Kenneth Fletcher
WC Monitor
4/18/2014
While the Department of Energy is not seeking any funding next year for a program to reimburse the costs of cleaning up a set of sites that produced uranium and thorium, Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) has requested $54 million in Fiscal Year 2015 for the effort from Senate Appropriators. The funding would cover all of the currently outstanding claims to DOE for reimbursement of for cleanup of one thorium and 13 uranium processing sites that provided material to the U.S. government. That includes the West Chicago site, which is seeking $15 million in reimbursements. Durbin’s office confirmed the requested funding, but did not comment further.
The issue has also attracted the attention of West Chicago Mayor Ruben Pineda, who asked Rep. Pete Roskam (R-Ill.) to support the funding. “The manufacture of these materials in West Chicago resulted in contamination of the homes and businesses, as well as the local wastewater treatment plant, parklands, groundwater, and over seven miles of riverbed and shoreline of the DuPage River and Kress Creek. Until remedial actions are complete, this contamination poses a significant threat to the public health of a minority population already facing significant economic hardship,” Pineda said in a letter to Roskam. Pineda asked Roskam to “remind the Administration how important it is for the United States to honor the environmental commitments it makes to bring Environmental Justice to local municipalities like West Chicago, and how disheartening it is to all of us at the local level who have worked so hard to successfully complete the project when it appears that the United States is choosing to ignore its part of the bargain.” Both Roskam and Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) did not respond to requests for comment this week.
