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NEWS & LETTERS, May-June 2005Community opposes nuclear waste incineratorMemphis, Tenn.--The community is very upset about a low-level nuclear waste incinerator under construction on Presidents Island. RACE (Radiological Assistance, Consulting and Engineering, LLC) is a company that decontaminates equipment and other items used in nuclear reactors and other radiological services. They've been in operation on Presidents Island since 1999. Now they want to start a radioactive waste incinerator. The Presidents Island area is an industrial corridor that is separated somewhat from southwest Memphis by McKellar Lake. Yet it is still close to two communities, French Fort and the Riverview-Kansas neighborhood. ZONING USED AGAINST POOR PEOPLE Presidents Island was zoned for industrial purposes and it was there before some of the residents. But now they want to have a say in what impacts their community. Zoning doesn't seem to work for poor people or people of color communities. We--the Sierra Club Environmental Justice Program in Memphis--are trying to work with communities that want to speak up and have a say in what happens in their neighborhoods. These two communities came together about two years ago because of frustration with the oil refinery, and formed The Riverview Collaborative. It was revealed in the paper that the refinery had underreported emissions of benzene, a known carcinogen, for four years. They chose the name Riverview Collaborative to be broad enough to embrace any issue that came up--be it housing, zoning or jobs, to give voice to the community. RACE received a construction permit to build the incinerator in February 2003. The question the community has is how did they get the permit in the first place? We've had about three well-attended community meetings, about 80 people at each. There were so many comments, from long-time residents, people who've worked and lived in the area, schoolteachers, government people, a former worker at RACE. People wanted to know how RACE could get a permit and why they were being allowed to operate, especially after we discovered that they had been cited for 13 violations at the end of 2004 by TDEC (Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation). The violations had to do with radioactive material storage and handling, and monitoring the safety equipment for their workers. A couple of community members at the first meeting got confrontational with a TDEC staff member. They wanted to know how much RACE would have to do before they would be shut down instead of just slapping them on the wrist. The TDEC official was emphatic, saying that there wasn't any threat to human health. That really angered people. I said, that's unknown. They were taking a chance and treating the community and workers like guinea pigs. They made that statement without doing any testing. Citizens are scared and concerned when they hear about radioactivity near their homes. They have two schools near RACE and thousands of people live in the area. We're not thinking that people will fall dead as soon as the incinerator starts up, but we are concerned about the cumulative effects along with other polluting companies in the area. NO LEVEL OF RADIATION SAFE Enough is enough. But even if we didn't have other pollution sources and RACE was sitting there by itself, there still would be the outrage and concern because of what RACE wants to do. Some research shows that no level of radiation exposure is safe. It's important that people who live in low-income and people of color neighborhoods understand the power that they have and speak out and don't just give up and say those in power are gonna do what they're gonna do. Whether we win or lose this battle, people have grown, they will have learned things. But we definitely mean to stop this incinerator some kind of way. --Rita Harris |
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