(Piketon, Ohio)- The Village of Piketon is reportedly at odds with the U.S. Department of Energy over plans to store radioactive waste from the cleanup of a cold war-era uranium plant according to the Associated Press.
The Chillicothe Gazette reports that a third-party environmental report commissioned by the village cites concerns about cracked bedrock beneath the proposed location of an on-site disposal facility for low-level radioactive waste at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Pike County.
Piketon Officials met with state Environmental Protection Agency representatives last month to discuss a federal plan to create the on-site disposal facility. The village's report says fractures could undermine the structural integrity of the landfill. An Energy Department project manager says meanwhile, the Department remains confident in an earlier analysis that concludes the planned waste site would be safe.
U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry, the former Governor of Texas and one-time GOP presidential candidate, was set to visit Piketon on July 31 but cancelled due to a last-minute cabinet meeting in Washington. Perry has indicated that he will visit the site soon.