Contaminated sand headed for Idaho dump

Fri., May 2, 2008

Jessie Bonner Associated Press

BOISE, Idaho – Nearly 80 rail cars loaded with contaminated sand from Kuwait are headed toward a dump in Idaho.

American Ecology Corp. is shipping about 6,700 tons of sand containing traces of depleted uranium and lead to a hazardous waste disposal site 70 miles southeast of Boise. The sand arrived by ship at Longview, Wash., this week and company officials say loads are scheduled to begin arriving in Idaho by rail in two weeks.

The company has previously disposed of low-level radioactive waste and hazardous materials from U.S. military bases overseas at facilities in Idaho, Nevada and Texas, said American Ecology spokesman Chad Hyslop.

“As you can imagine, the host countries of those bases don’t want the waste in their country,” Hyslop said.

Neither do leaders of the Snake River Alliance, a nuclear watchdog group, who have vowed to monitor the site. “Depleted uranium is both a toxic metal and a radioactive substance,” said Andrea Shipley, the group’s executive director. “That is a concern.”

The sand coming to Idaho from Camp Doha, a U.S. Army base in Kuwait, was contaminated with uranium after military vehicles and munitions caught fire during the first Iraq war in 1991. .

The Kuwait Ministry of Defense contracted MKM Engineers Inc. of Stafford, Texas, to package the waste and transport it to the United States. MKM then subcontracted with American Ecology for disposal, Hyslop said.

American Ecology has said the sand will be tested and treated if needed before it is buried in the dump.

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Contaminated sand headed for Idaho dump

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