Radioactive Waste Threatens Lakes Erie and Ontario

Public Comment Period Needs Your Voice

A coalition of groups is calling for the clean-up of a radioactive waste site that threatens the health of Lakes Erie and Ontario and the people that live in communities along the shores. In the 1960's, Nuclear Fuel Services began dumping radioactive waste and reprocessing nuclear fuel in 20-30 foot deep trenches in West Valley, New York, a small farming community 50 miles south of Buffalo. There are numerous personal accounts of accidents, mishandling of high-level wastes and bad planning. One of the most notable of these incidents took place in 1974 when water filled up the trenches, burst through the trench caps and flowed into surrounding streams that run into Cattaraugus Creek, through Zoar Valley and the Reservation of the Seneca Nation of Indians, into Lake Erie, upstream from the water intake for Buffalo and other major cities in the US and Canada.

The Coalition on West Valley Nuclear Waste, joined by Citizen's Environmental Coalition, Center for Health, Environment and Justice, and Nuclear Information and Resource Center, have been watch dogging numerous radioactive leaks over the past 30 years and are demanding the long-term safety of the site. They are now asking for your help. A public comment period is being held by the U.S. Department of Energy and New York State Energy Research and Development Authority to solicit comments on whether to remove the waste site-wide, enclose the waste at the site, do a small clean-up and put off further decision making for at least another 30 years, or do nothing at. Members of the coalition have provided testimony and submitted comments in support of site-wide removal and need your help submitting similar comments to sway decision makers into choosing the most responsible option. Some points to consider when submitting comments include:

• Site-wide removal is the only option that provides a permanent and safe solution by removing radioactive waste from a site with serious erosion problems, earthquake hazards, and a sole source aquifer. Scientists found the site poses a significant danger to Buffalo residents and to people who live along nearby creeks and the shores of Lakes Erie and Ontario. If just 1% of radioactivity leaked from the site, Lake Erie water users would be exposed to substantial radiation, causing hundreds of cancer deaths, as well as water replacement in Buffalo and Erie Counties costing hundreds of millions of dollars.
• Site-wide removal is the only option that prevents catastrophic releases which could pollute Lakes Erie and Ontario and nearby community drinking water, harm public health and cost billions of dollars to contain and clean up. Additionally, this option significantly lowers health risks to nearby communities by ensuring the area is completely contamination-free in 64 years.
• Site-wide removal provides the most cost-effective approach over the long term according to a recent study. An independent, state-funded study, The Real Costs of Cleaning Up Nuclear Waste: A Full Cost Accounting of Cleanup Options for the West Valley Nuclear Waste Site, revealed leaving buried waste at the site is both high risk and expensive while a waste excavation cleanup presents the least risk to a large population and the lowest cost. Over a period of 1000 years, researchers estimate the cost of waste excavation to be $9.9 billion compared to $13 billion for onsite burial without containment issues. This number soars to $27 billion if a catastrophic release occurs.

We hope you will consider submitting comments by June 8th in support of a full cleanup to:

Mail:
Attn: Catherine Bohan
EIS Document Manager
West Valley Demonstration Project, U.S. Department of Energy
P.O. Box 2368
Germantown, MD 20874

Fax: 866-306-9094

Web: www.westvalleyeis.com/comment.htm

For more information, contact Anne Rabe, BE SAFE Campaign, Center for Health, Environment, and Justice at annerabe@msn.com