TCEQ To Put More Nuclear Waste Over Ogallala Aquifer

(This map showing the location of the Texas nuclear waste dump is from dmnewsi.com.)

The Republican-dominated Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has once again shown it has no intention of carrying out its mission to protect the environment of the Lone Star State. Like the other GOP officials in Texas, they have decided that it is more important to protect corporate interests and profits than to protect the health and well-being of the state's citizens.

It was bad enough when the TCEQ approved building a nuclear waste dump in West Texas (Andrews County) to hold low-level nuclear waste -- even though the site sits over the southern edge of the Ogallala Aquifer (one of the nation's largest fresh water aquifers -- providing water for West Texas and the Panhandle, and parts of seven other Great Plains states).

The TCEQ and the Dallas-based Waste Control Specialists (owner of the dump) assures Texans that there is no way the dump could spring a leak and foul the aquifer -- but the same assurances were given to the people of New Mexico when a dump was built in that state (and it has now sprung a leak, requiring that waste to be moved to Texas). The simple fact is that no one can know what the future will bring, and this nuclear waste facility should never have been placed over this valuable aquifer.

Now the TCEQ has voted to make the situation even worse, and place the aquifer in even more danger. Their latest action will:
1. Amend the license they issued to allow Waste Control Specialists to store 9 million cubic feet of radioactive material, instead of the 2.39 million cubic feet originally allowed (even though they have so far only stored 51,000 cubic feet of nuclear waste).
2. Allow the storage of far more dangerous radioactive waste, such as that from nuclear power plants, instead of the low-level waste originally allowed.
3. And even though they are increasing the facility's size and allowing it to store more dangerous waste over the aquifer, they are cutting the financial assurance bond the company is supposed to pay the state (in case that "impossible" accident happens) from $136 million to $86 million (a cut of $50 million).

State Representative Lon Burnam (D-Fort Worth) says this shows the company (and the TCEQ) doesn't "have the best interests of Texas taxpayers at heart". My reaction is even stronger. I think this is sheer insanity -- and shows that Texas Republicans have completely sold out to corporate interests. They no longer even care to give the illusion that they act on behalf of the citizens of Texas.

Toxic Waste To Be Dumped Over Ogallala Aquifer

We are blessed here in the Estacado region of Texas (southern plains) to have access to one of the largest underground water deposits in the country. The region sits over the southern part of the Ogallala aquifer, which stretches all the way up to Nebraska.

With all the water problems that Texas is experiencing, and with the growing need for fresh water that Texas has, I would think that the state would be going out of its way to protect the valuable resource contained in this aquifer. But that does not seem to be the case.

In May of 2009, tons of toxic waste dredged from a 40-mile stretch of the Hudson River in New York, will be shipped to a dump site in Andrews county to be buried. (Andrews county is marked by the black dot on the map above. As you can see, it sits over the southern edge of the aquifer.) This waste is full of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).

PCB's are known to cause lung and liver damage and are also carcinogens. General Electric is shipping the toxic waste to Texas, where it has hired a Dallas-based company, Waste Control Specialists, to do the actual burial. A spokesman for Waste Control Specialists says, "What gives this site a position of strength for this type of disposal is that it's sitting on a very solid, thick clay formation that holds the waste in place."

I would like to believe what he says, but I'm old enough to remember that the residents of Love Canal were assured they were building in a safe place too -- until one day they woke up to the fact they were living in one of the most toxic places in America. Are we going to wake up a few years from now to find our water has been poisoned with PCB's?

To make matters even worse, that's not the only kind of waste destined to be dumped in Andrews county. It will not be long before they also start dumping radioactive waste there. Wouldn't that be a fine addition to our water!

Cyrus Reed, a a lobbyist for the Sierra Club, says the state has not adequately studied just how suitable the site is for dumping. He says, "We believe if you're going to grant permits for additional waste to come in, you better make darn sure that none of this stuff ever reaches the aquifer below. We're not sure there's sufficient monitoring to make sure that doesn't happen."

I would go even further. Monitoring isn't going to do any good if those poisons do start leaking through to the aquifer. The only way to assure the safety of the water in the aquifer is to NOT DUMP TOXIC WASTE ON TOP OF IT! This whole idea is sheer insanity.

Lest any of you think this is just a West Texas and Panhandle problem, remember the little 3-person election that was just held out here creating a new water district? That was so millions of gallons of water from this same aquifer could be sold to other parts of Texas. This could well be your future drinking water that is being put in danger.

Once again, our state Republican leadership has put corporate dollars over the future health and safety of the citizens of Texas.