By Cyrus Reed, Conservation Director and Interim Director
It might go without saying that Sierra Club and Governor Greg Abbott rarely see eye-to-eye on political and environmental issues. In the past, we both have been supportive of the Texas Emissions Reduction Plan and the benefits of wind power, though the list pretty much ended there. But as of recently, there’s a new addition to this relatively stagnant list: West Texas should not be a dumping ground for the nation’s high level radioactive waste.
Gov. Abbott’s opposition emerges as we enter the final days of the public comment period to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for the Interim Storage Project (ISP)- which ends, coincidentally, on November 3rd (election day). ISP is a joint investment between long-time Texas nuclear waste hoarders Waste Control Specialist (WCS) and a French company. Presently, the NRC must decide whether to grant ISP a “storage” license to allow 40,000 tons of above-ground high-level nuclear waste from power plants and experimental DOE projects to be shipped to Andrews County, just a few miles from the border with New Mexico.
Over the past month, there have been four “call-in” public hearings to receive input on the draft Environmental Impact Statement, which finds minimal impact from opening the site and recommends granting the license. I participated in one, and the other three were very similar. Dozens of Texans called in, but also folks from other areas of the country also called to give comments because this dangerous initiative wouldn’t just impact Texans. Communities across the US would be impacted by shipping dangerous levels of radioactive waste across our highways and rail lines.
On my call, there were about 40 folks who called in an opposition, and 2 that supported it -- both of whom worked for an industry that would benefit from the site. According to Karen Hadden, the director of SEED, which has been helping to galvanize and lead the opposition, that pattern was repeated in the other three “public” meetings. Routinely there were 30 to 40 people opposing the site and only a few industry-connected companies supporting it. These inadequate webinars made a mockery of so called “public meetings.” The NRC should schedule real, in-person public meetings after COVID risks are minimized – in Dallas/Ft. Worth, Houston, San Antonio, El Paso, Midland and Andrews in Texas and along transport routes across the country. Until then, the comment period should remain open and this project should be delayed.
Gov. Abbott, unpredictably, seems to agree. He made his opposition official during this public comment period: Texas should not create a temporary storage spot to bring high-level waste. You can read Governor Abbott’s Letter to Trump expressing opposition to Consolidated interim Storage in Texas or New Mexico here. Now to be clear, the Governor’s reasons for opposing the site are different than ours. But we’ll accept mutual opposition for the sake of protecting Texas’ communities from toxic waste. The full-length Draft Environmental Impact Statement can be found here.
A 20-page overview is also available here.
Take action through Sierra Club’s online action alert, or submit comments directly to NRC.
The NRC is accepting public comments on the draft EIS through November 3, 2020. Comments can be submitted several ways:
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Mail to the Office of Administration, Mail Stop: TWFN-7-A60M, ATTN: Program Management, Announcements and Editing Staff, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001;
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E-mail at WCS_CISF_EIS@nrc.gov; and
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Posting online at the federal government’s rulemaking website, using Docket ID NRC-2016-0231
Submit your comments today! And thanks to the hundreds of Sierra Club members who have already done so!