Hemp Car made the cover of the Village Voice, a well-known
alternative weekly based in New York City. But the Web site continues
to draw - Sigler said it sometimes gets up to 100,000 hits some days.
The trip also spawned an imitator in Japan. A group there took a bus
on a similar trip and credits the U.S. Hemp Car on their Web site,
www.hempcar.jp.

The American version started with the car, a 1983 Mercedes-Benz
station wagon - a diesel - "the all-time greatest Mercedes-Benz ever
made," said Sigler of the car's reliability. Mix in the fact that any
diesel can run on alternative diesel fuels derived from peanut,
soybean and hemp seed oil. Finally, add a goal of promoting the
industrial uses of hemp. Sigler had himself a trip.

Production of hemp, a relative of marijuana, is banned in the United
States. But people like Sigler argue that its legalization could
provide a needed cash crop for farmers and the raw material for a
wealth of products - fuel, clothes, rope and food. A study by the U.S.
Department of Energy showed that biodiesel-fueled cars reduced the
emissions of air toxins and cancer-causing compounds by as much as 90
percent and the amount of hydrocarbons by 56 percent.

The car, decked out in colorful sponsors' ads, ran on legally made
fuel - because the hemp used to produce it was grown elsewhere. It got
about 27 miles to the gallon - the same as with regular diesel.

With four people inside, the four-door wagon was cramped at times, but
the trip was worth it, Sigler said.

"It was grueling, but it was great," he said, adding, "I haven't had a
burning urge to go out and do it again."

25 YEARS AGO. In 1781, Lord Cornwallis scuttled ships in the York
River before the Battle of Yorktown. A team of underwater
archaeologists wanted to find those ships in 1978. They hit the
jackpot in July when two shipwrecks were identified.

The team eventually identified nine shipwrecks that may have been
among those scuttled by Cornwallis. The best preserved of these wrecks
was excavated through the Yorktown Archaeology Shipwreck Project in
the 1980s.

The project was unique because of its cofferdam, the metal enclosure
built around the British ship. Water remained in the cofferdam during
excavation thanks to a filtration system that helped keep the water
relatively clear.

Funding proved an ongoing challenge for the project. Project leaders
ultimately secured enough funding to complete the excavation, but they
were unable to secure money to raise the ship.

The cofferdam was dismantled in 1990 and 1991, and the ship was
re-covered to help protect it. Artifacts from the ship are on display
at the Yorktown Victory Center.

10 YEARS AGO. Trouble was brewing on Chesapeake Avenue in July 1993.
Some residents proposed measures designed to cut down on traffic and
speeding on the road. These included making the road one-way and
adding stop signs.

Other residents were outraged by the plans because they would dump
more traffic onto smaller side streets, keep nonresidents from
enjoying the beautiful scenery and potentially eliminate motorists
from using the road to cross from Newport News to Hampton.

Hampton officials decided to take matters slowly. For the next several
years, various actions were taken to try and ease traffic on
Chesapeake Avenue, including stripping it of its truck route status,
taking out paved overlook areas and lowering the speed limit.

Measures continue to be tested on Chesapeake Avenue, including
10-foot-wide speed humps and extended curbs to narrow the road at
several points.

Controversy also continues. Many worry that the new traffic measures
are unsafe. No final solutions have been reached.

5 YEARS AGO. PrimeCo Personal Communications sued James City County in
1998. The company had asked the county to allow a 185-foot
communications tower off Route 5. They claimed the county's denial was
a violation of the federal Telecommunications Act of 1996. The county
argued that PrimeCo could provide its wireless service with a series
of shorter towers.

The suit was dismissed later that year due to an earlier federal
appeals court ruling that said local governments have the discretion
to deny towers. That removed much of the basis for PrimeCo's suit.

In 2000, CFW Communications Co. acquired PrimeCo's Virginia PCS
operations and changed the name to nTelos. That same year, stock
prices for the company hit record highs.

Things have changed for the company since then. NTelos filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this year, citing reasons
including an industry slump. Currently the company is working on a
reorganization plan, which was approved by a U.S. bankruptcy judge
this month. It hopes to re-emerge from its court protection by October.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin