Former Envirocare exec outlines plans, saying second disposal facility would be boon for county

Another low-level radioactive waste disposal facility will be built in Tooele County if a former Envirocare executive can get approval for his plans.

Charles Judd, president of Cedar Mountain Environmental, a Salt Lake City-based transportation and waste management company, presented his pitch for building a new disposal facility for Class A low-level radioactive waste in the west desert to the state Radiation Control Board on Tuesday.

Judd’s plan is to build a 320-acre facility on land near EnergySolutions’ facility at Clive. The new operation would be a direct competitor to EnergySolutions. Judd was president of Envirocare, the precursor of EnergySolutions, from 1998 to 2002.

“The need for more space for class A waste is there,” Judd said. “EnergySolutions’ own figures show they have 53 million cubic feet of space remaining and they have commitments for up to 100 million cubic feet.”

Judd said the new facility would only accept class A waste, the lowest level of waste regulated for disposal by the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

“We have heard public opinion and will not seek permission for depleted uranium, blended waste or imported foreign waste,” he said.

Judd said he is currently working on final siting for the facility, which could be on land leased from the state School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration.

“This could mean tens of millions of dollars for pubic schools,” Judd said.

He is also proposing doubling the current fee charged by the state for oversight of radioactive waste facilities, a 50 percent increase on the tax on radioactive waste, and paying Tooele County an agreed-upon amount per cubic foot of waste. This should result in more money for Tooele County than the county currently collects in mitigation fees from EnergySolutions, according to Judd.

The new disposal site would be roughly half the size of EnergySolutions’ site, but because of differences in design, the new facility would have a larger capacity, Judd said.

“The main difference is that my new facility would have just one large cell as opposed to EnergySolutions, which is spread out over seven cells,” he said.

After determining the final site and completing site-specific studies, Judd said he would seek all permits necessary from Tooele County and make an agreement on fee payments to the county, complete the state license application process, reach an agreement with the Northwest Compact on Radioactive Waste on the acceptance of radioactive waste within their jurisdiction, and get approval from the governor and Legislature.

That process should take about three years before construction on the facility can begin, according to Judd.

“I would like to get back to running a local operation using local Tooele County contractors like I did when I was at Envirocare,” Judd said. “When EnergySolutions went public and became a multi-national company, I feel they lost touch with the local community in Tooele County and Utah. I would much rather give my money to support schools and the community than to have my name spread on a large building in downtown Salt Lake.”

Judd tried to open a radioactive waste facility on property he owned adjacent to EnergySolutions in 2003, but was denied a conditional use permit by the county planning commission to build a low-level radioactive waste disposal site because he had not proved the need for new disposal capacity.

In 2005, Judd sold the property to EnergySolutions. A few weeks later, the county approved EnergySolutions to expand operations onto the former Judd property. Judd filed a lawsuit in 3rd District Court claiming the county had unfairly denied his permit application. The court ruled that Judd had no standing to sue because he had sold his property.

Judd appealed to the state Supreme Court, which ruled in June 2009 that he did indeed have legal standing and sent the case back to the district court. The district court heard the case and ruled against Judd in September 2009. He filed an appeal with the state Supreme Court following the loss in September but has recently decided to withdraw the appeal, according to Judd.

“I would rather work out the issues surrounding the zoning and permitting cooperatively with the county outside the courts,” Judd said. “I have plenty of data showing the need for another facility which was the reason they originally cited for turning down my original request.”

According to Tooele County Commission Chairwoman Colleen Johnson, who also sits on the Radiation Control Board, Judd will have an uphill battle trying to win approval for the new disposal facility.

“He has a lot of work ahead of him,” Johnson said. “He will need to go through the entire process including rezoning and applying for conditional use permit. The county has not had any formal contact with Judd, but the property he is proposing to use is outside the hazardous waste corridor.”

The Healthy Environmental Alliance of Utah does not believe Utah needs another radioactive waste facility, according to Christopher Thomas, HEAL’s policy director.

“While this may be a ‘kinder and gentler’ nuclear waste facility, it is still a nuclear waste facility,” Thomas told the members of the Radiation Control Board. “Utah has its fair share of nuclear waste facilities. The best thing would be for the governor and Legislature to not approve this plan from the beginning and save thousands of hours of time and dollars that can be spent governing the site that already exists in the state.”

Tim Gillie: tgillie@tooeletranscript.com