THE LA PAZ AGREEMENT
The La Paz Agreement, which was signed by presidents Ronald Reagan and Carlos de la Madrid in 1983 (Yes, this was a long time ago, but nonetheless very important), pledges bi-national suport to prevent, reduce and eliminate pollution sources within 60 miles of the border. The project allowed us to end the current process of storing low-level radioactive waste produced by hospitals and industry in temporary sites, several of which were close to the border and within the bounderies of large urban areas. Permanent, safe disposal was the solution to this situation.
The La Paz Agreement was designed to protect both sides of the border area from continuing damage caused by pollution of the air, water, and land. It called for both cooperative and unilateral efforts to accomplish this goal. One of the prime means for accomplishing this was to apply the best science and technology to these problems. Scientists and engineers devoted years of study to planning a facility that would make low-level radioactive waste disposal safe and permanent.
There is absolutely nothing in the language of the La Paz Agreement that prohibits the development of the disposal facility within 60 miles of the border. The state of Texas has complied with the agreement, both in letter and in spirit and is offering a solution to an evironmental concern.
Check back Friday to see what the latest phase of the La Paz Agreement is, but if you can’t wait until then, click here.
Did you know that Texas is one of the least earthquake-prone states in the Union. The vast majority of recorded ground movement in areas within 200 miles of have been so slight that they could only be measured with precision equipment.
While it is true that an earthquake could strike Andrews, the ground beneath the site has remained stable for a millennium. Most of this region has a low population density. Earthquakes only pose a significant threat for poorly built or very sensitive structures.
Earthquakes are unpredictable geological phenomena. Missouri, for example, is considered relatively geologically stable and yet, in 1811, it was the epicenter of what is thought to have been the most violent earthquake in North American history. Because engineers have taken this unpredictability into account, an earthquake poses no threat to the contents of canisters stored at the low-level waste disposal site.
Consider these facts: (1) The waste is in solid form. (2) The concrete containers in which the solid material is stored are steel reinforced. (3) The containers are embedded in dry, sandy soil, which would allow them to shift easily without breaking in the event of an earthquake.
These precautions are only a small part of the careful planning that has gone into the site. Engineers have designed the facility to withstand earthquakes of greater magnitude than any ever recorded in Texas, even though such a quake is extremely unlikely in Andrews. Remember this: If an earthquake equal in magnitude to the one that rocked San Francisco in 1989 struck within six miles of the site, the storage canisters would still remain undamaged!
According to PUBLIC OPINION, which is prepared by the U.S. Council for Energy Awareness,
“When it comes to radioactive waste, do Americans agree on anything? Polls of four population groups say the answer is YES.”
(The four polls cited are Pennsylvania and New Jersey: Market Strategies [600 in each state, representing all adults statewide, margin of error +/- 4%], U.S. Public: Bruskin/ Goldring Research [1000 nationally representative adults, margin of error +/- 3%], Opinion Leaders: Cambridge Reports/Research International [annual opinion leader poll, 50 in each of 10 groups])
The four polls found agreement with two basic principles:
For more PUBLIC OPINION POLLS stating favorable opinions about nuclear energy, waste, etc. click here
MYTH: The most politically expeditious dump site was selected, not the most geologically and environmentally sound site.
REALITY: Technical studies show that the site chosen by the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Authority at Sierra Blanca is probably among the best in the nation. The original site selection performed by the Authority (TTLLRWDA) in 1983 indentified Hudspeth County as one of the preferred areas of the state for waste disposal.
Site Selection Process:
The site selection process involves 5 phases. The first phase was a screening of the entire state to determine those areas in the state that are more suitable than others for low-level radioactive waste disposal. In the second phase, a number of preferred regions in the suitable areas were located. Then, preferred sites were located in the preferred regions.
Preliminary site characterization was conducted on preferred sites in the third phase. Site characterization is the process of evaluating the geology, hydrology, animals, plants, meteorology, topography and other factors of the site. This information is then used to make sure that the site is suitable for waste disposal.
The fourth phase was added by the Legislature after the initial preferred sites were located. The Texas Legislature directed the Authority to give preference to land owned by the state. As a result, additional sites, including some that had already been selected, were added to the list of preferred sites.
In the fifth phase, the Texas Legislature directed the Authority to locate a site within a prescribed area near the community of Sierra Blanca, in southeastern Hudspeth County.
The TTLLRWDA sought out experts, who conducted over 100 studies at the proposed low-level radioactive waste repository site in Hudspeth County. The State of Texas has spent approximately $30 million on these studies, which address cultural, safety, and technical concerns at the proposed facility.
Radioactive materials are integral to research in nearly all fields of modern science. Medical researchers, for example use radioisotopes as tracers to help find cures for all major diseases.
The fact is that hospitals, biomedical research institutions, and radio-pharmaceutical manufacturers will always need a place to send a substantial portion of their low-level waste for permanent disposal. Denying them access to such facilities would place a crippling vise around their operations - and on the medical community’s ability to provide the very best care for the patients who need it. These organizations depend on long-lived isotopes such as carbon-14, cadmium-109, tritium and cesium-137. Without them everything from discovering a cure for AIDS to treating uterine cancer would be much more difficult.
Over 80% of all new drugs that come to market were develeped using radioactive materials.
But, some of this research is already being curtailed. Why? Because more and more money must be devoted to waste disposal, choking off funds for research into everything from AIDS and Alzheimer’s to cancer and Multiple Sclerosis.
William Hendee, Vice President of the Medical College of Wisconsin, agrees that medical care may suffer with continued delays in the process of siting new low-level waste disposal facilities:
“…With impending inaccessibility of existing disposal sites as called for in federal legislation, [the medical community] faces a problem that at present is intractable. It could seriously compromise the continuous contributions of the use of radioactivity in biomedical research and clinical medicine.”