The Department of Energy has failed to secure another location for its proposed deep borehole field test, this time in South Dakota, where the Spink County Commission on June 10 sent a letter to lead contractor Battelle Memorial Institute opposing the $35 million nuclear waste storage experiment.
This comes after the Pierce County Commission in March similarly thwarted Battelle’s borehole plans in North Dakota over concerns that a successful field test, which would not involve waste, would eventually lead to actual nuclear waste storage there. Spink County Commissioner Cindy Schultz said her constituents had the same concern.
“I have to go with my constituents. They supported me in becoming a commissioner, and they are very much against the borehole project,” Schultz said in a telephone interview Tuesday.
The letter, signed by Spink County Commission Chairman Dave Albrecht, said the five-member board opposes the project.
“It is apparent that you do not have the support of the public in Spink County in regards to your Deep Borehole Field Test research project,” the letter reads, citing three public meetings hosted by Battelle, two Spink County Commission meetings, and various phone calls with constituents. “It is the consensus of the Board of Spink County Commissioners to inform you it is evident that you will be unable to secure the four votes needed in order to pass an application for Special Exception required for the project to begin.”
Battelle spokesman T.R. Massey said over the phone Friday that it will not move forward with plans in Spink County or South Dakota. Massey said the company is considering two or three alternate sites, though he did not disclose the exact locations. He added that he has a high degree of confidence the company will find an agreeable site.
“There’s crystalline basements all over North America,” Massey said.
DOE, in a joint letter with Battelle on Tuesday, told the Spink County Commission that while the department is disappointed officials are “unable to support this scientific project, we respect your decision.”
“We believe that this research project can be executed safely without harm to the environment or the groundwater; issues that community members in Spink County, and members of our own teams, take very seriously,” according to the letter, signed by DOE Office of Nuclear Energy Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fuel Cycle Technologies Andrew Griffith. “As we have stated from the beginning, however, we are committed to respecting the decision of the community. While it is unfortunate that we will not be able to partner with the Spink County community on this scientific project, we are grateful that you allowed us the opportunity to discuss our work with you.”
Originally scheduled to break ground Sept. 1, the estimated five-year project would produce data on whether 16,000-foot boreholes drilled into crystalline rock formations are suitable for DOE-managed high-level waste. As was the case in North Dakota, Battelle stressed that the field test would not involve any nuclear waste, citing the Spink County location’s proximity to an area aquifer.
“We researched it, and there was a lot of information we found that put too much doubt in our minds,” Schultz said. “There was too much chance of something happening to our aquifer, or even if you don’t use the boreholes for storing nuclear waste, what’s to say you won’t come back in the future and look for a different site in Spink County to store nuclear waste?”
