By Kathy Kellogg
CATTARAUGUS CORRESPONDENT
LITTLE VALLEY—The Cattaraugus County Legislature acknowledged that there is no final repository for the most dangerous radioactive wastes at the West Valley Demonstration Project, but Wednesday voted unanimously to join the Seneca Nation of Indians, the West Valley Coalition and the Concerned Citizens of Cattaraugus County and several nationally recognized environmental groups in calling for a complete cleanup of the former nuclear fuels reprocessing center.
The Legislature will submit the resolution to the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) for a June 8 comment deadline in the DOE’s Revised Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Decommissioning and/or Long-Term Stewardship of the project site.
Jim Snyder, R-Olean, pointed out that the resolution is significant because it will define the Legislature’s awareness of the issue. It was also praised by Norman L. Marsh, R-Little Valley, who in last week’s committee discussion labeled as “wishy-washy” a proposal to support both the full and phased cleanup options. He noted that the wastes are located near the Route 219 expressway project.
Lois Zendarski of Concerned Citizens of Cattaraugus County asked the legislators to support a less costly full cleanup based on the conclusions of a full cost-accounting study, while partial cleanup could risk the health of the fisheries in Cattaraugus Creek, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.
Eric Wohlers, the county’s environmental health director who has represented the county for more than 10 years on the West Valley Citizen Task Force advisory group serving NYSERDA and DOE, said the two agencies have the safety and health of area residents in mind but still disagree on erosion predictions affecting wastes stored at the site.
“I am 100 percent in favor of total cleanup, and I would like to go on record. Everybody in West Valley and in Ashford would like it, too,” said Charles F. Hebdon, D-West Valley, who added that state authorities told residents the facility “would be good for us” when the processing plant was built in the 1960s just three miles from his home.
As the comment deadline approaches, the citizens’ group is still debating support for one of two cleanup alternatives.
The full cleanup alternative is projected to take 260 employees more than 64 years at a projected $9.7 billion. The phased decision-making approach would take eight years to remove a number of contaminated buildings and hot spots at a cost of about $1.2 billion using 230 employees. The second phase could take up to 30 years to find new technology to remove buried high-level waste tanks and other highly contaminated areas for a cost yet to be determined.
The resolution notes two of the Legislature’s concerns about full cleanup — namely, that the 64-year time frame is based on the current funding rate and could mean increased radiation exposure for workers. The resolution asks instead for a shortened 10-year completion and increased use of robotic devices to reduce exposure.
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