Utah to ban B and C nuclear waste
New Envirocare chief leads charge to keep material out of state
Legislation spelling out the ban hasn't actually been approved by state lawmakers — yet. But it appears the radioactive material will not be allowed to reach disposal sites in the state.
Leading the charge was Steve Creamer, one of the new owners of Envirocare of Utah, the state's only licensed disposal facility for such wastes. The purchase by Creamer and others was finalized Monday night. The company will continue to accept the lower-level Class A waste at its site near Clive, Tooele County.
"It's a very personal commitment to me on B and C wastes," said Creamer. "So you understand, I grew up in southern Utah. And there's not too many people who remember the green clouds of the 1950s, but I do."
The clouds were radioactive dust lofted into the atmosphere by atomic bombs detonated above ground at the nearby Nevada Test Site. The clouds drifted into Utah and exposed thousands of residents to radiation. Decades later, a federal judge ruled the exposure caused cancer among downwinders.
"My father actually died at my same age, of cancer," Creamer said Tuesday. "We were downwinders growing up in southern Utah."
When the logjam broke on the state's biggest, recent environmental debate, it went with a crash. The governor, top officials of both houses of the Legislature from both political parties and Envirocare's new owners, all announced the material should be banned.
Among other developments:
• Envirocare launched a charitable trust to improve Utah's environment, donating $1 million. Fraser Bullock, who helped run the 2002 Winter Games and presently is the managing director of Sorenson Capital of Lehi, will head the trust.
• The new owners announced they had purchased an adjacent site from Cedar Mountain Environmental. The previous owner of that 315-acre site, Charles Judd, had said it might be used for B and C wastes. Envirocare bought the site to block that possibility, said speakers.
• Judd faxed a press release to the Deseret Morning News confirming the sale (price not mentioned) and saying Envirocare's purchase "supports the idea that there is a need for additional radioactive waste cell space." He said his company is "currently in the process of securing other sites . . . both inside and outside the state of Utah."
Creamer dramatized Envirocare's current position during a news conference Tuesday in the Marriott City Center. He handed Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. a letter officially ending the company's earlier pursuit of B and C wastes.
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