5 Yrs. After Pledge, 10 M Tons Of Low-Level Waste Sits On Colorado's Banks

[hatrack]

MOAB, Utah – "Then-U.S. Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson thought he'd won a huge environmental victory in January 2000 when he stood by the banks of the Colorado River and announced that 10 million tons of radioactive waste nearby would be moved. "It's the right thing for the environment," he said, emphasizing that moving the pile was the only sure way to protect the river and the more than 20 million people in three states who depend on it for their water. Five years later, the pile remains intact, leaking 15,000 gallons of toxic chemicals into the river a day, according to the U.S Department of Energy.

Federal officials say the discharge poses no immediate danger to drinking water because the toxicity is diluted over the river's meandering thousand-mile course south toward San Diego County, which gets two-thirds of its water from the Colorado. They also point out that cleanup efforts in recent years have slowed the seepage, which once was as high as 28,000 gallons a day. But five governors, plus environmentalists and water users, many of whom have worked for decades to get the pile moved and thought a deal had been struck to do so, are warning of a more serious danger: that a cataclysmic flood could wash the entire pile into the river.

EDIT

Under legislation signed by former President Clinton, the Energy Department was directed to move the pile and clean up the groundwater. But under the Bush administration, the project has languished with minimal funding and little progress on developing a final plan. In November, the Energy Department was expected to announce whether it preferred to move the pile or leave it in place. Instead of taking a position, however, it offered up the same four scenarios that have been talked about for years.

Two of those scenarios call for the pile to be dug up and buried in remote areas up to 30 miles from Moab, where there's no potential for groundwater contamination. The natural terrain in those sites, along with a synthetic liner, would capture leakage. A third option is to pipe the pile's contents – a gray crud with the consistency of toothpaste – 85 miles to a commercial mill that disposes of radioactive materials. The fourth option would leave the pile in place and cover it with an impermeable clay material. Rocks and boulders would be added to prevent erosion by the river."

EDIT

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20050213-9999-1n13pile.html