Retired ‘Laser’ Physicist Concerned Over Bridge Collapse In Tornillo
Tornillo, Texas: Land of tractors, big skies and big farms.
Five years ago, retired White Sands physicist Bill Peterson, 80, who worked on lasers for President Reagan’s ‘Star Wars’ program, decided to get himself a slice of the quiet life in the form of his own pecan farm.
Then, he was hit with some of life’s setbacks.
First, cancer and surgery left him under doctor’s care to this day.
And now, the small bridge leading in and out of his property washed away, leaving him worried.
“If I have to have an ambulance or something, how are they gonna get in?” Peterson told ABC-7.
Neighbor Debbie Brenzovich said Peterson?s only other option is a mile-and-a-half drive to another bridge.
That would be a three mile roundtrip for emergency crews to reach him.
“But if it rains,” she said. “It’s gonna be hard for him to get out.”
Peterson said his bridge used to see a lot of traffic, mostly from Border Patrol agents who sometimes haul large lookout towers to the Mexico line.
But he doesn’t blame them for the bridge’s collapse.
Peterson said this close to the Juarez valley, he knows the agents need to do their job.
“With all the trouble in Mexico, you don’t know what kind of people are out there,” Peterson said. “I understand there are some pretty bad guys.”
The bridge itself is the responsibility of the Hudspeth County Conservation and Reclamation District.
They told ABC-7 the bridge can’t be fixed until they agency shuts down the canal in December.
Otherwise, they say, all Tornillo farmers will suffer.
Hudspeth county added they do have heavy machinery that would be able to reach Peterson in the event of a major emergency.
The Border Patrol said they also have emergency medical technicians on-staff should he call them.
Peterson told ABC-7 though his PhD is in physics and not engineering, he can’t imagine why a temporary bridge-fix is out of the question.
“I don’t think it would be too much,” he said. “Just get a few large beams. Just build a bridge.”
