KERSEY – Another load of low-level radioactive waste bound for
the Veolia Greentree Landfill is causing a stir among residents of
Fox Township.
Officials said the demolition waste, which the state Department
of Environmental Protection wants to place at the landfill, is
coming from the Quehanna facility in Karthaus, the former site of
radioactive material. However, Landfill officials have decided not
to accept the waste.
The matter was broached during a meeting of the Elk County Solid
Waste Authority on Tuesday.
This is not the first time nuclear material has been slated for
the landfill.
Last year, low-level nuclear ash from the Kiski Valley Water
Pollution Control Authority’s treatment plant lagoon in Allegheny
Township in Westmoreland County was turned away from the landfill
after residents, township supervisors and the county vehemently
objected to it.
The DEP – which began cleaning up the Karthaus site in 1998 –
has indicated the waste is low-level, which can include the
remainder of waste and material generated in power plants, such as
contaminated reactor water, plus waste created in medical
laboratories, hospitals and by various industries.
Officials said the DEP has filed for an amendment to the
byproduct materials license it holds at the Karthaus site with the
Environmental Protection Agency. Contained in that document is a
request from the DEP to the EPA to allow an exemption for the waste
to be hauled to the landfill as long as it doesn’t endanger public
health.
The Federal Register posted a notice about the waste on Oct. 11,
2006. Under the exemption granted to the landfill, any
low-contaminated demolition material from the facility and site
would, upon its receipt at the landfill, no longer be subject to
Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulations.
Veolia’s Area Manager Donald Henrichs said the first officials
with the landfill knew anything about the license amendment was
when a contractor called them about accepting demolition waste.
When officials found out it would be coming from Quehanna, they
called DEP to ask about it. They were then put in contact with the
NRC and were told it was acceptable.
Elk County Recycling-Solid Waste Coordinator Bekki Titchner said
the state will save $1.2 million by sending the waste to the
landfill, rather than to a low-level waste facility; the closest
one would be in Utah.
Officials said one of the main concerns for the county, as well
as the Solid Waste Authority, was there was no notification, other
than publishing the notice in the Federal Register, which is
extremely difficult to find.
Normally, a “Form U” is generated for industrial or commercial
waste, Henrichs said, adding the landfill would receive the form U
or the Material Data Safety Sheet (MSDS) paper. It would then be
reviewed and sent to Veolia’s headquarters in Milwaukee for review.
From there, it would go back to the landfill, which would send it
to the DEP for its review and approval.
“They plan to bring it to us as construction demolition and no
Form U is necessary,” Henrichs said.
In a written statement to The Era, Henrichs said “We (Veolia
Greentree Landfill) decidedðnot to takeðthe Quehanna waste.”
The Fox Township Supervisors have also written a letter showing
opposition to the acceptance of such waste at the landfill.
“Without being certain of the potential long-term effects a
material such as this may have on our land, water air and human
life, we feel that it is in the best interest of our community and
our citizens that all such material be permanently banned from
disposal at the Greentree Landfill,” the letter indicates. “In the
interest of other host municipalities such as Fox Township, we
further believe that this type of material should only be disposed
of at sites specifically licensed to handle radioactive waste.”
The Quehanna facility was built in 1957 after the state enacted
legislation for the location of a research facility at the site,
which was to be operated by the Curtiss-Wright Corp. Plans for the
facility included the development of nuclear jet engines and
research in nucleonics, metallurgy and other areas.
Then in 1958, a license was issued to Curtiss-Wright to operate
a pool reactor at the facility. The license also included use of
the hot cells and laboratories.
The facility changed hands several times during its life, until
1998, when an NRC byproduct materials license was issued to
Permagrain for the radioactive material remaining on site from past
operations. In December 2002, Permagrain initiated bankruptcy
proceedings and the byproduct materials license was transferred to
the DEP.
In 2003, radioactive material was removed from the site and
shipped to a licensed disposal facility. In 2004, Permagrain’s
license was terminated.
