Management of Commercially Generated Radioactive Waste - U.S. ...

as storage facilities begin to reach their capacity. We would urge you :, for our gragile ecology.
seek input from local and state governments as well as ordinary citizens in In addition, Louisiana has experienced a number of environmental problems
a more aggressive manner by holding hearings in the specific areas that -re being in the past several years. The ONWI report ignores some of the most important
considered and by seeking out the advice of a broad range of local and s:ate environmental and economic issues concerning our citizens. It makes no
*officials. Holding hearings in Atlanta, Washington, New York, or Dallas just mention of the fact that Louisiana has been the dumping ground of the nation
simply does not allow input by the people most affected. We hope that 7:- for hazardous waste. Louisiana is the first state in the nation to implement a
will then reflect on the advice you will receive and give equal weight to the strict hazardous waste permitting program. During the past year, we discovered
advice of state officials as well as federal. that there are numerous illegal and in some cases abandoned chemical waste
Regardless of the type of-storage medium or technology used, the most dumps across the state. The clean up of the abandoned facilities will be
difficult issue to resolve will be the siting of each facility. Although a financial burden for our state. It is expected that we will have to deal
this EIS does not address specifically each site under consideration, we with this environmental problem for quite some time before we finally get it
have seen the ONWI summary characterization and recommendatipn of study under control.
areas for the Gulf Interior Region issued in May, 1979, and we realize that Our waterways are experiencing the stress of our economic growth and
there are two salt domes in Louisiana under consideration by DOE. of our agricultural production. In north Louisiana we have had serious problems
Although we can't claim expertise in the various scientific disciplines with pesticide contamination of our lakes, rivers and streams. In both north
which are discussed in the EIS, we do have expertise in the assessment of and south Louisiana we have areas that are non-attainment for certain air
Louisiana's political, economjc, and psychological environment. In considering pollutants.
the site of a repository, more must be considered than the geologic or surface In north Louisiana, we have recently discovered that we have millions of
utilization of the area involved. The decision makers must consider the political, tons of lignite coal deposits which we will soon be mining. We will undertake
ecocomic, and psychological effects of their actions. We would urge that when a program to allow surface mining along with reclamation programs to follow
specific sites are under consideration that informed local and state officials so that we can make this coal available as a fuel for our industries. The production
must be a part of the process of choosing a site or of determining that a site of coal will mean greater industrial development and expansion all across that
is inappropriate. In the past, most decisions made by DOE and other federal area of our state with both power plants and other support facilities expected
agencies involving our state have not allowed sufficient local input and that to be constructed close to the mining area.
is probably one of the main reasons that many of these programs have run into We are a state of approximately 4,000.000 people living on 48,506 square
trouble. A prime example is the Strategic Petroleum Reserve Program in which miles of land and water. This means there are more than 81.8 people per square
the DOE has taken several of our salt domes and converted them to oil storage mile. In Webster Parish where the Vacherie dome is located there are 42,068
facilites. In their haste to get this program under way, they have ignored people living on 620 square miles or 67.9 people per square mile. In Bienville
citizens and their elected representatives and :i.ve ignored concern
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