Friday, December 18, 2009

Ogallala Aquifer and Radioactive Waste Dump

I have had a few comments and contacts regarding my post on the radioactive dump site in West Texas. Mostly, the sentiment seems to be that if people want a radioactive dump, then they should be able to have one. While I agree that land owners' rights take first place in most decisions, the radioactive waste dump could affect the Ogallala Aquifer for 238,000 years.

The Ogallala Aquifer, known as the High Plains Aquifer System, occupies the High Plains of the United States, extending northward from western Texas to South Dakota. The entire system underlies about 174,000 square miles of eight states.

Erosion has removed the deposits between the mountains and the existing western boundary of the Ogallala, so there is no longer water recharge being received from the Rockies.

The Ogallala Aquifer (shaded area) is in a state of overdraft due to overuse. If withdrawals continue, the aquifer could be depleted in only a few decades.

Lack of recharge may doom the Ogallala Aquifer, but that is no reason to fill it with radioactive waste.

I hope this explains my position more clearly. I get fired up sometimes and forget to put the background of an issue in my post.



4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I want to quote your post in my blog. It can?
And you et an account on Twitter?

Anonymous said...

What a great resource!

Anonymous said...

If it only affected the landowner's land, that would be one thing. But, since the entity who is dumping the waste has received numerous violations in the past, it's clear that there is NO guaranteed protection that this waste won't leach throughout the aquifer. And, since it spans 8 states, and sustains the American agricultural breadbasket, it could contaminate the majority of our food supply. How is that appropriately limited the to landowner's decisions?

S! said...

Great idea for a blog! Hope you come back and write more!