BORDER ENVIRONMENT

by Ana María Ruiz-Brown, Staff Writer/ Translator

SIERRA BLANCA HEARINGS OPEN

Two months of public hearings organized by state officials regarding a proposed low-level nuclear waste dump site near Sierra Blanca, Texas, began January 21.

Sierra Blanca's Community Library was the setting for the first of several hearings to cover important characteristics of the dump, like design, construction and operation.

During the public hearings opponents and supporters of the project gave testimony under oath before judges from the State Office of Administrative Hearings, according to the El Paso Times. Texas state regulators will use the information they gather in deciding whether to issue a license to open the waste site.

Opponents had a very difficult and unequal battle against those who support the project, according to lawyer Norman J. Gordon, who represented the city of El Paso. "All the money's on their side," he said.

For example, the proposed site was in an active earthquake zone, New York physicist Marvin Resnikoff told the El Paso Times. However, the Sierra Blanca Legal Defense Fund could not afford to pay Dr. Resnikoff's services to testify during the hearings.

The Mexican government formally expressed its rejection toward the project in a letter from the External Relations Secretariat (SRE) to U.S. President Clinton, according to Diario de Juárez. The Secretariat made the decision after evaluating the dump's technical, social and political aspects, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in the official statement.

Through bilateral consultations, the SRE will insist on applying the U.S./Mexico Peace Treaty of 1983. Both countries agreed to "prevent, reduce and eliminate sources of contamination in their respective territories that can affect the border zone of the other" within 100 kilometers, in the treaty, signed by Presidents Ronald Reagan and Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado. The controversial site is located about 25 km/16 miles from the Mexico border.

Many of those opposed to the project have been misinformed, the General Manager of the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Authority, Rick Jacobi, explained to an El Paso Times reporter. Only a small amount of dry radioactive material would come from Texas, Maine and Vermont, Jacobi emphasized. The most dangerous material would be radioactive isotopes from hospitals and universities, according to Jacobi. The nuclear-waste would be buried and sealed in a large concrete container.

However, the dump would harm the town, lawyer David Frederick, member of the Sierra Blanca Legal Defense Fund, claimed.

Another two weeks of the hearings started January 26 in El Paso, Texas, amid protests from Texas and Chihuahua state legislators. Regulators will probably not make their decision until later this year, according to the El Paso Times. If they decide to approve the license, the site would probably open between July and September, 1999, after seven to nine months of construction.

Sources: El Paso Times, Diario de Juárez