All shipments to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant have been halted after a fire at the facility started yesterday at a truck used to transport salt. All workers were evacuated from underground, and several were treated at an area hospital for smoke inhalation and released, according to the Department of Energy. There was no waste near the fire, and ventilation to the underground was shut off in an effort to control the fire, DOE said. “It’s relatively early to tell what impact this event will have on normal WIPP operations,” DOE’s Roger Nelson said at a press conference yesterday. “Certainly waste receipt has been terminated. All of the shipments that were ready to be shipped from the various sites around the country to WIPP, those have been stopped. We will not be continuing waste handling operations until we have our arms around the complete recovery plan.”
The truck was only used to mine salt, and the exact the cause of the fire remains unknown.“We believe that it happened in the north end of the mine near where the salt shaft goes from the surface to the underground. There is an underground station called the salt station with a grading onto which the salt is dumped from the bed of the truck,” Nelson said. To determine the cause and extent of the fire, a team must first reenter the mine once a plan for reentry is approved by the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration. There is no timeframe yet for reentry. “The response was timely and proportionate,” Nelson said. “We will take our time to assure that the reentry is planned appropriately.” The fire was still smoldering early yesterday afternoon, but should be limited by the lack of air due to the shut off ventilation systems, Nelson said.
Rep. Steve Pearce (R-N.M.), whose district includes WIPP, said in a statement yesterday: “WIPP’s activation of its Emergency Operation Center in a timely and effective procedural response is a testament to the professionalism of the site’s employees.” Pearce added, “It is critically important to note that at no point did the fire threaten the waste disposed of at the WIPP, nor was the community or public ever at risk. It is equally important to note that all employees are accounted for and safe.”
