Who is keeping us safe from low-level radioactive waste? By Susybelle Gosslee
I attended the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Commission (LLRWDCC or the Commission) meeting on August 2nd at the State Capitol in Austin. The Commission and its members are responsible for administering the provisions of the Texas Low Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact between the states of Texas and Vermont.
This approval makes a total of 12 approved applications for waste allocations – each of which may consist of numerous shipments. Some of the problems with understanding the decision-making process develop from the fact that many documents, such as the budget and shipment information, are not made public before the meeting.
The West Texas county of Andrews is the “host” for a low level radioactive waste disposal facility, the Texas Compact Facility, which is operated by the private company, Waste Control Specialists (WCS). Vermont’s waste is shipped here for storage.
With little or no transparency, the Commission seems to be blocking public input, which is exactly why citizens need to speak out for good management of the process.
The Commissioners approved one more application for storage by WCS, although it was not an especially large amount of waste. Public Citizen and SEED Coalition opposed the application, and laid out a series of very valid health and safety reasons for not going forward.
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Citizens have a right to know about what is transported on their highways. When the State, or in other words, the taxpayers, takes possession of the WCS storage site in the future after the company abandons it, the taxpayers will pay for monitoring and security at the site in perpetuity, at a cost of many millions of dollars. When the storage facility was privatized, the money for storage went