BOISE, Idaho—Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter said he will not allow the U.S. Department of Energy to store mercury in eastern Idaho.
“Not gonna happen,” Otter told KBOI radio on Wednesday.
The Department of Energy is considering the Idaho National Laboratory as a possible storage site for up to 17,000 tons of mercury.
The agency is looking for storage sites because mercury exports will be banned beginning in 2013. The 890-square-mile federal nuclear research complex in eastern Idaho is one of seven sites the department is considering.
A final site or group of sites will be named on Jan. 1, 2010, as long-term storage areas for domestically produced mercury. Mercury is toxic and has been linked to health concerns, including pulmonary and neural disorders.
Otter said he was unaware the Idaho National Laboratory was one of the sites being considered until hearing it in news reports. He said he should have been informed by federal officials.
“The first time I heard about it was when I read it in the newspaper,” Otter said. “I don’t know whether it is arrogance or ignorance at its worst.”
“No one in our state government and no one in our congressional delegation was aware this was up,” said Jon Hanian, Otter’s spokesman.
The Department of Energy is accepting public comments through Aug. 17 as part of the process of developing an environmental impact statement.
“We are focused on soliciting public comments at upcoming scoping meetings in Idaho and across the country,” said Jen Stutsman of the Department of Energy.
Other sites being considered are the Grand Junction Disposal Site in Colorado; the Hanford nuclear reservation in Washington state; Hawthorne Army Depot in Nevada; Kansas City Plant in Missouri; the Savannah River Site in South Carolina and Waste Control Specialists in Andrews, Texas.
Mercury is used in gold mining and manufacturing chlorine and caustic soda, and is reclaimed from recycling and waste recovery operations. Disposal of electronic equipment is a problem because computers, TVs and other devices contain toxic materials such as mercury, lead and PCBs.
