Re: Press Release: "Battle rages in valley of the tortoises"

["Otto G. Raabe" <ograabe@ucdavis.edu>]

March 11, 1998
Davis, CA

Concerning the low level waste site at Ward Valley, CA:

Ward Valley is an enclosed valley that is separated from the Colorado River
by 20 miles and a granite mountain. The planned disposal is purposely
designed to be unlined to prevent water from resting around the dry waste
containers if there is ever enough rain water to drain downward through the
surface covering. Actually, with only an average of 3 inches of rain per
year, rain water rarely seeps deeper than the top three feet of soil. The
deep water table (about 800 feet) drains to a dry lake at the south end of
the valley. That drainage location is LOWER than the Colorado River. For
radioactive material to get from the waste site to the Colorado River would
require a Houdini release from the dry waste containers, transfer downward
about 800 feet to the water table, flow to the south end of the aquifer,
then flow up hill some 20 miles through a granite mountain. Anyway, some
people only need to be told that it is near the Colorado River to be
convinced that there is a serious risk.

Otto 
		*****************************************************
		Prof. Otto G. Raabe, Ph.D., CHP
                [President, Health Physics Society, 1997-1998]
		Institute of Toxicology & Environmental Health (ITEH)
		     (Street address: Old Davis Road)
		University of California, Davis, CA 95616
		Phone: 530-752-7754  FAX: 530-758-6140 [NEW AREA CODE]
		E-mail ograabe@ucdavis.edu