April 19, 2012 3:33 PM
Lawmaker wants papers on radioactive dump released
AUSTIN, Texas — A lawmaker said Monday he has confidential documents detailing state officials' concerns about possible groundwater contamination at a radioactive waste dump in West Texas, and is seeking official permission to release them.
State Rep. Lon Burnam wrote a letter to Attorney General Greg Abbott asking him to waive the confidentiality agreement for documents expressing the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality's concerns about Waste Control Specialists LLC's application to build the site in rural Andrews County near the New Mexico border.
Burnam, a Democrat from Fort Worth, said he obtained the documents under a 2009 open records request — and only after years of legal battles. He said he's not allowed to release what's in them but said they contain officials' concerns about the location of groundwater tables near the dump site; the margin of safety in the event of groundwater contamination; and the possible risk of public exposure to radiation.
Burnam also said other paperwork that can be released indicates water has already seeped into a buffer zone around the radioactive waste disposal facility.
The majority owner of Dallas-based Waste Control Specialists is Harold Simmons, who has donated generously to top Republicans, including Gov. Rick Perry. Burnam said he wasn't optimistic that he would get a favorable decision from Abbott, because "the attorney general has received over a half million dollars from ... billionaire Harold Simmons in the last five years."
"He's not the only one," Burnam said at a news conference at the state Capitol, "but he's the elected official in question today."
Abbott's office said it had yet to receive Burnam's letter and had no immediate comment.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has yet to give final approval on operating the dump site, but state lawmakers cleared the way for it with a new law passed during the last legislative session.
In a statement Monday, the commission said of approval, "we do believe the license, if issued, will be protective of human health and the environment."
It noted that two commission employees have been permanently assigned to the site and will be on duty when radioactive waste is received or disposed of, and that approximately 280 monitoring wells have been placed nearby. Those include wells that will allow "for detection of the presence or absence of groundwater in zones across and beneath the site that might provide a pathway for migration of radioactive contamination."
Anticipating final approval, Waste Control Specialists said it expects to begin burying radioactive waste at the site as early as the end of the month. But Burnam said he may sue to block approval of the dump site while he awaits a ruling from Abbott on releasing the confidential documents.
Waste Control Specialists spokesman Chuck McDonald dismissed Burnam's comments as a ploy for attention, and said they shouldn't stop the site's beginning operation.
McDonald said Burnam called Monday's news conference, "because we're opening and he's running for re-election."
Burnam gave journalists separate Waste Control Specialists documents in which the company told the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality that 23,000 gallons of water had been pumped out of temporary observation wells around the waste dumping site between November and the end of March.
Burnam said Waste Control Specialists characterized the water flow as "discontinuous and controlled, and that they're merely puddles and that they'll dry up."
"Well, November to now, that's not puddles," he said of repeated pumping.
Burnam noted the area for the dump site is in severe drought, meaning that if pumping is still necessary, the water that's there is likely groundwater seeping in from elsewhere.
"This is underground water migrating," Burnam said. "Where's the water coming from? We have a right to know this simple question and have it answered."
McDonald countered that the water is moisture that built up over decades and remained trapped underground due to the area's uneven topography. He added that some residential swimming pools alone contain more than 20,000 gallons of water.
In its own statement, McDonald's company said the disposal site "is one of the most geologically studied, characterized and analyzed spots on the planet. Lon is flat wrong to assert otherwise."
__
Eds: Associated Press Writer Betsy Blaney contributed to this report from Lubbock, Texas.
© 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505245_162-57416588/lawmaker-wants-papers-on-radioactive-dump-released/
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Company advances on plan for West Texas nuclear dump
(railcars loaded with MOUND COLD WAR NUCLEAR AFTER-BIRTH headed to Texas)
http://sciencebushwhacked.blogspot.com/2008/08/company-advances-on-plan-for-west-texas.html
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
TEXAS WINS TO BE NEXT BIG DUMPING GROUND FOR NUCLEAR WEAPONS RADIOACTIVE WASTE
(ANOTHER PHOTO OF MOUND COLD WAR NUCLEAR WASTE HEADED TO TEXAS, thanks to rick perry and gw) $$$
http://sciencebushwhacked.blogspot.com/2008/07/texas-wins-to-be-next-big-dumping.html
TSS
Lawmaker wants papers on radioactive dump released
AUSTIN, Texas — A lawmaker said Monday he has confidential documents detailing state officials' concerns about possible groundwater contamination at a radioactive waste dump in West Texas, and is seeking official permission to release them.
State Rep. Lon Burnam wrote a letter to Attorney General Greg Abbott asking him to waive the confidentiality agreement for documents expressing the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality's concerns about Waste Control Specialists LLC's application to build the site in rural Andrews County near the New Mexico border.
Burnam, a Democrat from Fort Worth, said he obtained the documents under a 2009 open records request — and only after years of legal battles. He said he's not allowed to release what's in them but said they contain officials' concerns about the location of groundwater tables near the dump site; the margin of safety in the event of groundwater contamination; and the possible risk of public exposure to radiation.
Burnam also said other paperwork that can be released indicates water has already seeped into a buffer zone around the radioactive waste disposal facility.
The majority owner of Dallas-based Waste Control Specialists is Harold Simmons, who has donated generously to top Republicans, including Gov. Rick Perry. Burnam said he wasn't optimistic that he would get a favorable decision from Abbott, because "the attorney general has received over a half million dollars from ... billionaire Harold Simmons in the last five years."
"He's not the only one," Burnam said at a news conference at the state Capitol, "but he's the elected official in question today."
Abbott's office said it had yet to receive Burnam's letter and had no immediate comment.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has yet to give final approval on operating the dump site, but state lawmakers cleared the way for it with a new law passed during the last legislative session.
In a statement Monday, the commission said of approval, "we do believe the license, if issued, will be protective of human health and the environment."
It noted that two commission employees have been permanently assigned to the site and will be on duty when radioactive waste is received or disposed of, and that approximately 280 monitoring wells have been placed nearby. Those include wells that will allow "for detection of the presence or absence of groundwater in zones across and beneath the site that might provide a pathway for migration of radioactive contamination."
Anticipating final approval, Waste Control Specialists said it expects to begin burying radioactive waste at the site as early as the end of the month. But Burnam said he may sue to block approval of the dump site while he awaits a ruling from Abbott on releasing the confidential documents.
Waste Control Specialists spokesman Chuck McDonald dismissed Burnam's comments as a ploy for attention, and said they shouldn't stop the site's beginning operation.
McDonald said Burnam called Monday's news conference, "because we're opening and he's running for re-election."
Burnam gave journalists separate Waste Control Specialists documents in which the company told the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality that 23,000 gallons of water had been pumped out of temporary observation wells around the waste dumping site between November and the end of March.
Burnam said Waste Control Specialists characterized the water flow as "discontinuous and controlled, and that they're merely puddles and that they'll dry up."
"Well, November to now, that's not puddles," he said of repeated pumping.
Burnam noted the area for the dump site is in severe drought, meaning that if pumping is still necessary, the water that's there is likely groundwater seeping in from elsewhere.
"This is underground water migrating," Burnam said. "Where's the water coming from? We have a right to know this simple question and have it answered."
McDonald countered that the water is moisture that built up over decades and remained trapped underground due to the area's uneven topography. He added that some residential swimming pools alone contain more than 20,000 gallons of water.
In its own statement, McDonald's company said the disposal site "is one of the most geologically studied, characterized and analyzed spots on the planet. Lon is flat wrong to assert otherwise."
__
Eds: Associated Press Writer Betsy Blaney contributed to this report from Lubbock, Texas.
© 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505245_162-57416588/lawmaker-wants-papers-on-radioactive-dump-released/
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Company advances on plan for West Texas nuclear dump
(railcars loaded with MOUND COLD WAR NUCLEAR AFTER-BIRTH headed to Texas)
http://sciencebushwhacked.blogspot.com/2008/08/company-advances-on-plan-for-west-texas.html
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
TEXAS WINS TO BE NEXT BIG DUMPING GROUND FOR NUCLEAR WEAPONS RADIOACTIVE WASTE
(ANOTHER PHOTO OF MOUND COLD WAR NUCLEAR WASTE HEADED TO TEXAS, thanks to rick perry and gw) $$$
http://sciencebushwhacked.blogspot.com/2008/07/texas-wins-to-be-next-big-dumping.html
TSS
