The Michigan Daily - Friday, April 8, 1994 - 3 The University maintains the sites are legal, but the state DNR wants them licensed By HOPE CALATI DAILY STAFF REPORTER n an innocuous-looking pale blue and brick building behind a chain-link fence on a corner of North Campus, the University is operating an illegal radioac- tive waste dump, state regulators claim. The Michigan Department of Natural Re- sources (MDNR) says the University's facili- ties are illegal because they are not properly licensed by the state. But University officials say they have a license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that should be good enough. The matter will be settled in Washtenaw County Court where the University is suing the state in a two-year-old attempt to sort out this legal mess of overlapping state and fed- eral laws. The suit will determine whether the University and other producers of low-level radioactive waste fall within the state's juris- diction. "The lawsuit involves questions of juris- diction and procedure," explained Sally Pobojewski of the University's News and Information Services. "There's no question of public safety." The University is one of a number of organizations in this tug-of-war between state and federal regulators. The University's trouble with the state began in August 1991 when MDNR alleged the University violated state and federal re- quirements for temporary storage of mixed wastes at its storage facilities on Beck Road near Willow Run Airport and at the 1077 site in the North University Building. The wastes in question are generated at the University by medical diagnoses and treat- ments. These materials are also used in re- search into the causes and cures of cancer, AIDS and Alzheimer's disease, and current environmental problems. University researchers are trained in safety procedures before they can order radioactive materials. When the researchers complete an experiment, they must separate radioactive solids, liquids and animal tissues and place them in temporary storage containers for pickup by Radiation Control Services staff members. Animal tissues must be frozen and kept separate from other waste products. Liquids are placed in special 4-liter jugs, and other waste is placed in a solid drum, except for soiled vials, which are placed in trays for disposal. The low-level radioactive and mixed wastes are then taken to the North Campus Transfer Facility for processing. The waste is pH tested and placed in 55-gallon drums, which contain the same type of radioactive isotopes. The drum is labeled, filled and brought to the Beck Road Facility, near Wil- low Run Airport, to be temporarily stored until the waste is no longer radioactive. This site is safe, said Ann Arbor Fire Department (AAFD) Assistant Chief Michael Jackson. In 27 years, there has not been one alarm the AAFD had to answer. The University encourages its researchers to use radioactive isotopes with half-lives of less than 90 days. A half-life is the amount of time required for half of a radioactive sub- stance to decay. After the isotope has decayed to accept- able levels, the drum is returned to the North Campus Transfer Facility and prepared for shipment off campus as a hazardous waste. The University is one of almost 60 facili- ties statewide that have been storing their low-level radioactive and mixed wastes on site since a 1991 decision by the state of Michigan. The University has filed suit against the state to prove that the state has no business regulating the storage of the mixed wastes produced by these universities, hospitals, busi- nesses and nuclear power plants. In 1991, the state decided that low-level radioactive waste producers must store their wastes where they are produced because the state does not have a low-level radioactive storage site nor does it have a responsibility to site a facility due to entanglements with a regional waste disposal organization. This decision has had financial implica- tions for the University. Before the 1991 decision, the University paid about $100,000 per year for the transportation and disposal of radioactive wastes. Now, the tab is more than twice that amount. The state regulates mixed waste, which includes radioactive waste. Radioactive waste is already regulated by the Nuclear Regula- tory Commission. Kenneth Burda, chief of the state's Haz- ardous Waste Program, complained about this dual regulation. "It's dealt with by both stat- utes, which, in my perspective, is stupid. "The problem with this stuff is that they are storing their stuff in places that aren't licensed." The University and other sites are not buying permits from the MNDR for storing mixed waste. An organization may pay $1 million for a construction and operations per- mit. "No one is doing that," Burda said. Michigan State University is an exception to this pattern. "MSU stores mixed waste but they've always had a permit," Burda said. Thor Strong, associate commissioner of the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Authority, said all generators of waste in the state are in a bind. "I know that the University probably has the biggest task of all of them in terms of the number of users of radioactive waste on cam- pus," Strong said. MDNR alleged in August 1991 that the University violated mixed waste storage re- quirements for the 1077 and Beck Road sites. The 1077 site was then used to prepare waste for shipment off campus. The opera- tions of the 1077 site have since been trans- ferred to the more modern facility on North Campus. MDNR unsuccessfully sought to fine the University $500,000 for operating mixed- waste storage facilities without a state permit and to halt the University's temporary storage of mixed waste, which would stop some of the University's research efforts. In response to the allegations, the University's Radiation Safety Service office sent a memo to radioactive material users alerting them of an MDNR investigation and an internal investigation of waste storage and removal procedures. The memo also reminded the researchers about proper protocol for waste removal. The memo warns that mixing radioactive waste and hazardous waste for disposal is unaccept- able and prohibited. Hazardous wastes burn easily, dissolve metals, release toxic gases or contain high concentrations of heavy metals. On Aug. 15, 1991, the University col- lected and analyzed samples from nine drums of mixed waste then in storage at the Beck Road facility. The drums tested were found to contain federally regulated chemical waste constituents above regulatory limits. The University states in the lawsuit that the facilities had been inspected by the NRC, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Michigan Department of Public Health. The ANDREW TAYLOR/Daily agencies determined that the University had a "well run, effective radiation safety program." The University filed suit against MDNR and other state agencies in July 1992 claiming that MDNR does not have jurisdiction over nuclear by-product materials - including mixed waste. The University asked the court to force the Michigan Department of Public Health to find a site and build a low-level radioactive waste disposal site. Finding a site is easier said than done. The story of Michigan's trouble finding a site for the disposal of low-level radioactive waste began in July 1987 when the state was se- lected as the first host state for a disposal facility by the Midwest Interstate Low-Level Radioactive Waste Commission. A state act created the Michigan Low- Level Radioactive Waste Authority to select the site and develop the facility. The authority named three possible sites. Two were dropped in April 1990 because of nearby wetlands. The third was dropped the following month because of nearby wetlands, ground water discharge zones and pipelines. The commission could not afford to fund the authority's investigation of 78 other po- tentially suitable sites. The authority and the Michigan Legislature could not accept partial funding for the investigation. The commission voted in July 1991 to revoke Michigan's membership. Michigan and Ohio opposed the decision. Michigan's acting commissioner, Dennis L. Schornack, said Michigan would continue to look for a site if the commission would allow the state to conduct the commission's search under state 1992, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled with New York in declaring this law unconstitutional. Strong, of the Michigan Low-Level Ra- dioactive Waste Authority, said, "We con- tinue as in the past to have reservations about the way the federal law is being applied." The states still have responsibility for cre- ating waste disposal sites through regional organizations like the Midwest Interstate Low- Level Radioactive Waste Compact. Strong said, "However, there is nothing that abso- lutely mandates the state to build those facili- ties." He said about 12 areas are currently being investigated as possible national waste sites. This is far more than the country needs, Strong said. m "mow ..."