When Trojan stops traffic
Monday, May 8, 2006 1:12 PM PDT
By Janine Manny
Printable version
E-mail this articleRAINIER -- Early in the morning on May 21, traffic will be stopped on land, on the river and in the air as strategically placed explosions crumble the 499-foot Trojan Nuclear Plant cooling tower in on itself.
The Trojan implosion is perhaps the most anticipated demolition project in the Northwest since synchronized blasts pancaked Seattle's Kingdome six years ago.
Authorities acknowledge that public interest is intense, yet they're trying their best to keep people away so that they don't bottle up roads or highways and become safety hazards themselves. In fact, they're encouraging people to watch from home.
"We are working with the Associated Press and television stations to get footage from a lot of different angles," said Scot Simms, spokesman for Portland General Electric, the utility that owns the defunct nuclear plant.
"We'll have aerial shots from helicopters and sacrificial cameras close to or inside the tower. A person who views it in person won't get all that," Simms said.
Columbia County Emergency Management Coordinator Vicki Harguth understands that many area residents saw the tower go up and want to see it come down, and she also expects residents with views to hold implosion parties.
However, authorities are not recommending any viewpoints for the public, though a media-only viewpoint will be set up by PGE at the Port of Kalama.
"Locals know the best spots to see the tower," Harguth said. "We're keeping people out of the restricted zone, but outside of that, it's up to them."
Neither Trojan owner Portland General Electric or its implosion contractor, Controlled Demolition, Inc., will give an exact time for the implosion. However, several local agencies have confirmed that it is set for about 7 a.m.
At 5 a.m. on demolition day, the Oregon Department of Transportation will close Highway 30 at Jack Falls Road west of Trojan and Neer City Road east of the site.
"The plan is to close the road at 5 a.m. and use pilot cars to control traffic," Ed Miller of the ODOT Clatskanie Highway Maintenance Station.
"We can't have anybody stopping along the side of the road. When they tell us they are going to pull the trigger, we'll stop traffic altogether. Then 8 seconds later we'll start up again. That's how long they tell us it will last," Miller said.
Miller said that if the dust cloud goes straight up or toward the river, ODOT will reopen the highway immediately. If the plume drifts over Highway 30, ODT workers will keep the road closed until concrete dust settles and is swept off the roadway.
"We're just there to make sure it's safe," he said. "If there is anybody in the restricted area, they won't pull the trigger."
Plans also include pilot cars for traffic control across the river on Interstate 5.
According to Sylvia Ross of the Washington Department of Transportation, rolling slowdowns to clear the area will start about 6:45 a.m. and traffic to a complete stop during the implosion and for about 15 minutes afterward. The closures will be at mileposts 28 and 34, stretching from Carrolls nearly to Todd Road (Exit 27).
"You can't see Trojan from either end of the closed area," Ross said. "We don't want people driving on I-5 during that time just to get a view."
Ross said the WDOT was setting up the control measures and the Washington State Patrol will enforce them.
"Obviously there is a safety concern about people stopping to watch or take pictures," Captain Jeff Devere of the WSP said. "Any time you stop alongside the roadway for a non-emergency reason you put yourself in danger."
A Controlled Demolition has been drilling holes to hold explosives that will cause the southeast side of the tower -- the side facing Kalama -- to crumble first during the implosion. The plan is for the tower to fall to the southeast, away from the rest of the buildings and spend nuclear fuel rods stored at the Trojan site. The fuel rods are stored in concrete casks that can are 900 feet north of the cooling tower.
Air Traffic Control at the Port of Portland will enforce a temporary flight restriction over the area.
"Usually for a big media event, we have a TFR to control the number of helicopters and the distance," Scott Spears of Air Traffic Control said. "The dust and debris could also possibly obscure visibility or get sucked into the engine of a small plane."
Regular air traffic in and out of Portland will not be affected, he said.
"The TFR is for very low aviation activities," Spears said. "We basically need to keep people away from the debris, and make sure it doesn't become a hazard."
The implosion of the cooling tower and total decommission of the nuclear plant is being coordinated by PGE's Jon Vingerud, who said there will be a total exclusion area around the Trojan Nuclear Plant tower in a half-mile radius.
"There is also a one-mile notification radius, which includes residents in the Prescott area, houses up on the hill in Oregon and the Kalama Sportsmen's Club," Vingerud said. "Those residents will not need to be evacuated."
On the Columbia River, there will be a five-mile broadcast zone to keep boaters out of the area from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m., according to Petty Officer Christopher Lumpkin of the Portland Sector of the United States Coast Guard. The zone reaches from river mile 70 to 75.
PGE originally had said that river would be closed to traffic one mile on either side of Trojan. According to Harguth, the Columbia County Emergency Management Coordinator, the closure zone is now two miles on both sides, from river mile 70.5 to 74.5.
"The area will be actively enforced by multi-agency coordination," Lumpkin said. "All boaters need to be off the water by 6 a.m. Anyone refusing to move will be arrested."
Harguth does not foresee any problems related to the implosion itself.
"We have a special rescue team ready," she said. "But I don't see a danger. They (CDI officials) are triple checking everything."
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