U.S.
A St. Louis, Mo.-area couple is suing the owner of the West Lake Landfill, among other companiess, claiming that contamination from the controversial Superfund site has been recorded in their home.
Michael and Robbin Dailey filed the lawsuit Tuesday in St. Louis County Circuit Court against nine companies, including current landfill owner Republic Services. The Environmental Protection Agency, which is managing cleanup of West Lake, responded on Thursday that it is developing a plan to sample the Dailey residence and other areas in Bridgeton, where the landfill is located.
West Lake, which is adjacent to the Bridgeton Landfill, where an underground fire has been burning since 2010, contains waste from the former uranium production facility at Mallinckrodt Chemical Works. Residents, lawmakers, and environmentalists have long criticized EPA’s 25-year cleanup effort at the site.
The lawsuit alleges that the Dailey property is contaminated with material from high levels of uranium decay, including thorium, lead, and radon. Dust inside the residence was shown to contain radioactive thorium-230 levels at least 200 times higher than background levels, according to the lawsuit, which contends that the defendants have been negligent in managing contamination at the landfill.
The other defendants are listed as Bridgeton Landfill LLC; Allied Services LLC; Rock Road Industries Inc.; MI Holdings Inc.; Mallinckrodt Inc.; Cotter Corp.; Commonwealth Edison Co.; and Exelon Corp. The Daileys are seeking damages and legal costs.
The EPA has requested soil and dust sampling data from the Daileys’ attorneys, as well as any similar data for nearby residences, businesses, and other locations.
“EPA requests all laboratory data, laboratory reports, and any Quality Assurance Project Plan or other written procedures that describe how the samples were collected, analyzed and validated,” EPA Associate Deputy Regional Counsel Alyse Stoy wrote Thursday in a letter to the Daileys attorneys. “Further, EPA asks that you provide documentation identifying the specific locations where samples were collected. Once EPA has an opportunity to review this data and methods employed to collect and analyze these samples our Agency will determine the appropriate next steps.”
INTERNATIONAL
French multinational AREVA agreed on Tuesday to sell its nuclear reactor business to French state-controlled power utility Eléctricité de France SA for 2.5 billion euros ($2.68 billion), as part of a mass restructuring the company announced earlier this year.
The overhaul is expected to raise at least 5 billion euros for AREVA and its newly formed entity NewCo, a spinoff that will focus on nuclear fuel cycle services, through government investment and asset sales. As drawn up, the French state utility will control up to 67 percent of NewCo, directly and indirectly, while the rest of the company is available for private investment.
According to the terms of the deal, which AREVA released Wednesday, EDF will buy up to 75 percent of the reactor business. The deal is expected to close by the end of 2017.
AREVA nuclear projects in China, Finland, and France are years off schedule, Reuters reported Wednesday. The time slips are a worry for EDF, which wants AREVA to head construction of two facilities at Hinkley Point in the United Kingdom, according to the report.
“Today, we take a major step forward in the refounding of the French nuclear industry,” EDF Group Chairman and CEO Jean-Bernard Lévy said in a statement. “With EDF as a leader of the French nuclear sector, this transaction will enable our industry to be more efficient in carrying out major projects such as the ‘Grand Carénage’ of the French fleet and the construction of new nuclear plants. We will thus be stronger and more competitive to conquer new international markets.”
“This signature marks an important stage in the refocusing of AREVA on fuel cycle activities, our core business,” AREVA Group CEO Philippe Knoche said in a statement. “The conclusion of these agreements strengthen our resolve to continue to implement our action plan.”
