August, 11 2010, 03:20pm EDT
Federal Investigation of Texas' Radioactive Waste Dump Urged
NRC and EPA Called Upon to Examine Radioactive Waste Site and Licensing Process, Risks of Groundwater Contamination and Potential Risks to the Ogallala Aquifer, Which Lies Beneath Eight States
AUSTIN
Environmental groups today asked the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to
investigate the radioactive waste storage and disposal programs
administered by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) for
the West Texas radioactive waste site owned by Waste Control
Specialists (WCS). The groups say the TCEQ has failed to protect public
health, safety and the environment by repeatedly and brazenly abusing
its legal authority and disregarding warnings of its technical staff
about the site's hazards. Further, citizens have not had adequate
opportunities to participate in the licensing processes.
The groups are calling on the NRC to consider terminating or
suspending the TCEQ's authority to regulate the storage and disposal of
low-level radioactive waste and radioactive byproducts in Texas. The
groups also are asking the EPA to review the potential impact on the
water supply and take action if necessary.
The request, available at www.TexasNuclearSafety.org,
was filed by Public Citizen and the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra
Club along with state Rep. Lon Burnam (D-Fort Worth) and individuals
from Andrews, Texas, and Eunice, N.M., who live near the WCS facility in
Andrews County. The matter is urgent because WCS has been pushing the
Texas Low Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Commission to let it
import radioactive waste from at least 36 other states. The commission's
decision about accepting the additional waste was postponed earlier
this year and likely will be taken up after the November election.
"Some of the hottest radioactive waste that exists, including nuclear
reactor containment vessels and poison curtains that absorb reactor
radiation, could be buried in the proposed radioactive waste dump. There
is not a single radionuclide that can't go to the so-called 'low-level'
site, and many of them remain hazardous for literally millions of
years," said Karen Hadden, executive director of the SEED Coalition.
"Radioactive waste dumps around the country have leaked. Cleaning up
contaminated groundwater is difficult and expensive. Texas taxpayers
could be on the hook for cleanup costs if the site and groundwater
become contaminated or if there are transportation accidents," Burnam
said.
The "low-level" site has not been built yet. Nuclear weapons waste
from Fernald, Ohio, already has been buried at the adjacent byproduct
facility at the WCS site in Andrews County in West Texas.
TCEQ employees recommended a license for the "low-level" radioactive
waste dump be denied - the review team unanimously recommended denial of
the license - and several quit in protest when their recommendations
went unheeded and the facility was licensed. In an interoffice memo,
TCEQ technical staff who reviewed the permit said that it was "highly
likely" that radioactive waste would leak into groundwater and noted
that WCS had failed to comply with state rules regarding depth to the
water table so that groundwater will not reach the waste.
"The 'low-level' radioactive waste license was issued despite a
unanimous staff recommendation to deny it," said Tom "Smitty" Smith,
director of Public Citizen's Texas Office. "Notwithstanding the staff
recommendation, then-TCEQ Executive Director Glenn Shankle ordered that
the draft radioactive waste license be drawn up. Six months after
resigning from the agency, Shankle registered as a lobbyist for WCS, the
company seeking to build the dump. How can we rely on a decision made
by someone who goes to work for the regulated company six months later?
Could his decision have anything to do with the fact that he may have
been angling for a job with WCS?"
According to Texans for Public Justice, a nonprofit group that tracks
money in politics, WCS owner Harold Simmons has contributed $620,000 to
Gov. Rick Perry since 2001. Perry appointed the six Texas members of
the Compact Commission, whose vote on the upcoming radioactive waste
import rule will determine whether Texas becomes the nation's
radioactive waste dumping ground or whether radioactive waste will be
limited to that of Texas and Vermont, the two Compact Agreement
states.
For several years, the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club has
raised environmental and public health concerns regarding the
radioactive waste dump but was denied a voice in the process.
"We fought to have hearings regarding WCS' radioactive waste dumps,
but the TCEQ blocked the hearings," said Cyrus Reed, conservation
director for the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club. "We represent
citizens who live within five miles of the radioactive waste dump. Under
federal case law, a hearing would have been granted, but Texas denied
these citizens the opportunity for discovery and a hearing. We have
appealed the decision, but both appeals remain pending."
Risks of groundwater contamination are of huge concern. Maps have
been in flux while hot debate centers on whether the WCS site is
directly over or connected to the Ogallala, a huge aquifer that provides
drinking water for nearly two million people. The aquifer lies beneath
eight states and provides water for more than a quarter of the country's
irrigated land. WCS acknowledges that the Dockum Aquifer and the OAG
(Ogallala, Antlers and Gatuna) formation are important to the site,
according to a presentation a WCS geologist made at a Compact Commission
meeting.
"Radioactive waste contamination of any aquifer is a disaster," Smith
said. "If the massive Ogallala Aquifer were to become contaminated, the
result could be a disaster of unprecedented magnitude, affecting
millions of people throughout the nation."
"Groundwater contamination risks, political influence, questionable
TCEQ licensing decisions, lack of enforcement and the blocking of public
hearings are key reasons that the NRC and EPA should investigate the
evidence regarding Waste Control Specialists' radioactive waste dump,"
Hadden said. "It is important that the federal agencies investigate
these issues fully before the Compact Commission makes a decision that
could lead to Texas becoming the nation's radioactive waste dumping
ground."
Public Citizen is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization that champions the public interest in the halls of power. We defend democracy, resist corporate power and work to ensure that government works for the people - not for big corporations. Founded in 1971, we now have 500,000 members and supporters throughout the country.
(202) 588-1000LATEST NEWS
Supreme Court Urged to 'Rule Quickly' After Trump Immunity Arguments
"It'd be a travesty for justices to delay matters further," said one legal expert.
Apr 25, 2024
After about three hours of oral arguments Thursday on former President Donald Trump's immunity claims, legal experts and democracy defenders urged the U.S. Supreme Court to rule swiftly, with just over six months until the November election.
Trump—the presumptive Republican candidate to challenge Democratic President Joe Biden, despite his 88 felony charges in four ongoing criminal cases—is arguing that presidential immunity should protect him from federal charges for trying to overturn his 2020 loss to Biden, which culminated in the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
Justices across the ideological spectrum didn't seem inclined to support Trump's broad immunity claims—which critics have said "reflect a misreading of constitutional text and history as well as this court's precedent." However, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) shared examples of what it would mean if they did.
"Trump could sell pardons, ambassadorships, and other official benefits to his wealthy donors, members of his clubs, or cronies who helped him commit other crimes," CREW warned. "Trump could sell nuclear codes and government secrets to help pay back crippling debts."
"But this isn't just about what Donald Trump could do. It's really about how total immunity for the president would threaten our democratic system of checks and balances," the group continued. "The president could order the military to assassinate activists, political opponents, members of Congress, or even Supreme Court justices, so long as he claimed it related to some official act."
After warning that a president could also order the occupation or closure of the Capitol or high court to prevent actions against him, CREW concluded that "the Supreme Court never should have taken this appeal up in the first place. They should rule quickly and shut these ludicrous claims down for good."
The organization was far from alone in demanding a quick decision from the nation's highest court.
"In the name of accountability, the court must not delay its decision," the Brennan Center for Justice said Thursday evening. "The Supreme Court's time is up. It needs to let the prosecution move forward. The court decided Bush v. Gore in three days—it should act with similar alacrity in deciding Trump v. U.S."
In Bush v. Gore, the case that decided the 2000 election, the high court issued a related stay on December 9, heard oral arguments on December 11, and issued a final decision on December 12.
On Thursday, the arguments "got away from the central question: Is a former president immune from criminal prosecution if he tried to overthrow a presidential election, using private means and the power of his office to do so?" the Brennan Center noted. "The answer is simple: No."
"It is not an 'official act' to try to overthrow the peaceful transfer of power or the Constitution, even if you conspire with other government officials to do it or use the Oval Office phone," the center said. "Trump's attorney was pushing the court to come up with a sea change in the law. That's unnecessary and a delay tactic that will hurt the pursuit of justice in this case."
In a departure from previous claims, Trump's attorney, D. John Sauer, "appeared to agree with Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is leading the prosecution, that there are some allegations in the indictment that do not involve 'official acts' of the president," NBC Newsreported, noting questions from liberal Justice Elena Kagan and conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett, a Trump appointee.
Barrett summarized various allegations from the indictment and in three cases—involving dishonest election claims, false allegations of fraud, and fake electors—Sauer conceded that Trump's alleged conduct sounded private, suggesting that a more narrow case against the ex-president that excluded any potential official acts could proceed.
Due to Trump attorney's concessions in Supreme Court oral argument, there's now a very clear path for DOJ's case to go forward.\n\nIt'd be a travesty for Justices to delay matters further.\n\nJustice Amy Coney Barrett got Trump attorney to concede core allegations are private acts.\u2b07\ufe0f— (@)
According to NBC:
Matthew Seligman, a lawyer and a fellow at the Constitutional Law Center at Stanford Law School who filed a brief backing prosecutors, said Sauer's concessions highlight that Trump is "not immune for the vast majority of the conduct alleged in the indictment."
Ultimately, he said, the case will go to trial "absent some external intervention—like Trump ordering [the Justice Department] to drop the charges" after having won the election.
At the same time, Sauer's backtracking might have little consequence from an electoral perspective. Further delay in a trial, which Sauer is close to achieving, is a form of victory in itself.
Slate's Mark Joseph Stern pointed out that when Barrett similarly questioned Michael Dreeben, the U.S. Department of Justice lawyer arguing the case for Smith, it seemed like they "were trying to work out some compromise wherein the trial court could distinguish between official and unofficial acts, then instruct the jury not to impose criminal liability on the former."
"It was fascinating to watch Barrett nodding along as Dreeben pitched a compromise that would largely preserve Smith's January 6 prosecution but limit what the jury could hear, or at least consider," Stern added. "That, though, would take months to suss out in the trial court. More delays!"
Stern and other experts signaled that the decision likely comes down to Barrett and Chief Justice John Roberts, with the three liberals seemingly supporting the prosecution of Trump and the other four conservatives suggesting it is unconstitutional.
People for the American Way president Svante Myrick said in a statement that "today's argument brought both good and bad news. It was chilling to hear Donald Trump's lawyer say that staging a military coup could be considered part of a president's official duties."
"Thankfully, the majority of the court, including conservative justices, did not seem to buy that very broad Trump argument that a former president is absolutely immune from prosecution under any circumstances," Myrick added. "On the other hand, it's not clear that there is a majority on this court that will quickly reject the immunity arguments and let the case go forward in time for a trial before the election. That's a huge concern."
Trump was not at the Supreme Court on Thursday; he was at his trial in New York, where he faces 34 counts for allegedly falsifying business records related to hush money payments to cover up sex scandals during the 2016 election cycle. The are two other cases: a federal one for mishandling classified material and another in Georgia for interfering with the last presidential contest.
Keep ReadingShow Less
'Just the Beginning': 50+ Arrested for Blockading Citigroup Bank Over Climate Crimes
"Through people-powered resistance, we can give money a conscience and stop Citi's destruction of our planet," said one Indigenous campaigner.
Apr 25, 2024
Twenty more demonstrators were arrested Thursday, the second day of Earth Week protests targeting Citigroup's Manhattan headquarters in what organizers called "the beginning of a wave of direct actions to take place over the summer targeting big banks for creating climate chaos that is killing our communities and our planet."
Protest organizers—who include Climate Defenders, New York Communities for Change, Planet over Profit, and Stop the Money Pipeline—said 53 activists were arrested over two days of demonstrations, which included blocking the entrance to Citigroup's headquarters, to "demand that the bank stop funding fossil fuels."
Organizers said this week's demonstrations "were just the beginning" of what they're calling a "Summer of Heat" targeting big banks for their role in the climate emergency and for "polluting our land, air, and water, and threatening the health of children, families, and our planet." Citigroup is the world's second-largest fossil fuel financier.
"We're holding Citi accountable for financing dirty fossil fuels from Canada to Latin America and beyond," said Chief Na'moks of the Wet'suwet'en Nation, one of several Indigenous leaders who took part in the action. "Through people-powered resistance, we can give money a conscience and stop Citi's destruction of our planet."
Jonathan Westin, executive director of Climate Defenders, asserted that "Citigroup's racist funding of oil, coal, and gas is creating climate chaos that's devastating communities of color across the country."
"We're taking action to tell Citi that we won't put up with their environmental racism for one more day," Westin continued. "Our communities have reached the boiling point. Our children have asthma, our city's sky was orange, and our air polluted because of the climate crisis caused by Citi and Wall Street."
"We're going to keep organizing and taking direct action until Citi listens to us," he vowed.
Stop the Money Pipeline co-director Alec Connon said: "To have any chance of reigning in the climate crisis, we must stop investing in fossil fuel expansion. Yet, Citibank is pumping billions of dollars into new coal, oil, and gas projects."
"We're here to make it clear: If they're going to fund the companies disrupting our climate and our lives, we're going to disrupt their business," Connon added.
Activists have repeatedly targeted Citigroup in recent years as the megabank has pumped more than $300 billion into fossil fuel investments around the world since the Paris climate agreement.
According to the protest organizers:
Citi has provided $668 million in funding to Formosa Plastics between 2001-2021, which is trying to build a $9.4 billion plastics facility in a majority Black community in the heart of Cancer Alley in Louisiana.
Citigroup is also one of the biggest funders of state-run oil and gas companies in the Amazon basin, pumping in over $40 billion between 2016-2020, and a major backer of Petroperú, which has been involved in oil spills and Indigenous rights violations.
"From wildfires, heatwaves, and floods to deadly air pollution and mass drought, Citi's fossil fuel financing is killing us," said Alice Hu of New York Communities for Change. "We've sent polite petitions and had pleading meetings with bank representatives, but Citi refuses to stop pouring billions each year into coal, oil, and gas."
"That's why we're fighting for our lives now with the best tool we have left: mass, nonviolent disruptive civil disobedience," Hu added.
Keep ReadingShow Less
No Outside Probe, US Reiterates as Gazans Reportedly Buried Alive in Mass Grave
"How does it ever make sense that the United States asks the accused party to examine itself?" asked one incredulous reporter.
Apr 25, 2024
A Biden administration spokesperson once again brushed off calls for an independent investigation into how hundreds of Palestinians found in mass graves near Gaza hospitals died when asked Thursday about new reports that many of the victims were tortured, summarily executed—and in some cases, buried alive by Israeli invaders.
During a Thursday U.S. State Department press conference in Washington, D.C., a reporter noted Gaza officials' claim that mass grave victims "including children were tortured before being killed" and that "some even showed signs of being buried alive, along with other crimes against humanity."
"What's wrong with an independent, scientific, forensic investigation?"
Noting calls by Palestinian officials and United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk for an independent probe into mass graves, the reporter said that "this administration repeatedly said that it asks... the Israeli government to investigate itself."
"How does it ever make sense that the United States asks the accused party to examine itself and provide reports that you have previously said that you actually trust?" the reporter asked State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel. "What's wrong with an independent, scientific, forensic investigation?"
Patel replied: "We continue to find these reports incredibly troubling. And that's why yesterday you saw the national security adviser for this to be thoroughly investigated."
While National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on Wednesday called reports of mass grave atrocities "deeply disturbing" and said that "we want answers" from Israel, he did not call for an independent investigation.
When the reporter pressed Patel on the legitimacy of asking Israel to investigate itself, Patel said, "we believe that through a thorough investigation we can get some additional answers."
Thursday's exchange followed a similar back-and-forth on Tuesday between Patel and Said Arikat, a journalist for the Jerusalem-based
Palestinian news outlet al-Quds who asked about the mass graves.
At least 392 bodies—including numerous women and children—have been found in mass graves outside Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, where Palestinian Civil Defense and other workers have been exhuming victims for nearly a week. Officials believe there are as many as 700 bodies in three separate mass graves.
Based on more recent exhumations, local Civil Defense chief Yamen Abu Sulaiman said during a Wednesday press conference that "we believe that the occupation buried alive at least 20 people at the Nasser Medical Complex."
"There are cases of field execution of some patients while undergoing surgeries and wearing surgical gowns," he stated, adding that some victims showed signs of torture and 10 bodies had medical tubes attached to them.
Gaza Civil Defense official Mohammed Mughier told reporters that "we need forensic examination" to definitively determine the causes of death for the 20 people believed to have been buried alive.
Previous reporting on the mass graves quoted rescue workers who said they found people who were apparently executed while their hands were bound, with some victims missing heads, skin, and internal organs.
Other mass graves have been found in Gaza, most notably on the grounds of al-Shifa Hospital, where Israeli forces last month committed what the Geneva-based Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor called "one of the largest massacres in Palestinian history."
It's also not the first time there have been reports of Israeli troops burying victims alive during the current war, in which Palestinian and international officials say Israeli forces have killed or wounded more than 122,000 Gazans, including at least 11,000 people who are missing and feared dead. Israeli forces attacking Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia last December reportedly bulldozed and buried alive dozens of injured patients and displaced people.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular