Energy Dept. vs. six states

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

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Energy balks at cleanup of some waste

States: Agency seeks to ease rules on treating high-level material

Thursday, April 8, 2004

By H. JOSEF HEBERT
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON -- The Energy Department is threatening to withhold $350
million that was to pay for disposal of some of the most dangerous
radioactive waste from Cold War bomb making. First, it says, Congress
and state officials must accept a cleanup plan already rejected in court.

The issue has pitted Washington and five other states against the Bush
administration -- raising concern that some of the millions of gallons
of highly radioactive waste that is supposed to be solidified and buried
by the government may, in fact, remain in place.

"It's never a pretty picture when an administration is using blackmail,
and it's even worse when they're using high-level (radioactive) waste as
a weapon," Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., said yesterday. "It's time for the
federal government to step up to the plate and do the job."

On Capitol Hill and in the states facing the cleanup task, critics are
accusing the Energy Department of trying to force states to accept
less-stringent cleanup standards to save money and finish the job more
quickly. The department argues that some of the waste has a low enough
level of radioactivity that it can be covered with concrete and left in place.

Officials in Washington and other states have been trying to draft
legislation on this matter that would appease the administration while
still maintaining their oversight role, said Sheryl Hutchison, a
spokeswoman for the Washington state Ecology Department.

Language was recently submitted to the Energy Department, Hutchison
said, but she did not know if officials there had responded.

...

for the entire story, see
http://p-i.com/cgi-bin/pimail.asp?uid=24455&url=national/168169_nuke08.html



--


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org

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