By Gladys Gifford

The West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) is located thirty miles south of Buffalo, off of NY #219, just south of Cattaraugus Creek.  WVDP is the location of the only attempt at nuclear reprocessing in the USA, which failed in the late 1970’s, leaving deadly nuclear waste behind.

The site is subject to rapid erosion due to its location in a geological area with unstable glacial soils.  The groundwater is already contaminated with a plume of radioactivity that is slowly creeping toward Cattaraugus Creek and hence into the Great Lakes.

Much of the radioactivity has been contained through the glass vitrification process. However, the remaining nuclear waste presents technological and political challenges for both New York State and the Federal government. 

Through extraordinary cooperation, the Federal and NYS bureacracies have finally produced a plan leading to a decision on cleanup.

This decision, presented as a Draft Environmental Impact Statement, offers alternative processes for cleanup of the site.  They are: Sitewide Removal, Sitewide Close-in-Place, and Phased Decisionmaking (the preferred alternative).

Public comments are being accepted until June 8, 2009. Go to westvalleyctf.org and digitup.org for more information. Write letters to the Department of Energy before the end of the public comment period on June 8, 2009 and send copies of your letters to Senators Schumer and Gillibrand and to President Obama.

Send letters to: Catherine Bohan, EIS Document Manager, West Valley Demonstration Project, U.S. Department of Energy P.O. Box 236 Germantown, MD  20874.
email via website: westvalleyeis.com