Nuke free 2

DOE hopes to find incinerator moderates in Jackson Hole
Staunch opponents reject compromise and vow to fight the hazardous waste burner.
By Rachel Odell, Jackson Hole News 12-30-99

The general counsel for the U.S. Department of Energy wants a contingent of moderates to endorse the federal agency's plans to build a hazardous waste incinerator in Idaho. DOE general counsel Mary Anne Sullivan said she hoped to reassure Jackson Hole residents who oppose the incinerator, which will burn plutonium-contaminated waste, that the DOE would not endorse a plan that will harm the public. Opponents of the incinerator believe hazardous and radioactive emissions will travel on prevailing winds from Idaho to Jackson Hole. Sullivan was in Jackson earlier this month with Ellen Livingston, senior advisor to Energy Secretary Bill Richardson. Sullivan said her agency could not appease staunch incinerator opponents, but that it hopes to reach a compromise with moderates.

Can't please everyone

"I don't think we're going to satisfy those who want to stop the incinerator," Sullivan said "But I think we can please people who want some moderation." She said the agency is looking for people the community trusts to distribute information about the incinerator. "That would be the ideal result," she said, then added with a shrug, "Whether we get there or not ..."

Harmless incinerator

Sullivan was more confident that the incinerator will not harm people or the environment. Further, she said that incineration is the only proven way to treat some waste at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory near Idaho Falls. Any alternatives are not proven on a commercial scale, she said. "Environmentally, there are a lot of questions about whether some of the [experimental] alternatives are better than incineration," she said. "When you think about what's most desirable for the environment, the technology of incineration is well understood, it's proven."

Government arrogance

Attorney Gerry Spence, who is leading the lawsuit against the incinerator, blasted the attitude of the federal representatives. "It is this kind of government arrogance that says we have no way to change this, that the law is the law, and that we can do nothing," Spence said. "It is understandable why they are so arrogant. They are so hugely powerful that their resources are endless." Still the DOE wants to respond to the worries of Jackson Hole residents, she said. The agency has proposed establishing air monitor stations in Jackson Hole, creating an oversight committee, and establishing "real-life" monitoring whereby Jackson Hole residents could monitor the incinerator from here.

Poor choices

Those were weak substitutes that glossed over legitimate concerns about the incinerator, said Mary Mitchell, vice president of Keep Yellowstone Nuclear Free, a non-profit group that is a plaintiff in a lawsuit against the DOE intended to stop the incinerator. "To me one of the most significant things was that they came out here," Mitchell said. "But the conversations with them were difficult. There was very little middle ground. I always want to be seen as someone who will listen to both sides, and they made it very difficult to be unbiased."

Deadlines and alternatives

Ultimately, incineration is necessary to comply with a settlement agreement the federal agency has with the state of Idaho, she said. The DOE must begin shipping waste out of Idaho by 2002, which means it must prepare the waste for treatment as soon as possible, she said. About 65,000 cubic meters of radioactive and hazardous waste are slated for treatment. Of that, about 20 percent will require incineration. Incinerator opponents have suggested treating the other 80 percent first while searching for alternatives to incineration. Sullivan said that is not possible given deadlines on how long the waste can be stored at the INEEL. Further, the Environmental Protection Agency mandates that hazardous wastes must be incinerated. To exempt the hazardous waste at INEEL from incineration would require a change in EPA requirements, which would take too long, she said.

"In the bad old days the DOE spent a lot of time and energy trying to be exempted from environmental laws," Sullivan said. "Now the central component of environmental laws is putting on time limits. The question is whether the EPA is going to think changing requirements for PCB treatment is a good idea. We will press the EPA to make changes, but I have no confidence at this point what the time will be, and at this point, we have obligations to Idaho."

Change laws

Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance director Franz Camenzind also met the officials. He said he encouraged Sullivan and Livingston to work on changing the laws governing storage, treatment, and shipment of hazardous wastes. He said Livingston appeared willing to explore those options, but that Sullivan said the proposal is not possible. "I came out of the meeting feeling 50-50," Camenzind said. "If WIPP [the New Mexico site] is safe enough to store radioactive material, my guess is the place is safe enough to store hazardous materials such as PCBs. Rules are made and they could be changed."

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