CCS Gets Permission To Build Waste Treatment Complex Near White Earth -- The Williston Basin, North Dakota, USA

The top of the scenic White Earth valley near Tioga will become an industrial zone for treating oil field waste - some of it slightly radioactive.  CCS development manager Scott Herbst said he expects the White Earth facility will generate from three to 10 truckloads of radioactive waste weekly, the same as a similar treatment facility it owns near Alexander. The waste comes from naturally occurring radioactive materials in the earth that are concentrated in the oil production and treatment process. It's a small amount of the total volume and is hauled to an approved disposal site in Colorado, he said.  The state Industrial Commission approved the facility in an order issued this week, requiring a $200,000 reclamation bond.

Naturally occurring radiation. Hmmm. Concentrated. I'm impressed with the state. If this were Minnesota or California or BLM, the decision would be tabled, slow-rolled, decided, appealed, killed, re-visited, and finally passed -- maybe, ten years from now.

The county commissioners complain that there's too much waste, not enough infrastructure. This is a start.

The link is to the Dickinson Press.

And, of course, the article ends with the usual:

Some White Earth residents are concerned about truck traffic, road damage and declining property values. The Industrial Commission says that many of those concerns are outside of its jurisdiction.

My hunch: no one passing through the White Earth area will be even slightly aware of it. The population of White Earth is 80.

Incidentally, Arnold Morse Samuelson was born and raised in White Earth, North Dakota, which I blogged about a few days ago.