N.Y. nuclear waste facility threatens watershed

West Valley Demonstration Project

A defunct nuclear waste repurposing facility in Western New York threatens to leach radioactive waste the into watershed around it, according to The Buffalo News.

Citizens are concerned about nuclear waste leaching into area streams, while Department of Energy officials insist they are doing what they can to keep the facility safe.

Authorities have a plan to remove all radioactive waste from the site and transport it to the western U.S. to be buried over a mile beneath the earth.

Citizens’ concerns are not unfounded. In the late 1960s and into the 1970s radioactive strontium escaped from contaminant facilities, leaching into the ground below.  Federal authorities had to create subterranean barriers to stop the substance from entering groundwater.

Image: West Valley Demonstration Project (Credit: U.S. Department of Energy)