Dear Gov. Mike Leavitt:
If Utah would accept high-level nuclear waste only "over your dead body," why is the state still considering accepting less-radioactive wastes?
Signed: Most of the people attending a Thursday night public hearing on a proposal by Envirocare of Utah to store Class B and C radioactive wastes at its landfill in remote Tooele County.
These are wastes primarily from research laboratories, decommissioned power plants and hospitals. While potentially thousands of times hotter than the Class A contaminated soils Envirocare currently accepts, they are still millions of times less radioactive than the spent nuclear fuel rods targeted for the Goshute Reservation, 70 miles southwest of Salt Lake City.
"Why are the powers that be in Utah and in the governor's administration opposed to the Goshute (proposal) but are apparently friendly to Envirocare?" inquired Boyer Jarvis. "Could it be that the Goshutes are not making political donations?"
Citing Deseret News reports showing Envirocare has made tens of thousands of dollars in political contributions to the governor and legislators, many people at the public hearing railed on state officials for appearing to have been bought by Envirocare.
The public hearings, scheduled over the next several weeks, are required by law prior to a decision by the Utah Legislature and the governor on Envirocare's request to accept Class B and C wastes.
The Department of Environmental Quality has already determined the company's application meets all technical requirements. Bill Sinclair, director of the Division of Radiation Control, has given the proposal his tentative approval.
Yet opponents of the proposal repeatedly pointed to a Deseret News poll showing 84 percent of Utahns oppose Envirocare's plan.
Envirocare had some supporters at the hearing. Among them, Mark Ledoux, radiation protection manager for Envirocare, promised the wastes would all be packaged and transported safely and would be buried in concrete containers so that the radiation posed no threat to human health.
Others agreed.
"I've been to the site; I like the way they handle this waste and I'm all for it," said Jay Elkins, a Tooele County resident.
Art Palmer, a safety officer at Envirocare, testified "these radioactive wastes are a fact of modern life. They can and have been managed safely for over 20 years. The Envirocare site is an optimum place to dispose of them."
But a majority of those attending the public hearing were opposed to Envirocare, saying they don't trust a company that makes such large political contributions. The issue is really about public safety and Utah's public image as a dumping ground for waste.
"It comes down to an issue of trust," said Jason Groenewold, director of Families Against Incinerator Wastes. And the history of the company's actions in Utah do not warrant trust, he said.
"Let's be wise in our decision," he said, offering a bit of advice to the governor. "Let's kill this insane proposal."
E-MAIL: donna@desnews.com