MEETINGS SET TO OPPOSE RADIOACTIVE DUMPING IN ND For Immediate release July 3, 2013 Don Morrison 701-527-0060 Darrell Dorgan 701-226-4431 Margi Coyle 701-260-3753 People concerned and upset about the dumping of toxic, radioactive oil field waste will meet with County Commissioners in Washburn on July 16 and with state officials in Bismarck on July 18. Members of the newly formed Energy Industry Waste Coalition (EIWC), the Dakota Resource Council and alarmed McLean County residents will offer testimony at a McLean County Commission meeting Tuesday, July 16, in Washburn. The meeting is to decide Great River Energy’s request to operate a waste dump site near Underwood. The site would be used to store radioactive and other toxic waste from western North Dakota oil fields. EIWC spokesman Darrell Dorgan says, “Although Great River Energy claims the site won’t be used for radioactive or toxic waste, the permit request will allow it and, if approved, they will. When the site leaks (and it will), it will create critical health issues in McLean County and eventually to people living along the Missouri River downstream.” Despite testimony from Great River Energy officials, the McLean County Zoning Commission recently refused to recommend the issuance of a permit and voted to limit acceptance of radioactive waste in McLean County. Great River’s permit request is now being taken to the County Commission without a recommendation. Dakota Resource Council Executive Director Don Morrison says the limit placed on the dump site by the County Zoning Commission and the lack of a recommendation should be enough to keep the County Commission from approving the request. Morrison says that, if that won’t stop it, …“The thought of 10,000 big trucks a year, roaring through McLean County, carrying toxic and radioactive waste, ought to be a huge danger sign. Ten thousand semis a year disrupting traffic and tearing up highways in McLean County would be a shocking change for people living there.” The North Dakota Health Department will meet with groups and individuals concerned about the growing problem of toxic and radioactive waste on Thursday, July 18, in the Pioneer Room at the State Capitol. The department has been meeting privately with oil industry representatives for several months, considering new guidelines that, if approved, would allow additional dump sites and higher radioactive levels of waste in North Dakota. EIWC and DRC requested the meeting to provide balance to the oil industry recommendations to the Health Department. The recent legislative session provided eight new employees to the Health Department to help track radioactive and toxic waste from drilling sties. EIWC and DRC Science Advisor Margi Coyle says, “Recent discoveries of attempts to dump loads of radioactive toxic waste at landfills in Williston and Watford City are alarming.” The Jamestown College Biology and Environmental Science professor also notes that, “Radioactive waste has also been found in rural areas of Fort Berthold.” Coyle says, “With the hiring of additional inspectors, I hope the Health Department will be able to begin a detailed tracking of toxic waste and ensure continued monitoring of soil, air, water and communities and people who live and work in the oil fields.” She notes that the Health Department is considering increasing the radioactive level of waste that can be dumped in North Dakota, and she wants a full, scientific study to insure the hydrology and geology of North Dakota can safely handle radioactive waste. Coyle is also concerned that, if the radioactivity level of waste that can be stored here increases, we could become a receiving site for waste from other states. She notes, “The energy industry and State Health officials have known for years that toxic chemicals and radioactive waste are a by-product of oil development and safeguards should have been in place before full-scale development was allowed to move forward.” Currently, only low-level radioactive waste from oil wells can be disposed of in North Dakota. The rest must be shipped out of state to an approved dump site. The oil industry has proposed allowing the disposal of higher radioactive waste levels and the opening of new sites, like those at Washburn and Sawyer, to allow disposal in North Dakota. The Health Department meeting is open to the public and will be held on Thursday, July 18, at 2:00 p.m. in the Pioneer Room at the State Capitol. The meeting is open to the public, and public comments will be taken. Morrison says there are also several additional dump sites under consideration in Ward, McKenzie and Stark counties. “As of yet, there is no known safe level of radioactive waste. This is your chance to say ‘No’ to toxic waste known to cause cancer.” He notes, “It’s not the job of the state’s Health Department to improve oil industry profits. It’s the department’s job to make sure the companies follow the law and ship dangerous chemicals and radioactive waste out of state to approved dump sites.”
Posted on: Thu, 04 Jul 2013 03:27:26 +0000
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