from http://web.star-telegram.com/content/fortworth/2001/08/25/fwnews/fw010402-0825-XB001-waste.htm
Saturday, August 25, 2001
Uranium waste found on ranch
By NEIL STRASSMAN
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
FORT WORTH - A 22-ton shipment of
low-level radioactive waste - lost for nearly a
month - was found this week on a North
Texas cattle ranch near the Oklahoma border.
The material - the waste from nuclear-fuel
manufacturing that is the consistency of white toothpaste - had been sent from
Illinois on July 25 but never arrived at its West Texas destination in Andrews
County, where it was due two days later.
A tip led sheriff's deputies Wednesday to the waste pile on a ranch 20 miles
northeast of Gainesville, officials said.
Officials said the waste had been removed by Friday but that the site would be
tested for contamination.
The waste apparently was dumped by a driver employed by Richland,
Ohio-based Wills Trucking of Richland, Ohio, officials said.
"It was shipped and never received," said Jan Strasma, a spokesman for the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission in Chicago. "The material doesn't pose a threat
to human health from a radiation point of view and doesn't require special
handling or disposal."
Even so, most landfills will not accept waste that is slightly radioactive, Strasma
said. The material was being shipped to Waste Control Specialists, a Texas
company licensed to process and store radioactive waste.
Wills Trucking officals in Ohio could not be reached for comment. Ron
Wallace, service center manager at the Wills terminal in Gainesville, declined to
comment.
The shipment contained 500 parts per million of natural uranium, which is used
in the creation of fuel for commercial nuclear reactors. The waste originated at
Honeywell International in Metropolis, Ill., a company that processes uranium
ore.
The 44,480-pound load - about 19 pounds of which was uranium - was made up
of 80 percent calcium fluoride and 20 percent lime, according to a commission
report.
Cooke County Chief Deputy Jim Carter said the ranch owner was unaware that
the waste had been dumped on his property.
"A friend of the driver worked on the ranch and the driver convinced him the
material wasn't dangerous," Carter said.
A ranch hand led deputies to the site Wednesday evening. It was not clear when
the material was dumped and officials have been unable to locate the driver,
Carter said.
Mike Hull of the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission in
Arlington said the waste appeared to have been piled on plastic.
"It was about a 10-foot circle about six feet high," Hull said. "It had been
covered with dirt."
Neil Strassman, (817) 390-7657 strass@star-telegram.com
© 2001 Star-Telegram, Fort Worth, Texas
NRC Event Notification:
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Fuel Cycle Facility |Event Number: 38227 |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| FACILITY: HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL, INC. |NOTIFICATION DATE: 08/22/2001|
| RXTYPE: URANIUM HEXAFLUORIDE PRODUCTION |NOTIFICATION TIME: 11:43[EDT]|
| COMMENTS: UF6 CONVERSION (DRY PROCESS) |EVENT DATE: 07/27/2001|
| |EVENT TIME: [CDT]|
| |LAST UPDATE DATE: 08/23/2001|
| CITY: METROPOLIS REGION: 3 +-----------------------------+
| COUNTY: MASSAC STATE: IL |PERSON ORGANIZATION |
|LICENSE#: SUB-526 AGREEMENT: Y |RONALD GARDNER R3 |
| DOCKET: 04003392 |JAMES CREED (R3) IAT |
+------------------------------------------------+JOHN DAVIDSON (NMSS) IAT |
| NRC NOTIFIED BY: HUGH ROBERTS |FRED BROWN NMSS |
| HQ OPS OFFICER: FANGIE JONES | |
+------------------------------------------------+ |
|EMERGENCY CLASS: NON EMERGENCY | |
|10 CFR SECTION: | |
|BAB2 20.2201(a)(1)(ii) LOST/STOLEN LNM>10X | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
EVENT TEXT
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| MISSING SHIPMENT OF CaF SETTLING POND CLEANUP WASTE |
| |
| A shipment of CaF settling pond waste left the site on July 25, 2001 and |
| apparently did not arrive on July 27, 2001 at the Andrews County WCS in |
| Texas. The shipment, one of several, consisted of 44,480 pounds of 80% CaF |
| and 20% lime with less than 500 ppm natural uranium contained in it. The |
| natural uranium is calculated at about 19 pounds total contained in the |
| shipment. The driver reported that the shipment was delivered, but there is |
| no paperwork to support the delivery. |
| |
| The licensee notified NRC Region 3 (Monte Phillips), the EPA, and the |
| Illinois State Police, who are investigating. |
| |
| * * * UPDATE ON 8/23/01 @ 1425 BY ROBERTS TO GOULD * * * |
| |
| Wills Trucking found the material intact on the ground on 8/22/01 north of |
| Dallas, Tx. and they are responding with the Texas EPA and other regulatory |
| agencies. |
| |
| Notified Reg 3 RDO(Gardner), Brown(NMSS), Reg 3 IAT(Creed) and |
| NMSS(Davidson) by e-mail |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+