Billionare spends millions in Campaign donations to poison the Ogallala Aquifer with nuclear waste

Harold Simmons built a West Texas dump for radioactive waste that is bigger than 1,000 football fields and he can’t fill it.

To turn it into a profitable enterprise, the Texas billionaire hired lobbyists to urge the Obama administration to expand the types of nuclear waste, including depleted uranium, the dump can accept and award his company disposal contracts. If the Nuclear Regulatory Commission changes the rule, it could open access to a market worth billions. The deadline for a decision is in 2014.

Simmons now is spending money in a new way that could improve his business prospects: He’s invested $15.9 million this election cycle in various groups to help elect Republicans, who advocate easing regulations on the nuclear industry.

Arguably, this next part is the most screwed up

“Whatever federal switch has to be thrown to get uranium into the hole, believe me, it will be thrown; that’s how Harold Simmons works,” said Glenn Lewis, a former Texas environmental employee who retired in protest to Simmons’s influence in the state permitting process for his dump.

www.businessweek.com...

Ok, having politicians available to the highest bidder is bad enough, but it just so happens that this proposed waste dump sits on top of the Ogallala Aquifer, which provides 30% of the nation's irrigation water and provides water to 82% of the people living in the midwest. What this man wants to do is basically poison it with nuclear waste. This isn't just wrong, it borders on domestic terrorism. Something seriously needs to be done here...

Here's a news piece on it that gives the whole story, it's pretty good actually.

See this is why I am very upset with our government... We allow people who do have the money run our country.

If all of us had as much money as this guy spends in lobbying I feel that our lobbing would have a big impact on "beating the crap" out of guys like this.

Unfortunately, the government is only allowing us to have minimum wage to live so we can not be allowed to lobby...

My opinion and no one else.

Originally posted by mossme89
This isn't just wrong, it borders on domestic terrorism.

Yes, that's true. It should be considered environmental terrorism. This guy is going to cause extreme, extensive damage SOLELY in the interest of making money for himself. The government worries about every other thing we do, but it allows people and companies to absolutely ruin the environment whenever money is involved. We need to drastically limit the influence that companies and the rich can have on politics, and we need to have stricter environmental oversight and enforcement of regulations.

What this guy is doing should already be worth a prison sentence.

Control of water will be big money in the future. Control the access of water by elminating clean sources regularly open to everyone - and you control everything.


Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

I really hate how money speaks louder than any person on this planet. Seems like we've come of an age where basically our monetary system will decide who will deliver the blows to our country or perhaps killing blow depending on where we stand as of now. Kind of sad really and it seems like almost nothing can be done at this point because of the varied sight-of-hands going on around the country to keep people disinterested. While there do seem to be times where people become aware a story or some celebrity having a child (which omg never happens to anyone else!) distracts them and they forget all about it.

While I know the money helps boost them up sometimes the better candidate doesn't have the financial wealth as others and despite being better they are easily pushed under. Sad really..

doesnt this guy have enough money in the banks ??

the greed of some people

Originally posted by Dr UAE
doesnt this guy have enough money in the banks ??

the greed of some people

You dont understand.........after a while , and after you have so much money......

Its not about money anymore........its about power , and how you can influence.....

Its not about monetary value, thats just a means to manipulate at that point......

Its ALL about the power

It has become a sick sick world. There isn't much more I can add to it, we as a species cannot last much longer on this path.

Originally posted by jaynkeel
It has become a sick sick world. There isn't much more I can add to it, we as a species cannot last much longer on this path.

Sad but true. We absolutely cannot continue down this path. We have so much corruption and injustice, and money is at the center of it. Humans either need to grow up and be less greedy/power hungry, or we need a just system without the use of money.

reply to post by mossme89

I wonder if Mr. Simmons has any family in that area? My bet would be no! Also, doesn't T Boone Pickens own the Texas part of that aquifer? I wonder what his thoughts on this are? There is great money to be made by states that provide such waste storage, but man, me thinks a conflict of interest may be going on here.

Okay, not that I am for this nuclear waste dump, but let's be a little sane for a moment.

How will this place contaminate an entire aquifer, exactly? Someone please explain how a nuclear waste storage facility is designed so that it deliberately pollutes an aquifer, which is basically the assertion of the propaganda presented, and the OP, for that matter.

Please - I'm listening.

Originally posted by AwakeinNM
Okay, not that I am for this nuclear waste dump, but let's be a little sane for a moment.

How will this place contaminate an entire aquifer, exactly? Someone please explain how a nuclear waste storage facility is designed so that it deliberately pollutes an aquifer, which is basically the assertion of the propaganda presented, and the OP, for that matter.

Please - I'm listening.

Well the thinking is that radioactive particles could make their way through the air and into the nearby aquifer, or seep into the ground and merge with groundwater. It's a dump so it might not be covered.

reply to post by AwakeinNM

How will this place contaminate an entire aquifer, exactly?

Why will Yucca Mountain fail to isolate nuclear waste? Why is it fractured? The answer is simple: there’s a whole lot of shaking going on. The Yucca Mountain area is as seismically active as the San Francisco Bay area. There have been more than 600 earthquakes registering more than 2.5 on the Richter scale within a 50-mile radius of the site just within the past 25 years. A major 5.6 jolt epicentered just 10 miles from Yucca Mountain knocked windows out of a DOE field office studying the proposed repository in 1992. In 1998 and 1999, there have been a whole spate of tremblers, at greater frequencies than previously observed. A recent quake derailed a train on a rail route that would be used to transport high-level nuclear waste casks to Yucca Mountain. All this shaking has fractured the relatively soft rock (volcanic tuff) that forms this low snaking ridge. There are 35 active fault lines running through the area, including two that traverse the proposed repository itself. The entire mass of Yucca Mountain is a sieve with tiny fractures that allow water and gas to flow right on through.

www.nirs.org...
This is just one way I suppose, but with minor earthquakes on the rise, the fracturing becomes more prevelent.
The issue of safety implementation comes up also, as in how much money will they spend to prevent leakage. You can see in that article too that there are loopholes exploited and regulation issues that face lobbying and the entire issue sits until the worse case scenario may happen.
I always ask of issues like this,"would you want a nuclear waste facility built in your town or near your family? If not, then why should we do that to others?

Here is a pretty good documentary on the subject:
www.onlinewatchmovies.net...

A good read too:CHELYABINSK :
The Most Contaminated Spot on the Planet

I understand your point about the OP title, it could be perceived as a bit emotional, as in the billionare is not spending billions just so they can poison the aquifer, but we get the notion, and some get a little more upset about such subjects.

In the first place, who allowed a ginormous nuclear waste receptical be built so close to one of the nations largest aquifers????? Are the rich and powerful totally braindead? Do they realize they are also causing their own destruction.

There's billions to be made damn the environment and the people that need the water to survive. This is one of the reasons why Obama stopped the XL pipeline from going through the same Aquifer because there is too much of a risk of contaminating the water.

Originally posted by AwakeinNM
Okay, not that I am for this nuclear waste dump, but let's be a little sane for a moment.

How will this place contaminate an entire aquifer, exactly? Someone please explain how a nuclear waste storage facility is designed so that it deliberately pollutes an aquifer, which is basically the assertion of the propaganda presented, and the OP, for that matter.

Please - I'm listening.

Propaganda??? :

A.
Nuclear byproducts are extremely potent, for example 1 molecule expelling gamma radiation
is enough to give you cancer, just 1, you are done. You immune system cannot detect it
to eliminate it, so it will sit there turn good cells into cancer, over and over.

B.
A baseball sized chunk of material can pollute a massive lake and turn the entire lake into
radioactive water, it is such a small amount it would blow your mind.

C.
Water seeks water, which is, many small streams create large rivers, it is the nature of
water.

D. Much of the water humans use travels under ground before it is finally source about ground.


So when it rains on the dump, or hundreds of miles from the dump, it flows...

Then people drink it and it may take a decade, but there you go

Originally posted by buster2010
There's billions to be made damn the environment and the people that need the water to survive. This is one of the reasons why Obama stopped the XL pipeline from going through the same Aquifer because there is too much of a risk of contaminating the water.

I highly doubt that any environmental concerns were the reason Obama stopped a pipeline.

So let's have some evidence that existing nuclear waste disposal sites are contaminating aquifers, since that's what they do.

Originally posted by mossme89

Harold Simmons built a West Texas dump for radioactive waste that is bigger than 1,000 football fields and he can’t fill it.

To turn it into a profitable enterprise, the Texas billionaire hired lobbyists to urge the Obama administration to expand the types of nuclear waste, including depleted uranium, the dump can accept and award his company disposal contracts. If the Nuclear Regulatory Commission changes the rule, it could open access to a market worth billions. The deadline for a decision is in 2014.

Simmons now is spending money in a new way that could improve his business prospects: He’s invested $15.9 million this election cycle in various groups to help elect Republicans, who advocate easing regulations on the nuclear industry.

Arguably, this next part is the most screwed up

“Whatever federal switch has to be thrown to get uranium into the hole, believe me, it will be thrown; that’s how Harold Simmons works,” said Glenn Lewis, a former Texas environmental employee who retired in protest to Simmons’s influence in the state permitting process for his dump.

www.businessweek.com...

Ok, having politicians available to the highest bidder is bad enough, but it just so happens that this proposed waste dump sits on top of the Ogallala Aquifer, which provides 30% of the nation's irrigation water and provides water to 82% of the people living in the midwest. What this man wants to do is basically poison it with nuclear waste. This isn't just wrong, it borders on domestic terrorism. Something seriously needs to be done here...

Here's a news piece on it that gives the whole story, it's pretty good actually.

edit on 8-4-2012 by mossme89 because: (no reason given)

edit on Sun Apr 8 2012 by DontTreadOnMe because: ex tags put in for external quote

I can't wait to hear the "free market" justification for this one...

Originally posted by braindeadconservatives

Originally posted by AwakeinNM
Okay, not that I am for this nuclear waste dump, but let's be a little sane for a moment.

How will this place contaminate an entire aquifer, exactly? Someone please explain how a nuclear waste storage facility is designed so that it deliberately pollutes an aquifer, which is basically the assertion of the propaganda presented, and the OP, for that matter.

Please - I'm listening.

Propaganda??? :

A.
Nuclear byproducts are extremely potent, for example 1 molecule expelling gamma radiation
is enough to give you cancer, just 1, you are done. You immune system cannot detect it
to eliminate it, so it will sit there turn good cells into cancer, over and over.

B.
A baseball sized chunk of material can pollute a massive lake and turn the entire lake into
radioactive water, it is such a small amount it would blow your mind.

C.
Water seeks water, which is, many small streams create large rivers, it is the nature of
water.

A.
Which is why it is stored in an area that is designed to store nuclear byproducts.

B.
That's why we don't throw nuclear waste into lakes.

C.
You're suggesting that the nuclear waste would simply be dumped into some kind of unlined pit to leach into the ground water? Is that what you're selling here?

Again - propaganda. Making it sound like this guy is just bulldozing metal drums into an unlined pit or something. How about some truth here?? Anyone?

Originally posted by AwakeinNM

Originally posted by buster2010
There's billions to be made damn the environment and the people that need the water to survive. This is one of the reasons why Obama stopped the XL pipeline from going through the same Aquifer because there is too much of a risk of contaminating the water.

I highly doubt that any environmental concerns were the reason Obama stopped a pipeline.

So let's have some evidence that existing nuclear waste disposal sites are contaminating aquifers, since that's what they do.

Sir, nuclear radiation is not subject to the tradition rules of containment.

If you put radiation in water and place that water in a bottle. You will still be irradiated
by that bottle even though you did not get water on you...