This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2008, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Mike Ballou supposes that Utah is the "perfect place to safely store toxic waste" ("Leave EnergySolutions be," Forum, Aug. 4). He should read The Tainted Desert by Valerie Kuletz, which reports on the problems of classification and regulation and the subsequent inadequate storage of nuclear waste due to the fact that it is classified by its method of production rather than its toxicity. The continuation of the fallacy that the West is a "safe" place for nuclear testing and storage endangers us all. The transportation and storage of tons of lethal materials with a life span of 240,000 years is something we should all be highly concerned about.
I am not sure if I can trust the Department of Energy anymore, and many of us choose not to rely on the publicity campaign of an industrial giant whose profits of billions of dollars are at stake.
Shannon Jones
Salt Lake City
