RE: Texas board votes down border nuclear dump - details

[BRZGV@CCMAIL.CECO.COM (Glen Vickers)]

Quote from article, "David Duggins, a spokesman for the state's utilities, said
the only
place that nuclear waste could now be stored was at a dump
in South Carolina. He told the commission that ``Texas has an
obligation, a moral and legal obligation'' to construct its own facility."


The last thing this country needs is for another waste site to steal volume from
Barnwell.  It is commendable that the fine folks in Texas would want to create
their own waste/cash repository for their region, but right now the continued
operation of Barnwell should be the primary national interest.  We must
recognize that Envirocare in Utah is already diverting much of Barnwell's
waste/cash.  There is an obvious lack of national leadership in the area of
radioactive waste.  The fine folks from South Carolina should be commended for
taking action and providing a viable waste option for the entire country.  The
continued operation of Barnwell is a national interest.

Please forward this to the White House.


Sincerely,
Glen Vickers
glen.vickers@ucm.com

-----Original Message-----
From:     "Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net> at INTERNET
Sent:     Friday, October 23, 1998 10:48 AM
To:     Multiple recipients of list <radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu> at INTERNET
Subject:     Texas board votes down border nuclear dump - details

AUSTIN, Texas, Oct 22 (Reuters) - A Texas commission voted on
Thursday to deny a crucial permit for a proposed nuclear waste
dump near the U.S.-Mexico border, making it unlikely the
controversial facility will be built.

The dump was opposed by environmentalists and the Mexican
government, who said the site at the west Texas town of Sierra
Blanca, 16 miles (26 km) from the Rio Grande, was not safe
because of a nearby geological fault.

The three-member Texas Natural Resource Conservation
Commission, the state's environmental regulators, voted
unanimously against the dump. Chairman Barry McBee said there
were enough doubts about the facility's safety to deny an operating
license.

``There is insufficient direct evidence about the fault. Without that
we cannot truly get a sufficient picture of how it would perform,'' he
said.

After the vote, a Mexican official told Reuters the Mexican
government was ``pleased by the decision of the Texas
commission.''

The commission's decision was a serious blow to the proposed
dump, but not a final one. Supporters, who include Texas' largest
utility companies, said they would likely ask for a rehearing by the
commission within the next 45 days.

``I'm surprised and disappointed. The science showed this was a
good site,'' said Lawrence Jacobi, general manager of the Texas
Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Authority, the state agency
that selected the proposed site.

The commission's vote was greeted by cheers from opponents,
who have waged a long battle against some of the state's most
powerful economic interests. They had accused dump supporters
of ``environmental racism'' because Sierra Blanca is a poor and
mostly Hispanic town.

``I feel my prayers have been answered. I was bracing myself for
another defeat,'' said Maria Mendez, a 66-year-old Sierra Blanca
resident - one of the few in the town of 500 who opposed the dump.
Most wanted it because it would bring jobs and money.

Sierra Blanca is in a harsh and sparsely populated region about 90
miles (144 km) east of El Paso, Texas.

David Duggins, a spokesman for the state's utilities, said the only
place that nuclear waste could now be stored was at a dump
in South Carolina. He told the commission that ``Texas has an
obligation, a moral and legal obligation'' to construct its own
facility.

The dump, utilizing concrete canisters buried 16 feet underground,
would have stored radioactive waste from hospitals,
industry and nuclear power plants in Texas, Maine and Vermont,
the latter two of which would have paid $55 million to Texas.
The U.S. Congress and President Clinton approved the compact
between the states this summer, which many thought would
clear the way for the dump's final permit.

But Mexican officials, including President Ernesto Zedillo, lobbied
hard against the permit in meetings with Texas Gov. George
W. Bush. So powerful were sentiments in Mexico that a group of
Mexican congressmen staged a hunger strike to protest the
dump.

Bush, considered a front-runner for the Republican presidential
nomination in 2000, cautiously took no stand except to say that
the dump would not be allowed if it was unsafe.

He said the decision would be left to the resource commission,
whose members are all Bush appointees.

------------------
Sandy Perle
Technical Director
ICN Dosimetry Division
ICN Plaza
3300 Hyland Avenue
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Office: (800) 548-5100 x2306
Fax:    (714) 668-3149

sandyfl@earthlink.net
sperle@icnpharm.com

ICN Dosimetry Website:
http://www.dosimetry.com

Personal Website:
http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/1205

"The object of opening the mind, as of opening
the mouth, is to close it again on something solid"
              - G. K. Chesterton -

The opinions expressed are solely, absolutely, positively, definitely those of
the author, and NOT my employer
************************************************************************
The RADSAFE Frequently Asked Questions list, archives and subscription
information can be accessed at http://www.ehs.uiuc.edu/~rad/radsafe.html <<
File: RFC822.TXT >>
************************************************************************
The RADSAFE Frequently Asked Questions list, archives and subscription
information can be accessed at http://www.ehs.uiuc.edu/~rad/radsafe.html