Letter to the Editor: Ecdc Landfill and Radioactive Waste

By KENT PILLING Huntington

Dear Editor,
As a resident of Eastern Utah, I am very concerned with the Department of Energy’s announcement that it is considering the ECDC landfill as a dumping ground for radioactive waste.
The contamination of our fragile limited water supply alone would be devastating. There is not enough water to dilute any radioactive contamination, unlike the Colorado River where there is probably very little contamination of the river from Atlas Minerals Mill tailings if any. If there is any contamination of the river from the Atlas Mill tailings, I would like to see the evidence and the evicence made public, “to the citizens of Eastern Utah.” This project’s estimated cost is reported to be $350-450 million. I think this disregard for taxpayer’s money is irresponsible. Past presidents, as well as President Bush have been requesting a reduction of this type of spending. A quote from President Bush, “It’s not the government’s money,” and I believe the Department of Energy should not be allowed to ignore the President of the United States of America.
It is no wonder the citizens of the United States have lost confidence in some of their government agencies who are supposed to protect them from these types of activities. It seems to me that some government agencies are more interested in increasing the size of their bureaucracies and budgets than doing their job.
In my opinion the Colorado river is in more danger of radio active contamination from transporting the waste material than it would be if left where it is with no more action being taken, “other than the precautions that have already been taken.”
If my memory serves me correctly, Moab flaunted itself as being the uranium capital of the world. Moab and the uranium industry should be required to deal with the problem, they created it.
But apparently through political and special interest groups pressuring, the Department of Energy has agreed to deal with the problem. If it must, I think it would save the taxpayers a lot of money to build a cell with the proper liners which are desighned for that purpose and are similar to the ECDC super cells.
ECDC or one of the construction companies in this area could accomplish this project on the old Atlas Mill tailings on site and at the same time save the United States taxpayers a lot of money. Turn this nightmare into a more reasonable project that the residents of Eastern Utah may feel like supporting and use the money that some people are so anxious to spend, on improving the highways in Eastern Utah, or some other worthwhile project that will have a long term positive effect on the economy, and contribute something positive to the communities.