And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Source: <A HREF="http://www.sltrib.com/03231999/utah/92454.htm"> http://www.sltrib.com/03231999/utah/92454.htm</A> ======================================================== March 23, 1999 Nuke Regulators Wimped Out, Watchdog Says By ROBERT GEHRKE THE ASSOCIATED PRESS A government watchdog group is taking the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to task for caving in to Atlas Corp.'s plan to cap 10.5 million tons of radioactive tailings 750 feet from the Colorado River. "The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has been acquiescing to Atlas Corp.'s efforts to limit the Moab site cleanup expense," said the report by the Project on Government Oversight, based in Washington, D.C. The report, being made public today, asks the NRC to stand up to Atlas, reject the Denver-based company's plan to cap the pile in place and transfer authority for the pile to the Department of Energy, which would have the resources to relocate the tailings. Federal legislation being sponsored by California Democratic Reps. Bob Filner and George Miller would make the jurisdictional switch allowing the pile to be moved. That action is supported by the Department of Interior, Gov. Mike Leavitt, the Utah Legislature and the state's congressional delegation. But Myron Fliegel, NRC proj-ect manager for the Atlas reclamation, said Monday the NRC cannot legally demand that Atlas relocate the pile. "If a licensee proposes to do something and it meets our safety requirements and is environmentally acceptable, even if it's not the best environmental solution, we have to grant that license," said Fliegel. As an agency, the NRC is neutral on whether to move the tailings, he said. An environmental impact statement earlier this month said that moving the pile might have less long-term impact, but cause greater short-term damage, by stirring dust and creating additional risks and costs. "It didn't try to balance those two uncomfortable conclusions," Fliegel said. Richard Blubaugh, Atlas vice president of environmental and governmental affairs, said the POGO report was "rife with misstatements and misrepresentations." "I don't feel that NRC ever made any special concessions to Atlas," said Blubaugh. "In sum, [the report] appears to be a document geared primarily to lobbying Congress for legislation." The tailings are the remnants of uranium mining for weapons proj-ects between 1947 and 1984. Atlas bought the plant from the government in 1962. What is left is a hill of sediment spread across 150 acres and standing 40 feet high. The pile is visible from a two-lane interstate that runs between the defunct mill and Arches National Park just north of Moab. A 1998 study by the Oak Ridge National Laboratories estimated that contaminants would leak into the river from the capped pile at a rate of 9,648 gallons per day for the next 270 years if no groundwater cleanup is done. Filner said that poses too much risk for the 25 million people downstream who rely on the river for drinking water. "This is an unacceptable sentence -- and would likely be a death sentence for many," said Filner. "I cannot sit idly by while polluters and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission inflict this on innocent people." But in a letter to a Moab resident last year, William Yellowtail, regional administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency for the Rocky Mountain area, said if the pile were capped, it would not pose a threat to drinking water, although aquatic life could still suffer. The threat to four endangered fish in the river prompted the Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) to issue a draft report that said capping the pile was an inadequate solution and it should be moved. The agency later changed its view, a move criticized by the watchdog group. Reed Harris, field supervisor for the FWS Salt Lake City office, which prepared the report, said when the draft was prepared his office thought it could require Atlas to move the pile. But later, the agency's attorneys agreed with NRC it could not. =================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------ If you like orange and blue, then you will love our new web site! http://www.onelist.com Onelist: Fostering connections and information exchange ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DOEWatch List --- Subscribe online: http://www.onelist.com/subscribe.cgi/doewatch"We have discovered the most terrible bomb in the history of the world. It may be the fire destruction prophesized in the Euphrates Valley Era, after Noah and his fabulous Ark. Anyway we think we have found the way to cause the disintegration of the atom." -Quote from Truman's diary July 25, 45 after Pottsdam and the "baby was born"""The Doctor of the future will give No Medicine, but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease."."-Attributed to Thomas Alva Edisonn"In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act"t"-George Orwell &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
