SPOKANE, Wash. — A plan to transport liquid radioactive waste from the Hanford Nuclear Site in Tri-Cities to Texas and Utah by traveling through Spokane via truck or rail is raising concerns from Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown and members of the Spokane City Council.
The city says the original transportation plan was to take the waste through Oregon, but members of the Oregon state government expressed similar concerns, saying that once a route is established, the number of shipments could grow.
In a letter from Mayor Brown to Washington Governor Jay Inslee and other state representatives, she says the transportation could hurt communities through the risk of contamination.
City Councilmember Zack Zappone echoes Brown's concerns and sponsored a letter from the City Council that will be sent to Governor Inslee, as well as to the U.S Deputy Secretary for Energy David Turk, Regional Administrator for the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Casey Sixkiller and U.S. Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers.
"A large number of people are densely surrounding the train tracks or the freeway on Interstate 90, there are a lot of people on that route," said Zappone.
The proposed route would travel to disposal facilities in Clive, Utah and Andrews, Texas.
Zappone says the letter emphasizes support for alternative solutions such as turning the liquid chemicals into solid form before transportation. Zappone and other city leaders say this option would be safer and minimize risk of contamination.
"It seems like we're going out of the way to put more people at risk rather than a more direct way to have fewer people at risk," said Zappone.
The letter will also ask the EPA to conduct an assessment of what environmental impacts could be at risk if the transportation route is allowed to pass through Spokane.
"There hasn't been an environmental impact assessment or an update to that, and so this is really asking them to complete that environmental impact assessment," said Zappone. "So we know the full potential risks and efforts."
At the council meeting on Monday, council members will vote to add their signatures to the letter before it is sent to state and federal representatives.
The full letter from Zappone can be read in the City Council agenda for Monday, September 23 beginning on page 583.