= _ INDEPENDENCE ISSUE PAPER o-20 | tnéonondenc aut 14142 Dent West Parkvay #01» Galen CO gD + 6092786598 June 25, 1990 FINDING A COMFORT LEVEL -- TRUTH AND MYTH AT ROCKY FLATS by Michael Fumento Introduction Man's fascination with the possible effects of radiation on animal life, along with his _ fear and misunder- standing, was illustrated vividly in ‘a spate of 1950s horror films such as The Beast fron 20,00 Fathons, Godzilla, Thenl, The Giant Behemoth, ‘and Attack of the Crab Monsters in which exposure to man-made radiation through atomic explosions caused otherwise benign organisms to grow to tremendous proportions and begin feeding on human prey. Ironically, even as the movies were being churned out, shoe stores were using x-rays to measure customer's feet, watch dial painters were us- ing their tongues to narrow the points of their radium-coated brushes, and U.S. soldiers were being exposed to massive amounts of radiation from nuclear fallout. Such is the ambivalence that has sur- rounded Americans’ views of ra~ diation. But by 1964, it was time for the first nuclear waste horror movie, The Horror of Pat ch in inten’ a-human SkuTT Tying on the ocean floor comes into contact with leaking barrels of waste and becomes ‘a man-sized lizard walking on two Jegs (the film was on a tight budget) which terrorized bikinied beach bunnies. Unfortunately, even (Continued on page 2) In Brief, The evidence provided in this paper indicates that the threat posed by the nuclear weapons fabri- cation plant north-west of Denver has been exaggerated by the media. Although like any large factory, there is some risk to workers on-site, the author systematically refutes reports of both off-site ra- diation and off-site chemical pol- lution, citing instead some poten- tial risk in both areas. To further reduce risks, he then makes five recommendations, in- cluding competitive bidding, apply- ing OSHA and EPA standards (the plant is now largely exempt — from them) stripping away the contrac- tor's federally imposed immunity from lawsuits, and separate con- tracting for weapons production and waste handling. He discusses numerous possible risks, and cites the evidence which indicates that the chances of any of these occuring is small. Note: The independence Issue Papers are published for educational, ut purposes only, and the authors speak for themselves. Nothing written here is to be construed as necessarily representing the views of the Independence Institute or as an attempt fo influence any election of legislative action.today the very real problem of nuclear production and waste is often treated with all the finesse and rationality shown in The rC ‘ty Beach. ‘igins ov The controversy over Rocky Flats stems in great part from its location. It is only sixteen miles northwest of Denver and, perhaps more importantly, it is only 11 miles from Boulder, which is one of the nation’s centers of left-wing and environmental activism. The designers of Rocky Flats might have anticipated that Denver would eventually become a major metropolitan center, but the activism coming out of Boulder is something they could never have expected. Rocky Flats has been in operation since 1953 and has been ad- ministered by a succession of private companies, all under contract to the federal government. In 1975 Dow Chemical transferred the administration to Rockwell International which administered it until January of this year when it turned over the reins to E.G. & G. (the initials come from the founders’ names), a $1.4 billion engineering firm that administers other nuclear facilities in Idaho, Nevada, and Miamisburg, Ohio (see appendix). E.G. & G. was chosen last summer, quickly and without a bidding process, to administer Rocky Flats after Rockwell filed suit against DOE seeking to ensure that it would be indemnified for suits against itself. A study commissioned by Rockwell and prepared by students at the University of Colorado at Denver’s Graduate School of Public Affairs found that Rocky Flats bought $102.4 million in goods and services from Colorado vendors in 1987. Rocky Flats was found to be the state’s ninth largest employer, paying out §271.8 million in wages and benefits to its then-5,300 employees. As of early April 1990, Rocky Flats employed about 5,500 workers of whom about 100 worked under DOE on a complex that covers 6550 acres. In late April they announced plans to hire several hundred more. Ultimately, the responsibility of running Rocky Flats is that of the Department of Energy (DOE). Most of the work performed is done by the contractor, E.G. & G., which occasionally employs subcontractors. The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has oversight on environmental issues but under the Resource Conservation Recovery Act, the State of Colorado is able to apply its hazardous waste laws to the plant in those areas where its laws are stricter than EPA’s. Recently, DOE, EPA, and the state negotiated an inter-agency agreement which specifies respon- sibilities and authorities between each agency, and sets timetables to accomplish clean-up efforts. The agreement is currently undergoing required review procedures before it can be enacted into law. Permits for waste treatment must be obtained through the State. Rocky Flats must also comply with some local waste regulations and plant public affairs spokesman Pat Etchart 2emphasizes that there is considerable informal communication between plant officials and local government officials on health and safety issues. Since it began operations, Rocky Flats has been the only plant that manufactures triggers for nuclear weapons. These triggers are actually small plutonium fission devices, hence plutonium is also processed at the plant, although most of the plutonium put into new triggers is recovered from old ones. Although the substance is processed at other plants in the country as well, for safety reasons it is preferable to have the plutonium processed at the plant where it is incorporated into the trigger, thus reducing transportation problems. The triggers are still inert when they leave the plant, which is to say they cannot be exploded. When the ground was broken for Rocky Flats, it was treated as unequivocal good news. One occurrence that helped change this opinion was the massive growth of the Denver metropolitan area from about 650,000 in the mid-1950s to 1.8 million today, including Boulder. ‘Another was the changing mood of the nation. In 1962 Rachel Carson published her best-selling Silent Spring, the thene of which was that man was destroying the Earth’s fragile environ- ment. A few years later, the Vietnam war protests began as well as the development of a strong anti-military sub-population which had one of its focal points in Boulder. It is a coalition of these two groups that have formed the phalanx of the efforts to shut down Rocky Flats. Indeed, the plant has been shut down temporarily since November while extensive safety improvements are made. The date for re-opening has not yet been scheduled. The environmentalists are represented by such groups as the Environmental Defense Fund, Sierra Club, the Colorado Environmental Coalition, and Greenpeace. They worry that either through plutonium or other emissions, Rocky Flats is damaging--perhaps permanently--the local ecosystem and the health of persons living near the plant. The anti-militarists are represented by such groups as the Colorado Council of Churches, Colorado Freeze Voter, Rocky Mountain Peace Center, and Boulder Bilateral Freeze committee. Because they know that appealing to people’s fear of sickness is ultimately more successful than appealing to their sentiment for world peace, the anti-militarists invariably accompany their arguments with warnings of damage to the environ- ment and health. it is clear, however, that they would object to Rocky Flats if it were kept as squeaky clean as an anal-retentive homemaker’s kitchen. ‘Thus an Op-Ed piece in the Rocky Mountain News, authored by representatives of Colorado Freeze Voter, was entitled "Rocky Flats a Cancer on Denver and the World." Since the 1970s, the protestors have very much made their presence known. In April 1979, several thousand protesters turned out to watch Daniel Ellsberg of "Pentagon Papers" fame burn a stock dividend check from Rockwell. (Ellsberg has been arrested at least 3