WHITE HOUSE APPROVES RADICAL RADIATION CLEANUP ROLLBACK

[unhappycamper]

http://www.peer.org/news/news-releases/2013/04/08/white-house-approves-radical-radiation-cleanup-rollback/

For Immediate Release: Apr 08, 2013
Contact: Kirsten Stade [phone]
Civilian Cancer Deaths Expected to Skyrocket Following Radiological Incidents
Posted on Apr 08, 2013 | Tags: EPA

WHITE HOUSE APPROVES RADICAL RADIATION CLEANUP ROLLBACK

Washington, DC — The White House has given final approval for dramatically raising permissible radioactive levels in drinking water and soil following “radiological incidents,” such as nuclear power-plant accidents and dirty bombs. The final version, slated for Federal Register publication as soon as today, is a win for the nuclear industry which seeks what its proponents call a “new normal” for radiation exposure among the U.S population, according Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).

Issued by the Environmental Protection Agency, the radiation guides (called Protective Action Guides or PAGs) allow cleanup many times more lax than anything EPA has ever before accepted. These guides govern evacuations, shelter-in-place orders, food restrictions and other actions following a wide range of “radiological emergencies.” The Obama administration blocked a version of these PAGs from going into effect during its first days in office. The version given approval late last Friday is substantially similar to those proposed under Bush but duck some of the most controversial aspects:

~snip~

“This is a public health policy only Dr. Strangelove could embrace. If this typifies the environmental leadership we can expect from Ms. McCarthy, then EPA is in for a long, dirty slog,” stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch, noting that the EPA package lacks a cogent rationale, is largely impenetrable and hinges on a series of euphemistic “weasel words.” “No compelling justification is offered for increasing the cancer deaths of Americans innocently exposed to corporate miscalculations several hundred-fold.”

Reportedly, the PAGs had been approved last fall but their publication was held until after the presidential election. The rationale for timing their release right before McCarthy’s confirmation hearing is unclear.

[FBaggins]

1. The actual guidance is more useful than the spin

Pretty ridiculous to claim that they government is accepting a additional cancer rate of 1-in-23 (as PEER does here)... but if you're literally in business to scare people, what better tactic could their be? Why should the truth matter?

http://www.epa.gov/radiation/docs/er/pag-manual-interim-public-comment-4-2-2013.pdf

[Demeter]

2. Well, the extra radiation should take out any drones in the vicinity

Bastards! Betcha this doesn't apply to any political or governmental (or 1% owned) facility....they don't give a shit about the armed forces, so that's a lot of territory that's already contaminated beyond redemption...SNAFU reigns.

[wtmusic]

3. So says a lawyer/prison guard.

"Jeff Ruch has been the Executive Director of PEER since 1997. With Jeff DeBonis, he helped to start PEER and for its first four years served as General Counsel & Program Director. Prior to that Jeff was the Policy Director and a staff attorney at the Government Accountability Project representing whistleblowers from both the public and private sector. Before coming to DC, Jeff worked in California state government for 17 years, mostly in the State Legislature as counsel to various committees where he drafted literally hundreds of laws on topics ranging from energy conservation to the rights of employed inventors. Jeff served stints as a deputy district attorney, an appellate court clerk and is a graduate of the California Correctional Officers Academy."

http://www.peer.org/about-us/dc-staff.html

Please, give us some people who know WTF they're talking about.

[LiberalEsto]

4. It's called 'Pay as you Glow'

[TheMadMonk]

5. Well if the existing permissible levels are the same as those for site remediation...

...this actually makes at least some sense, since those levels are impossibly below natural background radiation levels.

ie, if the same, then the old/existing rules for incident cleanup, would require the removal of material that was there before the incident and replacement with something "clean" like pure silica.