[CPEO-MEF] Energy Department agrees to move Colorado River radwaste

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

News Release
American Rivers

Conservationists Applaud Colorado River Protection Decision

April 6, 2005

WASHINGTON, April 6 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Conservationists applauded Energy
Secretary Samuel Bodman's announcement today that the Department of
Energy intends to remove 12 million tons of radioactive waste from its
current high-risk location on the banks of the Colorado River outside
Moab, Utah. In April 2004, American Rivers named the Colorado River is
the number 1 most endangered river in America, citing this and other
pollution problems along the river. According to the Department of
Energy, work could begin as early as the summer of 2005 and will take
about ten years to complete. The estimated cost of the work will be
around $400 million.

Rebecca R. Wodder, president of American Rivers, released the following
statement: 

"This is great news for both the people of Utah and the 25 million
Americans who get their drinking water from the Colorado River
downstream of the Atlas site. 

"The people of the southwest will be able to sleep a little easier once
the ticking atomic time bomb sitting on the banks of the Colorado River
has been defused.

"It's taken about ten years to get to this point, but Secretary Bodman
and the Department of Energy appear to have committed to doing this
right. 

"Today's announcement is a reminder that there is power in a movement,
when Americans get together and raise their voices, our leaders respond. 

"Although this a very promising development, serious threats and
questions still hang over the Colorado River. 

"Communities along the lower Colorado River continue to struggle with
high levels of nitrates in their groundwater. People all across America
continue to be exposed to the toxic chemical perchlorate, which leaches
into the river near Las Vegas, Nevada. The Bush administration continues
to look the other way as polluters flout the Clean Water Act and other
environmental laws. 

"We applaud Secretary Bodman for his leadership and call on his
colleagues in the Bush administration and on Capitol Hill to live up to
the example he has set." 



For the original press release, go to
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=45469

-- 


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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