The Department of Energy’s proposed deep borehole field test has hit a second major stumbling block, this time in South Dakota, where the Spink County Commission on Friday sent a letter to lead contractor Battelle Memorial Institute opposing the $35 million nuclear waste storage experiment.
This comes after the Pierce County Commission in March similarly thwarted Battelle’s borehole plans in North Dakota over concerns that a successful field test, which would not involve waste, would eventually lead to actual nuclear waste storage there. Spink County Commissioner Cindy Schultz said her constituents had the same concern.
“I have to go with my constituents. They supported me in becoming a commissioner, and they are very much against the borehole project,” Schultz said in a phone interview Tuesday.
Battelle spokesman T.R. Massey said by email Tuesday the company is working on a response to Spink County, and that it has not decided whether to file a special exception application for the project to move forward in South Dakota. The commission has not barred Battelle from applying, but the letter, signed by Spink County Commission Chairman Dave Albrecht, said the five-member board will oppose any request.
“It is apparent that you do not have the support of the public in Spink County in regards to your Deep Borehole Field Test research project,” the letter reads, citing three public meetings hosted by Battelle, two Spink County Commission meetings, and various phone calls with constituents. “It is the consensus of the Board of Spink County Commissioners to inform you it is evident that you will be unable to secure the four votes needed in order to pass an application for Special Exception required for the project to begin.”
Originally scheduled to break ground Sept. 1, the estimated five-year project would produce data on whether 16,000-foot boreholes drilled into crystalline rock formations are suitable for DOE-managed high-level waste. Spink County is one of three sites Battelle is considering for the research project. As was the case in North Dakota, Battelle stressed that the field test would not involve any nuclear waste, citing the Spink County location’s proximity to the South Dakota aquifer.
“We researched it, and there was a lot of information we found that put too much doubt in our minds,” Schultz said. “There was too much chance of something happening to our aquifer, or even if you don’t use the boreholes for storing nuclear waste, what’s to say you won’t come back in the future and look for a different site in Spink County to store nuclear waste?”