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Local Landfill Bans Radioactive Waste
Records Reveal Radioactive Dumping Secrets
POSTED: 4:57 pm CDT August 20,
2007
UPDATED: 7:54 pm CDT August 20,
2007
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- A local landfill announced Monday that it will no longer accept radioactive waste on its grounds. Murfreesboro's Middle Point Landfill said that it will no longer allow the waste.
Video: Murfreesboro Landfill Bans Radioactive DumpingThe decision came hours after a state commission decided that there's no problem with the safety of dumping radioactive waste in Tennessee.But one of the problems cited by some was the secrecy of the processors and companies involved.
Until the I-Team uncovered the dumping, no one seemed to know it was happening.Channel 4 News reporter Demetria Kalodimos revealed some paperwork that Channel 4 News fought to obtain.The I-Team has followed every turn in a program Tennessee calls BSFR – it allows construction debris and other waste with low levels of radioactivity to be dumped in a landfill along with ordinary household garbage.The practice has been banned indefinitely, and no more will be dumped at Mufreesboro’s Middle Point Landfill, but for some, resentment runs deep.“I have reviewed and researched all of my predecessors’ files regarding landfills, and there is absolutely no mention of the terminology BSFR in any of the documentation that I’ve been able to review. … The word was not even used on the last request for the expansion of the landfill,” said Rutherford County Mayor Ernest Burgess.New information has been uncovered about why no one knew about BSFR.Companies in the business if treating and brokering waste did not want the public to know, and the state never challenged them, according to records or lack thereof.A Channel 4 legal challenge led to the release of the earliest records Channel 4 knows of about BSFR disposal at Middle Point.The information makes clear that the practice should be “withheld from public disclosure” and that the papers were the company’s proprietary information.Mike Mobley, then the state’s Director of Radiological Health, agreed that the program needed better public disclosure.He said he still believes that BSFR is still the best route to save room for more dangerous radioactive dumping.“It’s one of those things where it is so inconsequential from a radiological perspective that you just say, ‘There’s not a real problem here,’” he said.The real problem could be trust.Last week, an expert the state hired to review the dumping said that BSFR seemed safe. But she stressed that many more records should available for public review and that the state should challenge processors when it comes to the types and quantities of information kept secret.The state commission studying the disposal wrapped its meetings Monday, and their report will go to the state Legislature.Against the advice of one member that they not provide a rubber stamp, the commission allowed the state’s lawyer to write the report.
Previous Stories:
- August 16, 2007: Processors Speak Up About Middlepoint Landfill
- July 25, 2007: Radioactive Waste Fight Takes New Turn
- July 24, 2007: Radioactive Waste Records Kept From Public
- July 17, 2007: Some Question Location Of Landfill Meeting
- July 12, 2007: Audit May Answer Questions In Radioactive Dumping
- July 12, 2007: Radioactive Dumping Meeting Set For Tuesday
- July 4, 2007: Officials To Meet Regarding Radioactive Dumping
- June 28, 2007: Another State Joins Radioactive Dump Fight
- June 14, 2007: Radioactive Dumping Regulations Analyzed
- June 13, 2007: Senate Shortens Radioactive Dump Moratorium
- June 12, 2007: House Passes Moratorium On Radioactive Dumping
- June 7, 2007: 'Tenn. Loophole' Used For Radioactive Dumping
- June 6, 2007: Officials Push To Stop Radioactive Dumping
- May 31, 2007: State To Hold Public Meeting Regarding Radioactive Dumping
- May 21, 2007: Congressman Calls For EPA To Investigate Dumping
- May 15, 2007: Rep Says Radioactive Dumping 'Unacceptable'
- May 14, 2007: Radioactive Dumping Occurs In Rutherford County
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