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Nuclear
Regulatory Commission Grants License to Milford Irradiator
Background
Questions about the timing of requests
Questions of whether this is processing or just
storage
The
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has granted a license to Clemons
Family Corporation Logistics (CFC Logistics) for the operation of a
cobalt-60 irradiation facility, and nearby residents are furious. The
license will allow them to obtain cobalt-60 and start testing the irradiator,
which uses radioactive gamma rays to kill bacteria in edible and non-edible
products.
The
plant is located in Milford Township, Bucks County, next to the Quakertown
exit of the Northeast extension of the turnpike. It is very close to
where Bucks, Lehigh, Montgomery, and Berks counties converge.
Many
nearby residents believe the NRC and CFC Logistics are jeopardizing
people’s lives for the sake of money.
According
to the NRC, there are approximately 50 cobalt-60 irradiation facilities
in the country, but the Milford facility would be only the third site
in the country where gamma rays are used to irradiate meat. The other
two are in Chicago and central Florida. The plant will utilize hundreds
of cobalt-60 rods sitting at the bottom of a 22-foot pool filled with
water.
Because
CFC Logistics has been granted their license, the rods could arrive in late September or early October and testing will begin
shortly after.
However,
there is still hope that the irradiator will not be allowed to operate.
Despite the NRC license, Milford Township officials
are trying to stop the irradiator.
Questions
about timing of requests
The
date when CFC Logistics decided to build an irradiator in its Milford
Township cold-storage facility has been questioned by its opponents.
“There
is information out there that they may not have been as up-front as
they could have been,” said Skip Moyer of Concerned Citizens of
Milford, a group opposed to the controversial cobalt-60 irradiator.
“I’m not sure how that plays legally, but it doesn’t
play well with the people.”
According
to the letter, documents submitted to the township by CFC Logistics
in February included a drawing of the irradiator that is dated May 2002
and a document that indicates the system’s pool “was tested
on July 2, 2002.”
This
could indicate that CFC Logistics had planned on building the irradiator
much earlier than it claims. The company first told the township it
wanted to build the irradiator in December 2002. The irradiation facility
has since been built and is awaiting approval by the NRC to begin testing.
Both
the drawing of the irradiator and record of the July 2002 test of the
pool, which is dated July 11, were obtained by The Morning Call. Neither
specifically mentions CFC Logistics or the facility in Milford.
Also,
Republican U.S. Sens. Arlen Specter and Rick Santorum and state Sen.
Rob Wonderling, R-Montgomery, who represents Milford Township, sent
a letter on July 18 to the NRC asking it “to provide this community
with the opportunity to present its concerns prior to issuing a license.”
According
to Robert Sugarman, an attorney hired by Concerned Citizens of Milford,
“they were hiding their true intentions” when the company
sought approval for a warehouse facility in early 2002. That, he said,
was the basis for a land-use appeal he filed with Bucks County Court
on July 19 on behalf of 14 residents of Huber Drive in Milford and Concerned
Citizens of Milford.
In
mid-December, CFC Logistics informed township officials of the company’s
intention to add the irradiation facility to the cold-storage warehouse,
which began operation two months previously. The facility will use radioactive
gamma rays emitted from cobalt-60 “pencils” to eliminate bacteria
such as E. coli and salmonella.
A
few days later, according to Supervisor Robert Mansfield, the township
issued the company the permit to dig a hole at the warehouse.
Jim
Wood, president of CFC Logistics and Martin Stein, president of Gray
Star, the New Jersey company building the irradiator, said there are
simple explanations for the earlier dates on the two documents.
As
for the May 2002 sketch of the irradiator, which is the same irradiator
as in the Milford warehouse, Stein and Wood say it is a generic sketch
produced by Gray Star to market the irradiator.
Questions whether this is processing or just storage
On
Aug. 25, the township advertised a new ordinance that would prohibit
an irradiator from being built within a mile of homes, schools or churches.
All three are within a mile of CFC Logistics. The ordinance will be
voted on at a Sept. 23 meeting.
“We
believe that’s prohibitive zoning and won’t stand up in court,”
said CFC Logistics President Jim Wood. “And it’s irrelevant,
because we already got the appropriate permits they originally required
from us.”
Supervisor
Robert Mansfield said the company has a use permit for warehousing,
but the irradiator also needs a use permit for processing.
The
township had asked the NRC to delay a decision until a land-use issue
was resolved. The township believes the company has approval to operate
a “wholesale storage and warehouse” facility but must apply
for an approval that includes “processing of materials, goods,
foodstuffs and products.”
Wood repeatedly has said irradiation is not processing.
“I
believe we’ll have an ordinance and they’ll challenge it and
the courts will make a determination,” Mansfield said.
Although
CFC Logistics first made its intentions known at a Feb. 5 township meeting,
it wasn’t until June that local residents, led by Concerned Citizens
of Milford, began to organize and rally against the facility.
They
claimed an accident or terrorist attack could release deadly radiation.
Concerned
Citizens of Milford were able to convince NRC officials to come to the
area for two informational meetings on July 16 and Aug. 21. Both meetings
attracted hundreds of angry residents who vented their frustration and
shouted down the comments of NRC officials.
After
the July 16 meeting, Sheehan said the NRC, in response to concerns raised
by residents, looked into how an earthquake would affect the facility
and what would happen if a heavy load fell on the walls or into the
22-foot pool of water in which the cobalt-60 sits.
Many
residents
of Milford Township and surrounding communities are not convinced.
Wood
said the facility is safe and residents have nothing to worry about.
The
grilling will continue.
“We
plan to be there during delivery and installation and testing,”
said the NRC's Sheehan. “And
we will also be doing inspections and will make sure they meet all requirements
before they start operating.”
