Delays in reporting chemical releases violate trust

Written by: Michael Hays on Jul 25, 2007 1:44 PM EDT

Linked to groups: Montco DFA

Residents in Montgomery County and northwest Japan shared something in common earlier this month. Officials in their respective regions waited too long to report chemical releases that could be harmful to their neighbors’ health.

In the afternoon hours of July 10, a facility in Lower Providence Township owned by Superior Tube Company burped up approximately 2,400 pounds of TCE, or trichloroethylene, a known cancer-causing chemical. Area parents weren’t aware of the accident as their children played outside that day, or when they turned off the lights to go to sleep that night. Superior Tube officials notified proper state authorities at 11 a.m. the next day, about 19 hours after the accident, according to a July 17 article in Lansdale’s Reporter.

A malfunction in a degreaser caused the leak, according to Superior.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection requires large accidental releases to be reported within two hours. Additionally, Superior’s state permit places an emission limit at 15 pounds per hour. The Collegeville-area facility emits around 140,000 pounds of TCE annually as a byproduct of manufacturing tubes.

Further damaging to community trust, the company underestimated the amount of carcinogen released into the air. Both DEP and Superior Tube initially pegged the release at “more than 100 pounds,” then somewhere between 500 and 1,200 pounds before finally increasing the upper limit to 2,400 pounds days after the accident. DEP deserves some blame in the communication breakdown for failing to notify the public until July 12, nearly 48 hours after the release.

Across the great Pacific Ocean, Japanese officials committed a similar blunder.

A magnitude-6.8 earthquake rocked northwest Japan on July 16, causing significant damage to the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa power plant owned by Tokyo Electric Power Co. According to the Associated Press, radioactive water sloshed out of a tank and was flushed out to sea in one

incident. In another, radioactive material was vented into the air.

TEPCO officials maintain that radioactive leaks were extremely low and posed no risk to public health or the environment. Nevertheless, Chief Nuclear Officer Ichiro Takekuro said his utility company regretted the delay in reporting the damage and apologized again for the worries it caused, reports AP.

Government inspectors found radioactive iodine spewing from an exhaust pipe at reactor No. 7, reported the Japanese Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (Philadelphia Inquirer, July 20, 2007). However, in a July 23 statement, the agency reports no detected iodine.

In the United States, there are approximately 66 power plants in 31 states. Among them is the Diablo Canyon plant in California, which underwent extensive seismic testing prior to opening in 1984 aimed at checking its ability to withstand an earthquake. Those states especially vulnerable to hurricanes – Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and Alabama – collectively house 18 active nuclear power plants. During and after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the Waterford plant was partially shut down as a safety precaution.

Will America be as lucky next time?

It is not just earthquakes and hurricanes that can worsen natural disasters by exposing residents and ecosystems to harmful chemicals and radiation. A mid-July wildfire in Idaho crawled within seven miles of the Idaho National Laboratories, causing its temporary closure. INL is the site of three nuclear reactors and fuel research facilities.

In June, a human-caused fire at the site injured one man. Yet, accidents have not deterred interest in nuclear energy. Investments in the power source and uranium mining are on the rise. More than 130 new nuclear plants are under construction worldwide, according to Mother Jones magazine. Since 2000, 175 companies have leaped on the uranium bandwagon, especially in the “yellowcake”-rich southwest.

Americans should demand that our federal and state governments enact the necessary laws to strengthen regulating agencies and protect the public from harmful emissions and radioactive exposure. Unlike Superior Tube and Japan’s utility company, let’s hope they possess the moral fortitude to immediately report any embarrassing slip-ups or accidents.

The author is a freelance journalist in Lansdale, Penn., and member of DFA.

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