Idaho Gov. Otter Likes Texas - For Mercury Storage

By Jill Kuraitis, 1-29-10

The U.S. Department of Energy is recommending a Texas site for storage of unwanted, highly toxic, elementary mercury - and Idaho Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter is pleased.

“It’s a step in the right direction. But it’s not a final decision. I won’t be satisfied that we’re safe from the prospect of having mercury stored atop the Snake River Plain Aquifer until the Record of Decision is on the books,” Governor Otter said. “It’s too soon to declare victory here, but I’m pleased to see that the Energy Department is moving toward a storage site other than Idaho.”

After studying seven sites around the country, including the Idaho National Laboratory, as possible locations for a mercury storage facility, the Department of Energy this week identified the Waste Control Specialists (WCS) facility near Andrews, Texas, as its preferred alternative.

The selection of a site for storing elemental mercury has troubled Otter, who said last year that storing mercury at INL contradicts the campaign to clean up the site.  In this year’s State of the State address, the Governor said that he “will not allow Idaho to become the nation’s dumping ground for its elemental mercury.”

In fact, Otter was so mad about the idea of the poison coming to Idaho that last July he said, “If they want to put it in a desolate and useless place, they should put it on the (U.S.) Capitol grounds.” Here is last year’s story on NewWest.

The Department of Energy concluded this week that the private facility in Texas meets its need to find sufficient storage capacity for an estimated 13,000-15,000 metric tons of surplus elemental mercury over the next 40 years, as required by the Mercury Export Ban of 2008. The environmental impact in and around the Texas site have been found to be negligible to minimal, according to the report.

Next comes a 60-day public comment period that runs through March 30. Public hearings are scheduled at nine locations near the sites under consideration. The public hearing in Idaho is scheduled for February 25 at the Shilo Inn/O’Callahan’s Convention Center, 780 Lindsay Boulevard, in Idaho Falls. The hearing will begin at 5:30 pm.