SUNS 4288 Friday 25 September 1998



UNITED STATES: CLINTON UNDER FIRE - OVER NUCLEAR WASTE

Washington, Sept. 23 (IPS/Danielle Knight) -- U.S. President Bill Clinton is in more trouble - nothing to do with White House interns but for approving a bill that allows two states to dump radioactive waste at a proposed site in Texas near the Mexican border.

Outraged environmentalists protested Clinton's action last weekend in quietly signing into law the Texas/Maine/Vermont Radioactive Waste Dump Compact, effectively giving the nod to Texan officials to start up the bulldozers if they chose to do so.

Congress earlier passed the bill, under which Texas would accept radioactive waste from the northeastern states of Vermont and Maine, in exchange for 25 million dollars each. In January, the Texas legislature will vote on funding the proposed dump site - which will also store nuclear waste from Texas.

"The radioactive waste gun was pointed, loaded and the trigger cocked and Clinton's signature effectively pulls the federal trigger," said Diane D'Arrigo, an activist with the Washington-based Nuclear Information and Resource Service. "This makes is harder for local residents to fight it but fight it they will, with growing local, national and international support and concern."

The controversy surrounding the Compact project revolved around the site chosen by Texan officials to receive the waste - the town of Sierra Blanca, just 30 kms from the Mexican border, set in one of the economically poorest regions of the country.

Supporters of the Compact said that the proposed site will bring money to the state and only hold 'low-level' radioactive waste. But environmentalists declared "low level does not mean low risk" and
pointed out that plutonium and other radioactive elements are considered "low-level."

Environmental groups say the area around the site is not a safe place to store radioactive waste because it is prone to earth quakes and is situated on an aquifer - a scarce resource in Sierra Blanca's arid desert climate.

Civil rights groups and Mexican-American organisations have accused Clinton and Congress with racism because two-thirds of the residents of the town are of Mexican origin. "Clinton is now an accomplice to the racist government of Texas," charged Richard Boren, coordinator of Southwest Toxic Watch, an advocacy group that monitors hazardous waste along the Mexico-U.S. border.

"Now the United States government has given the green light to send nuclear waste from primarily white states like Maine and Vermont to the Texas Border region that is over 70 percent Mexican-American," he said.

Environmentalists were concerned that Clinton's signature approval of the Compact would open the door to Texas becoming the nation's next national nuclear power dump. The bill signed by the president omitted amendments originally passed by Congress which would have protected Texas from allowing other states to join the Compact project. The amendments, pushed by Senator Paul Wellstone, a Democrat of Minnesota, also would have given the local community the right to challenge discrimination.

Groups said Clinton's approval of the bill contradicted his own 1994 Executive Order to Address Environmental Justice in Minority and Low Income Populations. This required the government to ensure that minority and low- income communities were not disproportionately burdened by environmental hazards.

Mexican officials also have joined the fight against the proposed dump. The Mexican Congress's Permanent Commission voted unanimously against the dump saying it violates the 1983 La Paz Agreement between the two countries, prohibiting construction of such projects within 100 kms
from the neighbouring country's border.

"We cannot permit the United States to build up garbage dumps on our border," said Sen. Norberto Corella of Baja California. "Is there any sense in entering into international agreements if they are going to be violated? We will go to whatever means are required in order to stop this project."

"Who's going to guarantee 1,000 years from now there is not going to be a leak," asked Mexican Senator Hector Murguia of Ciudad Juarez. "The border does not distinguish between the water in the wells between the United States and Mexico."

Environmentalists and US senators opposing the Compact blamed the large utility industries for using political campaign contribution to influence politics. They said the nuclear power industry is using the law to shift liability from private industry to the taxpayers of Texas. "It's crystal clear what money can buy and money is one thing Sierra Blancans do not have," said D'Arrigo. "It can buy hundreds of hours of expensive professional lobbying time and clout."

More than $100,000 went from the state of Vermont toward getting the Compact approved by Congress, she said. The Texas Utilities Service Inc. reportedly spent up to $420,000 on lobbying politicians to get the bill passed. Houston Industries Incorporated spent up to 400,000 last year on lobbying on energy, environment and utility issues. In the industry group's annual report, the Compact was listed as their sole energy issue.