State regulators concerned about rising pollution in pond muck near atomic fuel plant
State regulators, citing rising pollution in two ponds near an atomic fuel factory, say the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is moving too quickly to approve a new 40-year operating license for the Westinghouse plant on Bluff Road.
The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control is asking the NRC to suspend a final decision on the permit or extend a public comment period while the department reviews new pollution data, according to a Nov. 26 letter from the agency’s Ken Taylor to the federal agency.
However, a spokesman for the NRC said the comment period, which closed Nov. 27, would not be reopened and the review is scheduled to be completed by April .
“The answer is no,” spokesman Roger Hannah said of delaying the process.
A spokeswoman for Westinghouse said the company is “deferring comment to the NRC and DHEC.”
Taylor’s letter says uranium levels “not previously identified’’ are showing up in the mud of upper and lower Sunset lakes, which are between the Westinghouse plant and the Congaree River in eastern Richland County.
Westinghouse has indicated the pollution may be tied to a 1.5-million gallon wastewater spill in 1971, but Taylor’s letter said the NRC’s draft environmental study on whether to approve a new license does not discuss the wastewater spill. The S.C. department wants more information on the spill.
The letter also says that while 40 new groundwater wells have been installed to monitor for pollution, the agency won’t receive the data until early January.
“Given the substantial amount of new environmental information due to be submitted to SCDHEC by early January 2020, SCDHEC believes that it is premature’’ to approve a determination that the plant can operate another 40 years, the letter said.
The agency says it does not agree with the NRC’s findings, which say the plant can operate without major environmental harm to eastern Richland County. The company’s license expires in 2027, but Westinghouse is seeking a new license to replace the one that will expire.
DHEC wants the public comment period to extend for four months.
Westinghouse’s fuel factory began operation in 1969 between the city of Columbia and what later became Congaree National Park. The site has a legacy of groundwater pollution dating back to the 1970s, and in recent years has had a series of mishaps and discoveries that have upset neighbors.
Those include a spill of uranium solution through a hole in the floor and discoveries of previously unreported groundwater pollution. The site also has had rusty shipping containers leak into the ground from an old storage area. One of the biggest issues was the buildup of uranium in an air pollution control device. The buildup could have allowed a burst of radiation in the plant where Westinghouse’s more than 1,000 employees work.
But more intensive testing has revealed more about contamination on the site, according to DHEC. Some tests still are being analyzed.
The department and Westinghouse have a consent agreement that requires the company to study and clean up certain types of pollution. In addition to radioactive contamination, nitrates and fluoride have polluted water on the property.
Neighbors, who depend on wells for drinking water, have expressed concern about the site in recent years. Westinghouse has said pollution remains contained on the property.
“A significant amount of new environmental data from work being done under the consent agreement is being submitted in early January 2020, and we believe this data should be considered as part of the NRC’s decision process,’’ DHEC spokeswoman Laura Renwick said in an email.
Jeff Wilkinson contributed to this report
This story was originally published December 27, 2019 at 11:58 AM.
