Sierra Club to oppose license

AIKEN - The South Carolina chapter of the Sierra Club is challenging the disposal methods of a 32-year-old nuclear waste facility in Barnwell and is poised to file suit should the facility have its operating license renewed by the state.

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Chem-Nuclear Systems LLC is expected to have its five-year operating license renewed by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, possibly by the end of this month. Opponents with the Sierra Club's 5,000-member South Carolina chapter already have voiced their disapproval in public hearings and are prepared to sue to get the company to stop certain practices, said Susan Corbett, a member of the chapter's executive committee.

Ms. Corbett said the Sierra Club disapproves of Chem-Nuclear's method of disposing of reactor vessels containing low-level radioactive waste.

Typically the vessels are filled with concrete and surrounded by reinforced steel, then buried in dirt trenches.

"Concrete and stainless steel doesn't last forever, and you're talking about radiation that will be harmful for thousands of years," Ms. Corbett said.

"To just bury it in a trench and hope nothing happens is just ludicrous in this day and age."

Chem-Nuclear spokeswoman Deborah Ogilve says the procedure is safe and that the company has "followed all the guidelines and instructions DHEC gives us. There are monitoring wells and tests done, and we've complied with everything."

Ms. Corbett said the Sierra Club wants Chem-Nuclear to begin above-ground disposal, where vessels can be monitored better and not pose the risk of groundwater pollution.

Though tritium disposed of in Barnwell is considered low-risk material, critics maintain it causes birth defects. There has been evidence of tritium seepage from earlier disposals at the site, when different disposal methods were used, Ms. Ogilve said.

Tritium also has been found on the Georgia side of the river south of Augusta, but Savannah River Site is the suspected source. Ms. Corbett said the ramifications of nuclear waste disposal transcend generations.

"How long will it take for this outer shell to corrode and this stuff to become exposed to our water table?" Ms. Corbett said. "It may not be in our lifetime, but we have a moral obligation to take care of this now."

Ms. Ogilve said the company couldn't simply switch to a new disposal method.

"Our license is for shallow land burial," she said. "We just can't change things on our own. All the procedures are approved by DHEC."

Chem-Nuclear provides between $10 million and $40 million a year to the state, and an additional $2 million annually to Barnwell County for the right to bury waste.

Henry Porter, the Department of Health and Environmental Control's assistant director of waste management, said the department should make a decision on license renewal by the end of the month.

Reach Stephen Gurr at (803) 648-1395, ext. 110

or stephen.gurr@augustachronicle.com.

--From the Thursday, February 12, 2004 printed edition of the Augusta Chronicle