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Toxic Waste Brought to Antonito
Sun, December 6, 2009
A Salt Lake City company that ships hazardous waste from Los Alamos National Laboratory agreed Thursday to suspend their transfer operation at Antonito for two days, while alarmed Conejos County officials decide how to regulate the operation. On Tuesday, EnergySolutions, which specializes in the recycling and disposal of nuclear material, began hauling contaminated soil by truck to Antonito where it transfers the waste to the San Luis & Rio Grande for shipment on to a company storage site in Clive, Utah. An official with the Utah company shipping contaminated soil from Los Alamos National Laboratory defended the company's decision to transfer its shipments from truck to rail at Antonito.
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Categorized in Antonito
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3 Comments



#1 Tom on 2009-12-07 08:25 (Reply)
As a property owner in Conejos County, I would request that the Officials of Conejos County request immediate help from the Colorado Department of Health and Environment. Since this soil is classified as hazzardous, it needs to be handled at a permitted site.

During the transfer that has already taken place, there is contamination on the ground. The company that accepted this job, will now be responsible for cleaning up any contamination left behind.
#2 Michael A. Trujillo on 2009-12-14 21:25 (Reply)
It is my understanding that this activity is premature. I do not recall the activity going to any of the affected jurisdictions for a conditional use permit, which is a lengthy legal process by which mandates various legal publications and hearings to notify the general public. Furthermore, each affected jurisdiction carries a distinct zoning designation, which serves various purposes besides property tax collections that go to the respective jurisdictions coffers. Each designation carries particular "Permitted by Right" designations. In some cases rights may be obtained by going to various public hearings, if the use is not permitted by right. Respective jurisdictions such as land use offices are charged to administering and enforcing zoning and subdivision regulations, as prescribed by the state legislature and passed on to the counties and municipalities. This process serves the public well. Any other means are not acceptable. The process will imvolve various others to participate, such as the Environmental Protection Agency and other agencies charged to protecting our environment. So, let us all encourage that all go through the proper protocols, least we affect the concept of providing the public with safe, sanitary, and decent living standards. Premature activity such immediately be ceased!
#3 James Anderson on 2010-02-11 19:42 (Reply)
From what I understand of the situation Energy Solutions actually did go through the necessary steps to do this transfer legally. It was only after town residents started fussing that the city officials then caved to public pressure and decided to dig further into what was being done. After the early meetings it seemed to me that a lot of the residents harbored hard feelings based on the false notion that this project was in some way connected to the Harborlite lockout, which it is not. Also, this material is being hauled from the labs in Los Alamos, a DOE site where nothing gets done without a Million of our tax $$ being spent on testing, training, doughnut eating, etc. Class 9 is the class that anything that cannot be classified is lumped into. In other words, this material is VERY safe, you could let you kids play in it. This material is far safer than fuel, oil, or any other hazardous waste that travels through this town. In fact it is so safe, that placarding is not even required.