A moratorium halting the Department of Energy’s plan to drill a nuclear waste storage test borehole in North Dakota, will remain in place, according to Pierce County Commission Chairman Dave Migler.
The Pierce County Commission activated the drilling ban in early February after officials and residents voiced concern that the study will lead to eventual storage of nuclear waste in North Dakota.
The estimated five-year, $35 million project, proposed across 20 acres of state land near the city of Rugby, would deliver data on whether drilling 16,000-foot boreholes into rock formations is feasible for storage of DOE-managed waste. DOE has contracted Battelle Memorial Institute, which has partnered with the University of North Dakota Energy & Environmental Research Center in Grand Forks, for the project.
Representatives from all three organizations joined the commissioners on Tuesday for a special meeting in Rugby, where about 250 people gathered. Migler said Wednesday that the overwhelming majority want the project stopped.
“The experiment is fine, but the government has failed with this nuclear waste stuff, and they are looking for sites,” Migler said. “And if this site is favorable for (drilling), I might not see it in my lifetime, but the consensus was that people don’t trust the government, and it’s possibly going to come, so their feeling was, as well as the commissioners, stop it now. Do it somewhere else.”
Battelle spokesman T.R. Massey agreed that the majority of attendees opposed the project, but he said that’s not necessarily representative of all of Pierce County, an area populated by about 4,400 people in north-central North Dakota. Still, he said, representatives were happy to inform attendees about the project.
“We know the scope of the project, and we know what we’re doing, and we know that there will not be any radioactive waste being disposed of or stored in the deep borehole that we’re going to drill,” Massey said.
Battelle will need a drilling permit and lease from the state for the project, which was scheduled to break ground on Sept. 1. Massey said both applications are on hold until the matter is resolved with the county. Migler said the commission is still digesting the information, but a temporary moratorium can remain in place for five years or longer. Massey said his team will need to reassess plans if there is potential for long-term delays.
