Cantwell criticizes nuclear waste loophole

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

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Debate Intensifies on Nuclear Waste 
Lawmakers in Affected States Press Bush Administration on Cleanup 

By Blaine Harden and Dan Morgan
Washington Post 
June 2, 2004 


RICHLAND, Wash. -- Using the nation's largest and leakiest nuclear waste
dump as a backdrop, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) complained last week
that the Bush administration is using a "sneaky" legislative maneuver to
avoid cleaning up Cold War-era poisons that are tainting groundwater
here and oozing into the Columbia River.

"They are trying to create a loophole in the definition of nuclear waste
big enough to drive a truck through and leave Washington state to deal
with a mess that we don't want," Cantwell said, echoing the worries of
state environmental officials who help monitor the federal Hanford
Nuclear Reservation here.

Cantwell's complaint will animate a debate expected this week on the
Senate floor. She and Sen. Ernest F. Hollings (D-S.C.) plan to lead an
effort to strip language out of the defense authorization bill that
would allow the Energy Department to leave some radioactive waste in
buried tanks -- rather than get it up and ship it off for entombment in Nevada.

The fight over nuclear waste, which involves Washington, Idaho and South
Carolina, has slowed debate on the nearly $450 billion annual defense
bill, which pays for everything from the Iraq war to multibillion-dollar
weapons systems.

A vote on the Cantwell-Hollings amendment could be close, with Democrats
lining up solidly against the Bush administration. Cantwell and her
supporters say they are courting several moderate Republicans who often
vote against the administration on environmental issues.

...

for the entire article, see
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7951-2004Jun1.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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