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; . President Clinton ' 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW i Washington,DC 20500 1 !
; February 11,1997
. . Mr. President:
4 I ; In'your State of the Union Address given on February 4,1997, you stated, "We must protect our ; environment in every com;nunity. In the last four years, we cleaned up 250 toxic waste sites, as i many as in the previous 12. Now, we should clean up 500 more, so that our children grow up next to parks, not poison." -
Our community (Canton Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania) is in great need of the | protection of which you spoke. Molycorp, Inc., a Unocal company, is intending to build a q radioactive waste disposal site within 30 feet of a residential property line. There are many . homes frighteningly close to their proposed hazardous waste disposal site. As you stated, we want our children to grow up next to parks, not poison. Our Township has a park proposed for j ' an area adjacent to the proposed hazardous waste disposal site. It looks as though we will not be - ; obtaining federal funding for this proposed park, but we would still like to be able to provide a
safes clean, local park for everyone to enjoy. Molycorp, Inc. is destroying our ability to provide a safe environment for our children. , i The material intended for this radioactive waste site is Thorium and to a lesser extent Radium -) and Uranium. Molycorp, Inc. has told us that these materials will only be emitting harmless alpha radiation.- However, the Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry (ATSDR) has , documented in their Public Health Statements (October 1990) for these materials that all three ! are harmful gamma radiation emitters. ATSDR also states that these materials are known human carcinogens and that they are harmful to our health.
Molycorp, Inc. has been working to advance this hazardous disposal site for many years, their proposal was submitted to the NRC in July of 1995. However, our community only began to find out about their plans and the existence of this harmful material in the past several months. We are extremely concerned that Molycorp, Inc. may be finding ways around the system that will allow them to dispose of their hazardous waste within a few hundred feet of where our - children live, love, learn, grow, and play.
The reason Molycorp, Inc. has given us for wanting to place this radioactive waste site so close to our homes is that this is the least expensive alternative. We feel that human life is priceless and that while disposal costs should be considered, the cost of disposal should not override the - potential cost of human life or health. We enthusiastically support your proposal to make the big polluters live by the simple rule: "If you pollute our environment, you should pay to clean it up."
A second reason Molycorp, Inc. has given for choosing the site they have chosen is that they want to be sure that the material remains where they can control it. We see this as an admirable quality. We also wish for them to be able to control this hazardous waste. However, we feel that (( c W M Ms/ Ctan kb I - . there are several other options they could exercise that would allow them to remain in control of their waste without putting it so close to children. For instance, they could purchase a large tract ofland in a sparsely populated area where they could control the waste every bit as well as they I could at their current choice of disposal locations, but have a much larger buffer zone. Additionally, Molycorp, Inc. has made no application to our local government for permits or property rezoning that would be necessary for a project such as they are undertaking to be completed. The area they have chosen for this radioactive landfill is not properly zoned for a landfill of any kind. Molycorp, Inc. is accusing our community of acting prematurely when we ask them to make a proper application to our township. Meanwhile, they continue to complete l subtasks on their project schedule taking them ever closer to the point of no return. Currently, there are approximately 150 large containers storing a portion of their hazardous waste, cleaned from adjoining property, above ground and highly vulnerable to the elements. In addition to this material, they intend to truck in 200 to 400 loads of similar material from a plant they own in York, Pennsylvania, also to be stored above ground and vulnerable to the elements. We are highly concemed about the safety of this " temporary" arrangement that could exist for 5 years or more while they prepare and complete their proposed storage cell. Mr. President, we are a community in need of your help. We thought we were living the American Dream, with nice homes in nice, safe neighborhoods. We've been working hard to establish the village that it takes to raise good, loving, compassionate, healthy children that would one day grow to value the dream that made this nation great. Now, we see our dream being destroyed. We are unsure as to the continuing safety of our neighborhoods. (None of us consider radioactive waste a safe or healthy portion of any village.) We are unsure of the portion of the American Dream that has taught us to work hard to progress in society. (Our homes will be oflittle or no value with a radioactive waste site next door.) We are beginning to severely doubt the sincerity ofindustry's intentions in our communities. (Would any good neighbor intentionallyjeopardize the health of those around them?) And the stress of the situation is harming the emotional health of the entire community. We are frightened and frustrated and our children can sense it. Therefore, try as we might to prevent it, our children are already suffering ill effects. Where will it end? Attached you will find many signatures of the concerned residents. We are not against Molycorp, Inc., on the contrary we support any business that can be a positive contribution to our area by bringing injobs, paying taxes to help improve our neighborhoods, and by working with our residents to improve everyone's life. We are, however, against any action by any individual or organization that will harm or has potential to harm any of our valued residents. Please, Mr. President, help us repair our village and allow our children to grow up next to parks, not poison. Sincerely, Concerned Washington County Residents as undersigned . -' Page 3 ' President Clinton - February 11,1997 1 - , | cc: . Vice President Gore Sen. Rick Santorum Sen. Arlen Specter Rep. Mike Doyle Rep. Ron Klink Rep. Frank Mascara Rep. John Murtha Rep. 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