Group to appeal ruling on nuclear waste dump
Group to appeal ruling on nuclear waste dump: "
Posted on Fri, Nov. 18, 2005
Group to appeal ruling on nuclear waste dump
Sierra Club says Barnwell County landfill isn?t using latest technology to prevent leaks
By SAMMY FRETWELL
Staff Writer
A decision to let one of the nation?s few atomic waste dumps continue operating has been upheld by a judge in Columbia.
The Sierra Club says it will appeal the ruling to the Department of Health and Environmental Control board. The club argues the 34-year-old Barnwell County landfill isn?t using the latest technology to prevent nuclear waste leaks.
Whatever decision the DHEC board reaches, further appeals are expected that could delay final resolution of the dispute for months or even years. The agency?s staff signed off on a new license for the landfill in 2004.
The 235-acre landfill, which accepts the nation?s low-level atomic waste, has for decades been a source of intense debate in the legislature and at the state?s environmental agency. It generates millions of dollars for the state?s treasury, but critics say it poses environmental threats to groundwater.
It is scheduled to close to the nation in 2008 but will continue operating for low-level waste from South Carolina, New Jersey and Connecticut.
Low-level nuclear waste ranges from lightly contaminated medical equipment to more radioactive pieces of atomic power plants. The Barnwell County dump opened in 1971. It is operated by Chem-Nuclear Systems LLC, a subsidiary of Duratek Inc.
In his ruling last month, Administrative Law Judge John Geathers agreed with environmentalists that tighter pollution controls are available, but he didn?t receive ?competent evidence? that existing burial practices are inadequate.
Geathers said Chem-Nuclear has taken action in the past decade to improve technology at the landfill following a tritium leak. Tritium, a potentially deadly radioactive material, was found in groundwater beneath the site in 1978. It since has been found off the site, but at lower levels.
?It is not enough to merely show that DHEC has not required, and Chem-Nuclear has not employed, the most protective or most isolating methods of radioactive waste disposal currently available,?? Geathers wrote in his October ruling.
The dispute centers on how tightly sealed nuclear waste is for burial. It currently is buried in concrete casks, but those casks have holes in them to let water drain out. Environmentalists want sealed vaults for the waste and better methods to keep rainwater from getting into burial trenches.
Jimmy Chandler, an attorney for the Sierra Club in South Carolina, said his group?s appeal makes sense. It is the first appeal of a DHEC permit for the Barnwell landfill in state history.
?Most people, when they hear about this place burying it in concrete vaults, think it?s pretty safe ... but all the vaults have holes in the bottom, and the sides are not grouted to keep them waterproof,?? Chandler said.
Chem-Nuclear spokeswoman Deborah Ogilvie said her company was pleased with Geathers? ruling. Company officials say the burial practices are safe.
The Associated Press contributed to this story. Reach Fretwell at (803) 771-8537 or sfretwell@thestate.com.
"
Posted on Fri, Nov. 18, 2005
Group to appeal ruling on nuclear waste dump
Sierra Club says Barnwell County landfill isn?t using latest technology to prevent leaks
By SAMMY FRETWELL
Staff Writer
A decision to let one of the nation?s few atomic waste dumps continue operating has been upheld by a judge in Columbia.
The Sierra Club says it will appeal the ruling to the Department of Health and Environmental Control board. The club argues the 34-year-old Barnwell County landfill isn?t using the latest technology to prevent nuclear waste leaks.
Whatever decision the DHEC board reaches, further appeals are expected that could delay final resolution of the dispute for months or even years. The agency?s staff signed off on a new license for the landfill in 2004.
The 235-acre landfill, which accepts the nation?s low-level atomic waste, has for decades been a source of intense debate in the legislature and at the state?s environmental agency. It generates millions of dollars for the state?s treasury, but critics say it poses environmental threats to groundwater.
It is scheduled to close to the nation in 2008 but will continue operating for low-level waste from South Carolina, New Jersey and Connecticut.
Low-level nuclear waste ranges from lightly contaminated medical equipment to more radioactive pieces of atomic power plants. The Barnwell County dump opened in 1971. It is operated by Chem-Nuclear Systems LLC, a subsidiary of Duratek Inc.
In his ruling last month, Administrative Law Judge John Geathers agreed with environmentalists that tighter pollution controls are available, but he didn?t receive ?competent evidence? that existing burial practices are inadequate.
Geathers said Chem-Nuclear has taken action in the past decade to improve technology at the landfill following a tritium leak. Tritium, a potentially deadly radioactive material, was found in groundwater beneath the site in 1978. It since has been found off the site, but at lower levels.
?It is not enough to merely show that DHEC has not required, and Chem-Nuclear has not employed, the most protective or most isolating methods of radioactive waste disposal currently available,?? Geathers wrote in his October ruling.
The dispute centers on how tightly sealed nuclear waste is for burial. It currently is buried in concrete casks, but those casks have holes in them to let water drain out. Environmentalists want sealed vaults for the waste and better methods to keep rainwater from getting into burial trenches.
Jimmy Chandler, an attorney for the Sierra Club in South Carolina, said his group?s appeal makes sense. It is the first appeal of a DHEC permit for the Barnwell landfill in state history.
?Most people, when they hear about this place burying it in concrete vaults, think it?s pretty safe ... but all the vaults have holes in the bottom, and the sides are not grouted to keep them waterproof,?? Chandler said.
Chem-Nuclear spokeswoman Deborah Ogilvie said her company was pleased with Geathers? ruling. Company officials say the burial practices are safe.
The Associated Press contributed to this story. Reach Fretwell at (803) 771-8537 or sfretwell@thestate.com.
"
posted by Greta Jane at Saturday, November 19, 2005
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