March 2, 2006

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EnergySolutions Helps Clean Radioactive Water Spill
By Mark Watson  
Tooele Transcript-Bulletin, UT
February 28, 2006

State officials said any health threats from a spill of radioactive water in southern Utah were minimal and the area is now clean.

A tanker truck en route to an EnergySolutions disposal site in Tooele County last week spilled an estimated three gallons of contaminated water at a truck stop parking lot near Parowan.

"The liquid was water with very low concentrations of radioactivity," said Dave Finerfrock, director of the Utah Division of Radiation Control. "The ground has been decontaminated, back-filled and the disturbed area restored."

"We are not responsible for the material until it arrives at our site in Tooele County," said EnergySolutions spokesman Mark Walker. "However, when we were notified that this leak had occurred we did everything we could to assist them in getting it cleaned up."

The tanker eventually transported 4,500 gallons of radioactive water from the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in California to Tooele County. The station is owned by Southern California Edison power company.

"There were no health or safety concerns or risk to the environment or the general public or anyone who assisted with the cleanup," Walker said.

Media reported that the leak was noticed by the driver about 10 p.m. Wednesday after the driver stooped to get a soda at the TA Truck Stop off I-15. The driver notified his supervisor at the Triad Transport Inc. terminal in Salt Lake City after noticing the leak.

The landfill in Tooele County is 80 miles west of Salt Lake City near I-80 and is used to dispose of low-level radioactive waste, mostly from nuclear reactors and government cleanups.

e-mail:mwatson@tooeletranscript.com