I'm not surprised this was a one-day wonder:
"Nuclear mishaps put disposal in limbo" by Jeri Clausing | Associated Press, March 01, 2014
The problem here is I have seen stories about this for weeks on the blogs and in the alternative media. And the Globe lets it leak on a Saturday, hoping it will cycle out?
CARLSBAD, N.M. — For 15 years the trucks have barreled past southeastern New Mexico’s potash mines and seemingly endless fields of oil rigs, hauling decades worth of plutonium-contaminated waste to what is supposed to be a safe and final resting place a half mile underground in the salt beds of the Permian Basin.
But back-to-back accidents and a never-supposed-to-happen above-ground radiation release that exposed at least 13 workers have shuttered the federal government’s only deep underground nuclear waste dump indefinitely. They have also raised questions about a cornerstone of the Department of Energy’s $5-billion-a-year program for cleaning up legacy waste scattered across the country from decades of nuclear bomb making.
The problems also highlight a lack of alternatives for disposing of tainted materials like tools, gloves, glasses, and protective suits from national labs in Idaho, Illinois, South Carolina, and New Mexico.
With operations at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant on hold, so are all shipments, including the last of nearly 4,000 barrels of toxic waste that Los Alamos National Laboratories has been ordered to remove from its campus by the end of June. The presence of that waste, some of which was dug up from decades-old, unsealed dumps in the northern New Mexico mountains and is now stored outside with little protection, came to the public’s attention three years ago as a massive wildfire lapped at the edges of the sprawling lab property.
US Senator Tom Udall of New Mexico, a Democrat, said getting the rest of the waste off the mesa before wildfire season begins is paramount, but that it is too soon to know if a temporary alternative site for storing the waste needs to be found.
Also on hold are tests to determine if the dump can expand its mission to take more than so-called lower level transuranic waste from the nation’s research facilities, including hopes by DOE that it can ship hotter, liquid waste from leaking tanks at Washington state’s Hanford nuclear waste site.
New Mexico Environment Secretary Ryan Flynn said the state will look closely at what caused the leak that exposed at least 13 workers and sent radiation into the air around the plant before deciding whether to back expansion plans.
Government officials, politicians, the contractors that run the mine, and local officials all say it is too soon to speculate on what the short- or long-term impacts of the shutdown might be, or where else the toxic waste would go. And they emphasize that all the safety systems designed to react to worst-case scenarios worked.
The propaganda pre$$ is beginning to sound like a broken record, and I'm sick of it.
‘‘A lot of people are just jumping up and down and wanting us to shut down,’’ said Farok Sharif, of the Nuclear Waste Partnership that runs WIPP. ‘‘But that’s not the case here. We’ve designed this facility to look at these types of accidents and we’ve planned on making sure that we continue to protect our employees.’’
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Related:
Reports: Plutonium can escape from unfiltered shafts at WIPP — ‘Freakish’ accident “could have long-term effects” — “Anxiety coursing among the people” — ‘Nuke industry profiteers’ tell us “don’t worry, it’s safe… one of deadliest substances known to man” — Future of dump in jeopardy
Now go back to $leep, America!
Also see: Deja Fu Friday
Yeah, nothing to worry about there, either.
And now the fart-mi$ting paper is talking up coal ash!
"Coal ash getting new life; Recycling raises some concerns" by Mitch Weiss and Michael Biesecker | Associated Press, March 01, 2014
MONCKS CORNER, S.C. — Inside pits containing 1.7 million tons of coal ash at the Jefferies Generating Station, the hydraulic arm of a big orange excavator scooped up the toxic gray sludge and dropped it into the back of a dump truck.
Once loaded, the truck drove down a muck-covered road from the Santee Cooper power plant, located about 30 miles north of Charleston, to a nearby factory where the water-logged ash is dried out and used to make concrete.
Just across the state line in North Carolina, where a massive Feb. 2 spill from a Duke Energy dump coated 70 miles of the Dan River in toxic sludge, top officials have suggested this very type of ash-removal operation in South Carolina and other states could be dangerous.
Specialists say that is not the case.
At sites across the country, coal ash dumped decades ago is dug up and recycled to make concrete, asphalt, and other building products.
In Wisconsin, for example, the utility We Energies is recycling ash for use in an interstate construction project.
‘‘There is more and more interest in using the ponded ash as it becomes obvious those older unlined ponds are probably going to be facing some kind of regulation in the not-so-distant future,’’ said Thomas Adams, executive director of the American Coal Ash Association, an industry group funded by utility companies that include Duke.
Following a massive coal ash spill in Kingston, Tenn., five years ago, the US Environmental Protection Agency has been developing regulations for how coal ash can be disposed of.
Has it really been five years since that happened?
The agency is set to issue those rules in December.
For decades, utilities have looked for commercial uses for coal ash, a byproduct of coal-fired electricity generation that includes poisons such as arsenic, lead, and mercury.
About half of the more than 100 million tons of coal ash created each year in the United States is recycled for uses federal officials have deemed safe as long as the toxic materials are encapsulated in the finished products.
Is there anyone out there that trusts what federal officials say anymore?
Duke, the nation’s largest electricity company, has a program seeking beneficial uses for its waste.
Yup, even this is ALL ABOUT INDU$TRY making a BUCK!
Depending on its quality, coal ash can be sold for as much as $40 a ton, enough to cover the cost of hauling it away.
But there has always been more ash created by the nation’s utilities than demand to use it. As a result, decades of waste has ended up in pits and mounds, typically next to coal-fired power plants.
And those plants, which need large amounts of water to make steam, are located next to rivers and lakes.
North Carolina Environmental Secretary John Skvarla suggested last week it would be unwise for his agency to force the removal of Duke’s leaky coal ash pits without long and careful study.
‘‘There are environmental scientists who say that is the worst thing that could happen to the environment,’’ Skvarla said.
‘‘The answer is nobody knows at this point in time.’
Governor Pat McCrory, who worked for Duke Energy for 28 years prior to becoming governor, echoed similar worries.
State officials were later unable to provide an example or academic study showing the removal of coal ash has harmed the environment.
Dennis Lemly, a biologist for the US Fish and Wildlife Service who has studied the long-term impacts of coal ash pollution, said that is because there are none.
‘‘What’s the worst that could happen?’’ Lemly said. ‘‘Spilling a dump truck full of ash is nothing like spilling a couple hundred million cubic yards of ash into a river.’’
Which has been done!
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Of course, just as the spill North Carolina was never mentioned in my Globe, the situation in West Virginia didn't merit a referral in the above article.
"Coal ash disaster exposes problem with N.C. permits" Associated Press, March 04, 2014
RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina regulators have cited five more Duke Energy power plants for lacking required storm water permits after a massive spill at one of the company’s coal ash dumps coated 70 miles of the Dan River in toxic sludge.
The state Department of Environment and Natural Resources said Monday that Charlotte-based Duke had been issued formal notices of violation for not having the needed permits, which are required to legally discharge rainwater draining from its plants into public waterways.
Two other violations were issued Friday against the Dan River Steam Station in Eden, site of the Feb. 2 spill.
The company could face hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines for the violations.
State regulators indicated they had been aware since at least 2011 that some Duke facilities lacked the required storm water permits, yet took no enforcement action until after last month’s disaster.
That's AmeriKan government all over, and which is why you should question and be suspicious of anything they offer that is preemptive or allegedly good for you.
Such a permit may have required testing and inspections that could have given early warning something was wrong with the pipe running under the huge coal ash dump at Eden before it collapsed.
Then it is also corporate and state negligence, isn't it?
Tests performed on the water draining from a nearby pipe after the spill showed high concentrations of arsenic, an indicator that contaminated groundwater was leaking from the dump above.
That stuff will kill you!
The violations were issued three days after The Associated Press filed a public records request for a copy of Duke’s storm water permit for the Dan River plant.
Oh, the government was engaged in total damage control after cooperating and being $ub$ervient to indu$try, huh?
The agency responded that no such permit existed.
Duke Energy did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.
The five new violations were issued against Belews Creek Steam Station in Rockingham County, Cliffside Steam Station in Rutherford County, Lee Steam Electric Plant in Wayne County, Roxboro Steam Electric Power Plant in Person County, and Sutton Steam Electric Plant in New Hanover County.
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I'm drained for today, readers. Sorry.
