Nebraska Authorities Accept Key Elements of
Application for Central States Compact's Project License
BOISE, Idaho--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 31, 1997--Richard Paton, vice-president of US Ecology, a key subsidiary of American Ecology Corporation (NASDAQ:ECOL) today announced that Nebraska regulatory agencies have given a generally positive evaluation of the company's license application for the proposed Central Interstate Compact low level radioactive waste disposal facility.
Nebraska authorities just released their draft evaluations including license conditions. The license application was issued `acceptable` ratings on 123 of 152 evaluation areas. The areas of evaluation were based on federal guidelines and the regulations of the departments of Health and Human Services and Environmental Quality, charged with authority over the state's LLRW program.
“In our operating environment of intensive regulation, and in advancing the national compact system for low-level radioactive waste disposal, a finding such as this one by Nebraska validates for us the principles under which we operate,” Paton said. “Our company, which has operated facilities for waste disposal longer than any in the nuclear business, is eager to carry out our responsibility to Nebraska and to the states of the compact.”
US Ecology project manager John DeOld said all of the critical elements of the proposed license were judged to be acceptable by Nebraska regulatory officials.
“The state's findings put to rest arguments over the licensability of the Butte site and issues like wetlands and groundwater,” US Ecology Project Manager John DeOld said. “The relatively few remaining issues are important to us to resolve, but are questions we consider to be much more within our control than those on which our filing was judged acceptable.”
DeOld noted that site characterization, one of 11 sections in the state's Draft Safety Evaluation Report, was among the sections that received a wholly `acceptable` rating.
The results of the state independent performance assessment closely agreed with US Ecology's evaluations of health and safety and showed radiation levels well within regulatory standards.
Other sections of the license application receiving wholly acceptable evaluations included design and construction, financial assurance and quality assurance.
DeOld said the state's finding of 29 of the 152 areas as `unacceptable` provided clear guidance for future work by US Ecology in fully resolving all state regulatory concerns. The unacceptable ratings were almost exclusively in areas pertaining to facility operations and closure.
DeOld said he was encouraged by media accounts of a statement by NDEQ Director Randy Wood indicating a willingness to allow meetings between state review managers and US Ecology to resolve any outstanding issues and concerns.
“Face-to-face meetings, when they have been allowed, have been the most efficient method of resolving these types of issues and establishing understanding,” DeOld said.
Wood stated the US Ecology could respond to the state evaluation during a 90-day public comment period, beginning November 6.
Wood stressed the draft documents contained only evaluation, and not decisions on the license application. The final licensing decision will be made after two rounds of public comment and evaluation. He also stated that national developments in LLRW disposal would have no bearing on the continuing license review.
US Ecology submitted its license for the project in July of 1990. The LLRW facility is intended to serve waste generators in the five state (Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana) Central Interstate Compact.
To date, about $84 million has been spent on the project, about $25 million of it on the state license application review.
Boise, Idaho-based American Ecology provides processing, packaging, transportation, remediation and disposal services for generators of hazardous waste and low-level radioactive waste at licensed facilities throughout the United States.
CONTACT:
Scott Peyron & Associates
Scott Peyron, 208/388-3800or
US Ecology
John DeOld, 402/476-8049