Copyright 1999 Denver Publishing Company
DENVER
ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS
November 17, 1999, Wednesday
SECTION: Local; Ed. Final; Pg. 7A
LENGTH: 439 words
HEADLINE:
STATE SAYS NUCLEAR WASTE UNWELCOME ON HIGHWAYS
BYLINE:
By Berny Morson, and Marlys Duran, News Staff Writers
BODY:
Nuclear waste is unwelcome - whether in
Denver's Mousetrap or on Colorado's mountain highways, state officials told
their federal counterparts Tuesday.
The U.S. Energy Department plans to
send waste from nuclear reactors nationwide to a burial site in Nevada, and
Interstate 70 appears prominently on the travel routes.
The Colorado
State Patrol and elected officials are worried that an accident could shut the
state's main east-west route ''for hours to days,'' said Patrol Capt. Allan
Turner, who heads the hazardous materials unit. Turner was among speakers at an
Energy Department hearing in Denver to take comments on the environmental impact
statement drafted for the burial plan.
An estimated 70,000 tons of
highly radioactive heavy metal will be sent to the burial site at Yucca
Mountain, near the California border, beginning in 2010.
If the
environmental impact statement is approved next year, President Clinton will
make the final decision on whether to start the shipments.
Denver City
Councilwoman Debbie Ortega noted that highway and rail routes pass through the
city's poorest neighborhoods, clustered around the Mousetrap at I-70 and
Interstate 25.
Residents there have been evacuated several times in
recent years because of overturned rail cars carrying hazardous material.
''This is something neighborhoods in my district have done more than
their fair share of times,'' Ortega said.
Turner said following the
hearing that the state has closed I- 70 to nuclear materials because of steep
grades and tight curves. An accident in Glenwood Canyon, for example, would
paralyze the state.
'We're pretty adamant in saying that's not a
suitable route for this kind of material,'' Turner said.
DOE officials
are not saying the waste will come through Colorado.
Although I-70 is
shown in the agency's maps, the route is purely hypothetical, said Steve
Maheras, the DOE's transportation analyst. The actual route will be chosen four
years before shipments start.
The uncertainty angers state officials,
who say they can't assess the risk to their communities or start training
response teams unless they know the route the material will take, said Turner,
who spoke on behalf of a committee representing 11 Western states.
The
policy also angers residents.
''I'm really confused about that and I
want to know what's going on,'' said Amy Hadden Marsh, an environmental activist
from Glenwood Springs.
But backers of the plan said concerns are
exaggerated.
''This is a very safe operation, '' said Robert Jefferson,
a New Mexico consultant to the Nuclear Energy Institute.
GRAPHIC: Map
Locator Map / WASTE
BURIAL SITE. By News Staff. FILE: UNAVAILABLE
LOAD-DATE: November 19, 1999
