Debate rages on over American Ecology nuclear dump site plan.

Debate rages on over American Ecology nuclear dump site plan

Final approval for California's first radioactive waste disposal site is being challenged by key lawmakers and elected officials, a final obstacle to development and management of a 70-acre site near Needles by Agoura Hills-based American Ecology Corp.

Key politicians are queasy about the project because of concerns about American Ecology's financial resources, the state's exposure to liability from potential leaks at the facility, the source and type of waste that will be disposed of in the plant and ohter complaints.

The desert site in the Ward Valley west of Needles would handle 125,000 cubic feet of low-level radioactive waste per year from California, Arizona, North Dakota and South Dakota.

Rep. George Miller (D-Contra Costa), chair of the House Interior Committee, said recently he will launch "a comprehensive investigation" of the project, at the request of Rep. Barbara Boxer (D-Marin).

The investigation will include the dump's potential environmental effect, American Ecology's solvency and the potential for importing waste from other states, said an Interior Committee spokesman.

In addition, California Controller Gray Davis said his office is investigating whether the state would be liable if there's leakage from the site, which is planned to handle only low-level radioactive waste.

"We believe the state is exposed to a lot of the liability," said Janice Sinclaire, special assistant to Davis.

American Ecology officials denied such liability exists and said critics have already had adequate time to voice their concerns about the plant and the company in more than 70 public hearings over the last six years.

"I am not happy that there are people who don't understand the importance of this facility and that it can be operated safely and environmentally soundly," said William Prachar, chief executive of American Ecology.

Meanwhile, Lt. Gov. Leo McCarthy fears California may become the dumping ground for the rest of the nation.

"Given the facts that few, if any, other states will be operating low-level radioactive waste dumps in the foreseeable future, and that existing federal law allows the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to force California to accept other states' waste in an emergency, Ward Valley may well become the low-level radioactive dumping ground for the nation," said McCarthy in a July 11 letter to the California secretary of health and welfare.

He called for federal legislation to protect California from such a scenario.

Davis and McCarthy, who both say they do not oppose the project but have concerns about it, have the power to veto the scheme. They are members of the three-man State Lands Commission whose approval is needed to transfer federal land to the state for use as a disposal site.

Final decisions on the dump are expected by the state Lands Commission and the state Department of Health Services by year-end. Construction could begin as early as January 1992 and would likely last six to nine months, Prachar said.

Much is at stake for American Ecology, one of the nation's two companies active in the disposal of nuclear waste materials. The company - which netted $3.8 million on revenues of $48.7 million in fiscal 1990 - would receive about $18 million a year in fee income from dump users for 30 years, the lifespan of the waste site.

American Ecology has already invested $25 million in the project over the last six years, said Ron Gaynor, senior vice president for corporate development.

The company is no stranger to controversy. In June, an Illinois federal judge's decision appeared to end 11 years of efforts by the State of Illinois to force American Ecology to excavate land around a Sheffield, Ill., dump that was leeching low-level radioactive waste.

Company officials said a decision requiring excavation of the land could leave the company bankrupt. The ruling has since been appealed by the state.

One other lawsuit against the company is still outstanding for its operations disposing of hazardous waste in Texas.

And now there's the proposed Needles dump.

Environmental activists question whether American Ecology has the financial muscle to respond to a serious leak. They also charge the Needles project endangers the Colorado River, which is 13 miles from the disposal site and provides drinking water for California.

Dump supporters warn that failure to approve the site could threaten not only nuclear power facilities, but medical and scientific laboratories that use radioactive material. They also maintain waste producers would be forced to store the material at even riskier sites until a new place or disposal company was chosen.

It could also increase the costs of disposal for users of radioactive materials. "The economics of the situation are that the costs of the building site revert to generators," said Andrea Ravard, radiation physicist for Cedars Sinai Medical Center in West Los Angeles. "With every day's delay, (American Ecology) is incurring more costs. Those costs will be passed on to the generators."

Gaynor downplayed opposition to the plant.

"These facilities are fairly controversial because of a lack of information and the amount of disinformation spread by the anti-nuclear groups," Gaynor said. "We are very close to receiving a license and it is very common to receive a lot of opposition at the last moment."

While some anti-nuclear advocates oppose any waste-burying in California, a dump site somewhere appears inevitable. California produces 100,000 cubic feet of radioactive waste per year, which currently is disposed of a three sites in Washington, Nevada and South Carolina.

Reacting to resentment from those three states, Congress approved in 1980 a law which required each state to be responsible for disposing of its own radioactive waste. In 1983 California joined with Arizona, North Dakota and South Dakota to jointly dispose of their waste, with California - which produces by far the most radioactive waste of the four - agreeing to provide the first disposal site for the group.

California can continue disposing of waste out of state until January 1993.