NY West Valley Action

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NY Lt. Gov. and State Legislators

Subject: Put a mask on the NY West Valley Nuclear Waste Site

Message:

I need your active oversight and advocacy NOW to prevent long-lasting, dangerous radioactive materials from spreading across the state during the demolition of one of the most radioactive buildings in the country. I call on you to demand that federal officials (DOE) PUT A MASK ON THE RADIOACTIVE EMISSIONS FROM WEST VALLEY. Protect our region with a full enclosure during demolition now and future below-grade excavation, and provide continuous real-time, publicly reported air and water monitoring. NY owns the unique, closed-but-very-radioactive nuclear waste site in West Valley, upstream of the Great Lakes and upwind of much of NYS. The 1980 West Valley Demonstration Project Act directs the US Department of Energy (DOE) to clean up a big part of the site. That is underway but DOE refuses to enclose the most radioactive building during demolition. NYS agencies have authority over hazardous waste and over offsite radioactive air emissions. I call on you to demand the NY Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and Department of Health (DOH) exercise full authority and responsibility to prevent releases and monitor for them. We need: 	1) an enclosure over the building(s) during demolition and excavations 	2) continuous real time, offsite, air and water monitoring and public reporting before, during and after the demolition and excavations. 	Our local, state, federal and tribal elected officials must work together to insist on an enclosure and to provide continuous real-time radionuclide monitoring and reporting. There are dozens of different radionuclides in the building above and below grade. Some are very-long-lasting like: plutonium-239 (dangerous now and for a half million years, targeting lungs) cesium-137 and strontium-90 (dangerous for 300-600 years, seek heart, muscle and bone) and iodine-129 (dangerous for up to 320 million years, affects thyroid). Once released the contamination is irreversible. An enclosure, like a mask, could prevent the spread. The state must provide or arrange for independent, real-time air and water monitoring for radionuclides offsite so we have a better chance of knowing what gets released. NY DEC and DOH answer to you--thus we call on you today to exercise all the power you have and to demand those agencies do the same: prevent radioactive releases and meaningfully monitor and report. I am calling on you to take action to assert NY's full authority and responsibility to protect current and future residents before the demolition of the West Valley reprocessing building.

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