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Cleanup contractor warns of shipment cap risk; more than 30,000 drums awaiting offsite disposal
Summary
A cleanup contractor for Idaho National Laboratory said New Mexico is considering a permit change that could cut shipments of legacy waste from weeks to annually; contractor representatives asked counties to be prepared to comment and noted the cleanup mission's community economic ties.
Dana Kirkham of the Idaho Environmental Coalition briefed commissioners on the cleanup contractor's role at the Idaho National Laboratory site, explaining the difference between legacy waste and spent nuclear fuel and outlining how cleanup milestones affect broader lab missions. Kirkham said the cleanup program has exhumed contaminated material that is now staged in containers awaiting shipment to a federal disposal site.
"We have over 30,000 drums that are sitting on the Idaho Desert waiting to be shipped," Kirkham said, describing the backlog and a pending New Mexico environmental-permit modification that could reduce permitted throughput from roughly 7–12 shipments per week to 7–12 per year if adopted. She said local governments and some nearby jurisdictions have already submitted comments opposing the proposed change in order to preserve the throughput necessary to meet settlement-agreement milestones.
Kirkham asked the county to be prepared to consider comments supporting timely removal of waste from Idaho and described community benefits from INL-related employment and local contracting. "About 189 of your families in Jefferson County work for the Idaho Environmental Coalition," she said, noting the contractor's grant programs and community investments.
What happens next: the public comment period on the New Mexico permit modification was active at the time of the briefing; staff may bring any formal request for comment or resolution back to the board if requested by the contractor or if the modification materially affects county interests.
