The MountainGoat Report

'Buildings & Mountains'

It's More Than Contaminated Sand

The Idaho Statesman reports today that the contaminated Kuwaiti sand destined for the American Ecology hazardous waste facility in Grandview is just a fraction of the radioactive waste the site has accepted.  In the last several years, the company has made millions of dollars storing more than one million tons of radioactive waste in Idaho through federal government contracts.

Since 2001 American Ecology has been awarded $101.8 million in federal contracts to store contaminated waste, mostly radioactive, with the vast majority ending up at the company's Grandview facility.  The Statesman reports that after purchasing the site in 2001, the company was granted a permit from the state of Idaho to store radioactive waste here, although the story didn't mention that in order to obtain that permit, it was necessary to pass legislation allowing it.

In 2001, with Reps. Julie Elsworth, Cameron Wheeler and Frances Field as sponsors and Roy Eiguren as company lobbyist, House Bill 192 was passed by the Idaho Legislature with only one dissenting vote.  The bill changed how radioactive waste is managed in Idaho, set disposal fees for the waste and assigned regulatory authority to the Idaho Board of Environmental Quality, a seven member board appointed by the governor.

Inserted in the bill was language excluding radiologically contaminated waste materials from "Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP)" sites from the definition of restricted hazardous waste and setting fees for commercial sites accepting this waste at $5 per gate-ton.  This language allowed FUSRAP material to be stored at commercial hazardous waste facilities in Idaho.

FUSRAP is "a program initiated in 1974 to identify, investigate and clean up or control sites that were part of the Nation's early atomic energy and weapons program."  The Army Corps of Engineers has been charged with clean up and disposal of radioactive material at these sites.

The waste from these sites contains radioactive contamination above current federal guidelines but is not regulated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission or the Atomic Energy Act.  The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, which through passage of this legislation now regulates such material, classifies it as non-hazardous.

In 2001, with passage of this legislation allowing radioactive FUSRAP waste to be stored in Idaho (including contracts in existence on July 1), American Ecology was awarded $4.4 million in federal contracts.

The dollar amount of the contracts grew in 2002 by over 200 percent to $13.8 million, with American Ecology having been awarded an average of $16.6 million in federal contracts per year from 2002 through 2007.  The majority of these are radioactive FUSRAP waste storage contracts for the company's Grandview facility.

American Ecology, with Roy Eiguren as lobbyist, went back to the Idaho Legislature in 2002 asking the state to reduce the hazardous waste disposal fees in order to allow the company to remain competitive.  This legislation passed with eight dissenting votes.  The company did the same again in 2004, this time the legislation passing with just two dissenting votes.

The state of Idaho collected $1.3 million in fees from the Grandview site in 2001, $1.4 million in 2002 and $2 million in 2003.  These numbers include fees paid by the company for all types of waste stored at the Grandview facility.  [Although not obtained for this report, the company predicted that amounts for successive years would be consistent.]   

Despite the $9.4 million increase in federal contracts awarded between 2001 and 2002 the fees collected by the state of Idaho only increased $100,000.  In 2003 despite an $11.3 million increase from the 2001 amount, Idaho received only $600,000 in additional fees.

According to the Statesman, "company officials say the more money American Ecology makes, the more the state of Idaho benefits."  With these numbers it seems the more money American Ecology makes, the more money American Ecology makes.

It doesn't appear that the citizens of Idaho are being fairly compensated for the increased risk of transporting and storing this contaminated, radioactive material within the state and it appears that the company's generous contributions to Idaho politicians have been rewarded generously.

Also, calling this radioactive material non-hazardous seems a little misleading even if technically accurate.  How many Idahoans realize that our state government has allowed over one million tons of radioactive material to be shipped and stored within our borders?  And are we comfortable with accepting the risks of this long-term storage while others reap the rewards?

LaRocco Asks Otter and Risch to Stop It

Democratic Senate candidate, former Congressman Larry LaRocco, is asking Idaho's top elected officials to stop contaminated Kuwaiti sand from entering the state, saying in hand-delivered letters, "Let’s not turn Idaho into the world’s dump."

From the LaRocco for Senate campaign:

On Monday, U.S. Senate candidate Larry LaRocco asked Gov. C.L. (Butch) Otter and Lt. Gov. Jim Risch to stop 150 rail cars loaded with radioactive sand from entering Idaho. His staff hand delivered letters to each man’s office.

"I am asking you to stop this dangerous shipment of radioactive material bound for Idaho, for the sake of a clean environment, for the sake of precedent and for the safety of our children," LaRocco writes.

The Kuwaiti desert is a better place for the sand, which contains lead and depleted uranium.

"Accepting this waste in the United States is poor public policy and environmentally unsound for Idaho," LaRocco writes. "Let’s not turn Idaho into the world’s dump."

LaRocco also notes past leaders, former Gov. Cecil Andrus and former Gov. Phil Batt, took firm stances against bringing hazardous materials to Idaho. He urged Risch to put aside partisanship and follow their examples.

"Let’s stop this now," LaRocco writes. "It’s time for sound public policy to trump powerful special interests that hold sway over Idaho."

LaRocco awaits a response.

Discounted Fill-ups on Minnick

First Congressional District candidate Democrat Walt Minnick will be pumping discounted fuel tomorrow at a Boise gas station with the campaign picking up the tab for the difference.  Minnick is offering the gas discount for drivers to emphasize that, while Republican Bill Sali hobnobs with oil company lobbyists in Washington D.C., he will be looking out for average Idahoans.

From the Minnick for Congress campaign:

Tomorrow Bill Sali will sit down to a $1,000-per-plate fundraiser for his campaign, a fundraiser hosted by oil lobbyists.

While Bill is busy raking in money from the very people getting filthy rich off high prices, Idahoans are spending their hard-earned paychecks on high prices at the pump!

"Idahoans are being pummeled at the pump while their congressman is hobnobbing with the very people who are getting filthy rich from high gas prices," Walt said in a press release today. "Sali should be taking a tough stance with the oil lobbyists, not looking to them for a handout."

It's an egregious example of what's wrong in Washington. That's why, while Sali is lunching and lounging in D.C. with "big oil," Walt will be pumping gas in Boise.

Regular gasoline at the Cole Village Chevron is currently $3.59 per gallon.  From 10 to 11 a.m. on Tuesday, the station will sell regular for $2.26 a gallon, the price it was when Sali first took office.  The Minnick for Congress campaign will pay the difference.

Education Access

To anyone who considers access to higher education in Idaho a priority, this news from Tara at The Political Game isn't good.

Ken Brauchle, assistant dean of Extended Studies at BSU, wrote in Sunday's Idaho Statesman that Idaho already "ranks near the bottom in the proportion of [high-school graduates] who who go on to graduate from college."

Decreasing services that allow rural Idahoans access to university studies doesn't seem to be a step in the right direction. 

While there's been lots of talk about increasing educational opportunities here in the Treasure Valley (including perhaps two law schools and the Western Idaho Community College hoping to offer classes by fall 2009), apparently that isn't true for rural Idaho. 

As Tara points out, the net result of less access may be "a smaller number of education-seeking Idahoans who are willing to stay in-state in general."  Once lost to other states, how many of those, having completed their education, ever return to Idaho?  I couldn't find statistics but it's probably not many.

How long can Idaho continue exporting our greatest asset?

Injustice Anywhere . . .

Boise based PrideDEPOT describes their latest special feature as:

a story about queers in rural America, where being out of the closet means facing powerful people who demonize you.  The right to live free of harassment, intimidation or the threat of physical violence is simply not afforded to openly lesbian and gay people or their supporters.

While this could easily be describing nearly any small town in Idaho, and even some larger ones, the events in this story center in rural North Carolina.

In a five-part series "about being queer in a small town ruled by ultra-conservative politics and religious extremists," PrideDEPOT explores "Southern Discomfort:  The Politics of Religion."

'Not Insane'

Idaho To Get Giant Kuwaiti Litter Box

At New West this week, Jill Kuraitis reported that 6,700 tons of soiled Kuwaiti sand is in the process of being shipped to Idaho as we speak.  The sand, contaminated with depleted uranium and lead, is bound for a hazardous waste storage facility near Grandview.  The reason for the shipment, according to the project manager from the American Ecology facility, "It's not something you want laying around in Kuwait."

If it's too dangerous to be laying around in Kuwait, why would we want it laying around in Idaho?  One good question among many.

I suppose the answer the company would give is that the facility is set up to store and contain this sort of material; the company's website calls it "an ideal choice to minimize environmental liability."  In fact, the project manager says they handle material much more hazardous than this on a daily basis and have been accepting military waste for twenty years.

Maybe the real answer is that hazardous materials storage is a lucrative business; American Ecology reported gross profit of $13.4 million for the first quarter of 2008, a 17% increase over the same quarter last year.  They also reported record disposal volume, revenue and operating income for the quarter.

"Record waste volumes made possible by recent capital investments helped us deliver record operating profits for the quarter," said Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Stephen Romano. "While our Idaho site led the way, recent investments in new waste treatment and storage capacity at our Texas and Nevada sites helped each of these operations deliver superior performance as well."

[As a side note:  their quarterly report contained this curious bit, "Our other industry revenue increased 129% in the first quarter of 2008 compared to the first quarter of 2007. This increase was due primarily to a large project for an electric utility customer which was shipped to our Grand View Idaho site in the first quarter of 2008."  I wonder what sort of "large project" that was.]

At least American Ecology is familiar to Idaho politicians; Betsy Russell reports they've been paying generously into the campaign coffers of Republican elected officials since at least 2002 and they have on the payroll lobbyist Roy Eiguren (of the University Place fiasco and contributing generously to Idaho politicians himself).

The company CEO Stephen Romano is not stingy with his own money either.  Since 1998 he has given the Idaho congressional delegation $4,457 from his own pocket, including a $1,000 contribution this cycle to Jim Risch's Senate campaign, plus $3,700 to statewide and legislative candidates in 2006.

Seems everything is about the money. 

There are larger questions, though.  Do Idahoans realize that they've become this record-setting waste repository for hazardous materials and is minimizing environmental liability good enough?  Although maybe the largest:  How do Idahoans feel about being the world's litter box?