APPENDIX WIPP
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WHY THE WASTE ISOLATION PILOT PLANT (WIPP)
POSES A THREAT TO MEXICO
by Richard Hayes Phillips, Ph.D.
My name is Richard Hayes Phillips. I have a doctorate in
physical geography. I have examined WIPP for twenty years.
I lived on the WIPP site for eight months while doing field
work. I wrote my dissertation about the geology of the WIPP
site and the surrounding area, I have submitted ten scientific
papers regarding this, and also I have given testimony under
oath before the court. I am a recognized expert. I am here
today to explain why WIPP is not safe.
• First, the radioactive waste has been placed in ordinary
steel drums in direct contact with damp salt, the most
corrosive rock known to humanity.
• Second, the underground tunnels in which the drums have
been placed are ready to collapse; the fall of a roof
would destroy them.
• Third, WIPP is located directly above deposits of oil,
and therefore WIPP will be vulnerable to human intruders
drilling in search of oil and gas.
• Fourth, below the WIPP but above the oil is a reservoir
of pressurized brine that can carry radioactive waste
to the groundwater aquifers.
• Fifth, the groundwater can flow rapidly enough to reach
the Pecos River and ultimately the Rio Grande within
a few decades.
The purpose of underground burial of radioactive waste is to
isolate it from the environment. For this reason no site
should be located in a known mineral district. The Department
of Energy (DOE) had to alter and violate its own criteria for
site selection in order to proceed with WIPP. DOE plans to
patrol the WIPP site for ten years, but after this time anyone
could drill a well with impunity. Such a well would cut first
through the groundwater aquifers, and then through the drums
of radioactive waste, and would perforate the reservoir of
pressurized brine, before reaching the oil deposits. The
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