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Contaminated sand from Gulf War to pass through Longview

Tuesday, April 15, 2008 2:44 AM PDT

By Erik Olson

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A ship carrying 6,700 tons of sand contaminated with low levels of hazardous waste at a U.S. Army base in Kuwait during the first Gulf War will be unloaded at the Port of Longview on April 22.

The vessel BBC Alabama is delivering 306 containers of the sand, which contains low levels of uranium, to the port, which will then be loaded onto trains bound for a disposal site in Grand View, Idaho, said Doug Averett, the port’s director of operations.

A cleanup contractor packaged the contaminated sand in bags designed to hold hazardous waste and then placed them in a container, said Chad Hyslop, project manager for Idaho-based American Ecology, the company responsible for disposing of the material.

Longshoremen will not directly handle contaminated material — only the containers holding it, according to the port.

The shipment is safe, Hyslop said, because the concentration of uranium in the sand is so low — about 10 parts per trillion. That concentration — about 0.00000000001 percent — is about five to 10 times higher than the concentration of uranium found in concrete or wall board, he said.

"We’re talking about levels that you see in nature," Hyslop said.

American Ecology was required to get permission to dispose of the sand from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The sand contains "unimportant quantities of source material," according to a Sept. 13 letter from the agency to the U.S. Army that The Daily News obtained from the port.

Mike Wilcox, vice president of the International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union local 21, said he initially was concerned about the safety of longshoremen and the entire community when he heard a shipment of depleted uranium was coming into Longview.

"You hear ‘depleted uranium,’ and I don’t know what it is, but it’s dangerous," Wilcox said.

His fears were allayed after meeting with port officials Monday and learning the radiation levels are so low, Wilcox said. In his 12 years as a longshoremen, Wilcox said he’s never seen a shipment of hazardous materials.

And he hopes it’s a one-time thing.

"We don’t really want it again," Wilcox said.

Longshoremen are receiving further instruction later in the week on how to handle the cargo, Wilcox said. American Ecology was required to file a spill-response plan with the government for transporting the material, Hyslop said.

The Port of Longview was chosen because of its proximity to Idaho, easy access to rail lines and its professional staff, Hyslop said.

Amiercan Ecology’s disposal site in Grand View, Idaho, is licensed to accept low-level radioactive waste.

The sand in Kuwait became contaminated following a fire at Camp Doha in Kuwait in 1991 during Operation Desert Storm. An ammunition carrier holding depleted uranium rounds caught in the fire, contaminating the ground, according to Hyslop.

Any contamination on foreign lands must be shipped back to the United States for disposal, Hyslop said.

American Ecology already disposed of contaminated metal from the Camp Doha site in 2005, Hyslop said. That material had a higher concentrations of depleted uranium, he said.

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Uh oh wrote on Apr 15, 2008 6:04 AM:

" Let the parade of irrational and ignorant fear begin. "

checkmate wrote on Apr 15, 2008 7:14 AM:

" Uhh, George, we wanted their oil not their sand! "natural amounts" then why are we shipping it 4k miles. Dump it in the Persian see. THis is gotta be the dumbest thing Ive ever read. "

digdug wrote on Apr 15, 2008 8:45 AM:

" Way to diversify cargo! "

somedude wrote on Apr 15, 2008 9:24 AM:

" Why why why would we even want to touch this stuff let alone bring it to our own shores? You would think that the way our government works we would place it in the sanboxes of the parks in Kuwait then when all the kids started gorwing third eyes and nipples we would deny ever having anything to do with it "

Most Agree wrote on Apr 15, 2008 10:08 AM:

" How many people saw the nuclear bomb on You Tube go off in Iraq? Go to You Tube and put Nuclear ammo dump in the search engine to see. I wonder if this is from that event? Your lying government says the amounts are "unimportant quantities" of uranium. So WHAT is "unimportant"? Since when did our government give a whit about any of the lives of our citizens? Do we have health care? If we get sick and have to sue for health care costs and damages they want to demonize our lawyers! And they drag court cases out for 20 years until you die and can't collect. I say block these shipments and tell the world what is going on here. "

Tired wrote on Apr 15, 2008 10:39 AM:

" Leave it there. "

Harff wrote on Apr 15, 2008 11:11 AM:

" Depleted urainium when weaponized is used to create an explovsive class D fire to penatrate armore. In the process the atomized urainium becomes breathable and can be ingested into the lungs and hangs around in the sand.
Many Gulf War veterans had been exposed to DU after our first swaray into the Middle East. The VA is giving this the "Agent Orange" treatment. And has no plans to study this problem until a certain precentage of the Vets. have died off.

I'm just saying. "

WSU student wrote on Apr 15, 2008 11:19 AM:

" at that concentration there is about .000134 pounds in 6,700tonnes. That is harmless especially since is is depleted U. "

UW PSE wrote on Apr 15, 2008 11:39 AM:

" Agh! Remember to use sig figs WSU student! It's 0.00013 pounds. Haha, sorry, I had to (engineering student). But yeah, that little amount of U-238 is certainly nothing to worry about. "

?????!!!!!!!!!!!? wrote on Apr 15, 2008 11:43 AM:

" And why is it coming here again?!? Gotta give the "Stupid Criminals" award to the government on this one. "

bluE wrote on Apr 15, 2008 12:14 PM:

" i think this is wonderful, maybe it will bring jobs to longview. if we import enough we could even start our own processing facility, we could do that in the old water treatment plant, beings the fact we found wells. i bet if we do it right it might even attract tourism. we could certainly ad it to the longview branding project somehow....
"

Re: Most Agree wrote on Apr 15, 2008 12:17 PM:

" Maybe if you read the article you would see that this is from the first gulf war. I think the only liar here is you. And there is nothing nuclear about that youtube video. It is a ammo dump that caught fire from mortar attack. Get a clue. "

Ask more questions wrote on Apr 15, 2008 12:23 PM:

" So if it's so harmless why is it being shipped half-way around the world? And of course the U.S. taxpayer is probably footing the cost. Maybe a curious journalist armed with FOIA should put their nose into this. Follow the money, maybe it's a "jobs" program. Maybe we should charge Kuwait for protecting their national interest. "

WWU student wrote on Apr 15, 2008 12:27 PM:

" How do we put this for the lay person? You get more radiation living in Denver due to the shear quantity of earth below you than you would having this sand in your back yard. You also get more radiation from the sun or an x-ray than if you were to play in this sand. You do get more radiation from our coal power plants, yes coal, than if you slept on this sand. It's being cleaned up because of a policy. "

Earl wrote on Apr 15, 2008 12:41 PM:

" Thank Yoy WWU Student, but you cant reason with these people that hate this country that we call the United States. "

Harff wrote on Apr 15, 2008 1:09 PM:

" Yo excuse me but this is DU perhaps from Trojan. You see this is the way our country, little did we know, is getting rid of our commerical nuclear waste. Kool dudes and dudets, that why we gotta take it back. Its a US export that gets to come home.

Oh yah, by the by, there are many more cases of cancer reported now from both Iraq and Kuwait in former armore combat areas. Lymph type stuff. You see this was only an ammo dump. Just think of what we are doing or have done to the civilian populations of those two countries. We just have'nt been nice enough to tell them about it that's all. "

Common Sense wrote on Apr 15, 2008 1:10 PM:

" Instead of shipping it over here for storage; why don't we just dump the sand off the ship halfway across the ocean. Find a deep trench and let it fly. No one could get to it and if it emits such a minimal amount of radiation; it likely wouldn't affect anything living down there. It's just a thought. "

South Kelso Guy wrote on Apr 15, 2008 1:15 PM:

" So,if it is Absolutely Safe and harmless, Why does it have to be moved and then disposed of? "

Re: Ask more questions wrote on Apr 15, 2008 1:37 PM:

" Maybe UFO's brought it here?!? "

Another South Kelso Guy wrote on Apr 15, 2008 2:12 PM:

" Let's see, it is safe and harmless, and yet we are giving special instructions to the longshoremen on how to handle this cargo?? Wouldn't you handle it just like regular sand if the amount is so minimal?? "

Re: Re: Ask wrote on Apr 15, 2008 2:16 PM:

" UFO's? As in Unfriendly Foreign Oilmen? "

Jynx wrote on Apr 15, 2008 2:33 PM:

" If the levels are of that found in nature, then why the formal percautions? Containers, hazard bags, ect. Wierdness. "

Most Agree wrote on Apr 15, 2008 2:38 PM:

" It's real nice when someone does not agree with you they resort to bullying tactics, like calling you names. Can't wait to attack and destroy anyone that isn't under their thumb. Bully. "

El Gabilon wrote on Apr 15, 2008 2:48 PM:

" This is obviously an indication that we do not have very intelligent people working for us in our government. That being said, the blame rests with us who voted them in. Instead of working for the American people, our government seems to bend over backwards to satisfy the wishes of foreign governments even at the risk of polluting American soil and creating conditions that in the future may prove a serious health risk for our posterity. Next we will be hearing that the government is shipping over all of the Iraqi and terrorist wounded to be given free medical care in this country at the taxpayers expense whil millions go without health care in this country. Many of the comments made on this web site are good, but should be directed to the Congress of the US because unless you write and demand action, nothing in your interests is going to happen. "

Definition wrote on Apr 15, 2008 3:36 PM:

" As a former nuclear materials handler, onw "definition" of nuclear waste is any material exposed to known man-made radioactive sources, including exposure to their fission or decay fragments. The sand MIGHT be perfectly safe, but since it has been exposed and you can't "prove" the radioactivity isn't man made then you have to treat the material as waste. Seems rather, or excessively conservative, but when it comes to radiation, you want conservative or safety processes in place first. "

Re: definition wrote on Apr 15, 2008 7:28 PM:

" Fascinating that the pharmaceutical industry and other chemical producers are allowed to expose consumers to a much broader definition of "safe", as in when people start droppping dead from new medicines or kids get sick from lead on toys, then maybe we'll take another look at allowable levels of risk. My gut tells me this story is more about money and politics than the scientific ability to determine levels of safety. "

Harff wrote on Apr 15, 2008 11:53 PM:

" Yo Dudes and Dudetts,

Great exchange of ideas. This is what it takes to make democracy work.

Now, lets see if we can put some of our ideas into action. Let's stop the use of DU in weapons.

"

Jimmy Dickens wrote on Apr 16, 2008 5:46 AM:

" Oh goody, now the bunny huggers will demand we replace what we took. How about sending back some of our own contaminated sand? "

joexnola wrote on Apr 16, 2008 9:06 AM:

" To say the least, most of you sound intelligent. However; if you've served in any of the branches of the military, you would know, Uncle Sam never tells all the facts, until it's too late, or he absolutely has to. There are several reports of different cancers from our troops from Operation Desert Shield/Storm/Salute. Wake up WWU student. You only know 1/2, if that much, of the facts. Look at Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. How many years went buy before the true facts began to emerge? I've watched several friends die after returning from Saudi, but the Gov't says we were not exposed...Exposed to what?... Wake up People! "

spaz wrote on Apr 16, 2008 9:34 AM:

" To quote So. Kelso Guy:

" So,if it is Absolutely Safe and harmless, Why does it have to be moved and then disposed of? "

THANK YOU!!!! "

Fencepost wrote on Apr 16, 2008 9:59 AM:

" Why are we (Americans) so paranoid? Those who have suffered from hazardous materials (radiation, asbestos, lead, benzene, cigarette smoke) are those who have been exposed to extremely high dosages of it. The average non-smoking Joe American, exposed to limited quantities, will likely never see a problem from it. Everything in moderation. "

Local wrote on Apr 16, 2008 3:46 PM:

" Has anyone called GREENPEACE yet? "

why? wrote on Apr 16, 2008 5:53 PM:

" but why is it being unloaded here, instead of at a port that normally takes containers? Seattle or portland? did those ports refuse to take them? "

Attack of the NIMBY wrote on Apr 16, 2008 8:02 PM:

" AAaaaaagghhhhhhhh....Oh noooooooooooooo...I'm melting........eeeee........ooooooohhhhhhh......aaaaahhhhhhhh.....why....why......why....does this have to happen in MY back yard.....??!!!!???!?!?!?!?! It is SO okay for it to happen ANYWHERE else in the whole wide world, but it just CANT happen HERE! I am sooooooo special and my world is sooooo important. Please, please, please, please, please God oh God oh God, take this away, for it is horrible and so undeserved. Force it upon those others who deserve it...anyone...just not me. For I am NIMBY. "

Grow Old Timber wrote on Apr 16, 2008 10:13 PM:

" To Uh oh; You need a job,sniffing sand.
Let's not be concerned right? BULL.
Shouldn't we be asking our government
why we are using depleted uranium for ammunition loads? Sure it's one way to get rid of depleted nuclear fuel, 100mm at a time.
THe Army justified their use of it on combatants saying;
"Even if they miss the target eventually it will get them anyway..."
This factiod is not made up.
Well I guess WE get it now. And Idaho.
Also this IS related to Gulf War Syndrome, that "mysterious disease" our troops were crying about being sick from. We blew up their ammunition stockpiles without a concern what was in them. Then order our boys to go look for evidence amongst the waste. So you see, we have nothing to fear, but Mr Uh-oh.
No war for oil. For the instability in the supply. Get it yet?
"

john mccarthy wrote on Apr 30, 2008 7:19 AM:

" One Alpha Particle emitted from "depleted" uranium is a death sentence to humans.


http://www.mindfully.org/Nucs/2004/DU-Trojan-Horse1jul04.htm

Already the area contaminated around Baghdad and Kabul for 1000 miles is contaminated with DU. And it is omnicidal; it kills everything in the food chain and has a half life of 4.5 billion years, the age of our planet earth. DU was discovered as an agent of mass destruction during the Manhatten Project in 1943. It was to be used as a back-up to the A bomb if that malfunctioned.

Nice work, fellas.
"

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