Latest Envirocare News

[Steven.Rima@DOEGJPO.COM (Steven Rima)]

     RADSAFERS,
     
     Below is the latest Salt Lake Tribune article on Envirocare. There is 
     now a website with all of the Tribune's Envirocare articles archived. 
     It is at:
     
     http://www.sltrib.com/archive/envirocare/index.htm
     
     Steven D. Rima, CHP
     Manager, Health Physics & Industrial Hygiene
     MACTEC-ERS, LLC
     steven.rima@doegjpo.com
     
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     Review: Envirocare Licenses Seem to Be in Order
     
                Decisions by Former Director Also Were Approved by Others
     
       BY JIM WOOLF
       THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
           
           A review of all state permits issued to Envirocare of Utah since 
     1988 has uncovered no ''major problems,'' said Bill Sinclair, director 
     of the Utah Department of Radiation Control. 
           During Friday's meeting of the Utah Radiation Control Board, he 
     discussed an 11-page summary of all of the permits, licenses and 
     license amendments issued to Envirocare for its Tooele County disposal 
     site for low-level radioactive waste. 
           Every decision made by former Radiation Control Director Larry 
     F. Anderson was reviewed by others in the agency, said Sinclair, 
     offering some assurance the process was done properly. 
           Envirocare owner Khosrow Semnani claimed in December that 
     Anderson extorted $600,000 from him during eight years. Anderson said 
     the two had a legitimate consulting agreement. The Utah Attorney 
     General's Office is investigating the affair. 
           This secret financial deal has raised questions about all the 
     decisions Anderson made regarding Envirocare. Sinclair said most of 
     the decisions made during Anderson's tenure will be open for  
     additional review during Envirocare's once-every-five-years 
     relicensing process, which is under way. A draft license is expected 
     to be released for public comment sometime within the next several 
     months. 
           The Radiation Control Board on Friday also scheduled a meeting 
     for April 4 to hear public comment on a proposal by the Skull Valley 
     Band of the Goshutes to allow the construction of a storage facility 
     for high-level radioactive waste on their Tooele County reservation. 
           Sinclair submitted a draft resolution opposing the facility, but 
     the board decided to take no action until after the hearing. Board 
     Chairman Robert J. Hoffman said he would oppose such a proposal.
     
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