By Mark Waite

CARSON CITY — The state Senate Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday heard testimony on Assembly Joint Resolution 5, which requests the federal government enter into mitigation with Nye County and the state over contamination of the Nevada National Security Site, formerly the Nevada Test Site.

The resolution already passed an Assembly vote unanimously on April 4.

Nye County Commission Chairman Gary Hollis told the senate panel: “Nye County has always supported the Nevada Test Site and their mission to keep America safe. Myself and several family members have worked at the NTS. The jobs, the money spent on the weapons programs have helped all of Nevada over the last 60 years. However, the nuclear testing program at the Nevada Test Site has created a legacy of contamination that Nye County and its residents will have to live with for generations to come.”

Nye County applied for water rights in the hydrographic basin in and around the NNSS, but not only was it denied the water rights, but Hollis said, “we have been denied access to even test the water to determine if it even is contaminated.”

The federal government is concerned pumping even uncontaminated water could exacerbate the spread of radioactive contaminated water off the NNSS near Pahute Mesa, Darrell Lacy, director of the Nye County Nuclear Waste Project Office told the committee.

Nevada District 36 Assemblyman Ed Goedhart, R-Amargosa Valley, introduced a letter of concern from Kathy Keyes, a homeowner in Sarcobatus Flat.

“The Pahute Mesa range is directly behind my property. I have several concerns regarding the DOE finding contaminated water outside the NNSS in this area, first being my health I used and drank this water daily from 2004-2009 and second being my property value,” Keyes wrote.

In Goedhart’s prepared remarks, he said the federal government detonated 921 nuclear warheads underground at the NNSS from 1951 until 1992. He said the subsurface contains more than 93,000 curies of radiation.

“Despite this massive contamination, the Department of Energy has ranked Nevada at the bottom of its priority list in cleaning up major sites in the nuclear weapons complex. The test site only receives $63 million per year,” Goedhart said. “Contrast this paltry sum to the $1.8 billion spent annually cleaning up the Hanford Plutonium Production Site in Washington, even though water and soil contamination is only 1/1000th as severe.”

A former Nye County geo-hydrologist, Tom Buqo, estimated that the underground tests polluted 1.6 trillion gallons of water, the same as the amount of water the Southern Nevada Water Authority is allowed to withdraw from the Colorado River in 16 years.

Goedhart compared the request for mitigation to the requirement that British Petroleum put $20 billion into an escrow account to pay for damages from the Gulf oil spill last summer. He estimated the value of the contaminated water at $18 billion to $48 billion.

State Sen. John Lee, D-North Las Vegas, asked a few questions. He wanted to know how to restore the contaminated water.

Lacy said Nye County would like to work with federal agencies to see if the contamination can be cleaned up. But he added, “It might be more cost effective to provide alternate sources of water.”

“For fear of having this contaminated water move, they’re trying to deny us access to the uncontaminated water on the test site as well,” Lacy said.

Lee wanted to include Clark County in the discussions. He said that would also include two more congressmen from the Las Vegas area that could advocate for the mitigation.

Goedhart said the resolution includes the State of Nevada, which would include any governmental entities within it.

“We’re definitely open to making the language as inclusive as you would see fit,” Goedhart said. “Obviously, that would help us in getting the political will and exposure to make a difference in this issue because right now we feel Nye County is not being treated with a proper level of priority.”

Hollis said Nye County has been denied money to do water testing near Pahute Mesa under its independent science program to verify if the contaminants migrate farther.

“Nye County doesn’t have the money to go out and drill five wells at 2,000 feet deep. We’re getting shortchanged here Senator Lee,” he said.

Scott Wade, Nevada National Security Site assistant manager for environmental management, thinks the resolution is a little premature. He said the NNS interacts with Nevada as its regulator and with Nye County.

“There are risks identified and we get a proportionate budget for those risks. I feel completely confident the amount of money we get is wholly appropriate to meet our commitments to the State of Nevada identified in the Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order,” he said.

Wade said the NNSS has completed about half of the planned cleanup activities at the site, including soil contamination, industrial sites and groundwater. The $66 million in this year’s cleanup budget is based on cleanup activities that have taken place at the test site for almost 20 years, he said.

The NNSS routinely evaluates groundwater at over 40 wells and spring sites, he said.

“I’ve actually been out to the test site with Nye County looking at well sites. They’ve never been told they couldn’t take samples. We’ve drilled 43 characterization wells as part of our groundwater studies. Some of these characterization wells have been drilled based on input from Nye County which sits on the advisory board,” Wade said.

“There have been nuclear tests that have led to some contamination of the water at the test site but not all of it is contaminated,” he said.

Nye County has made no formal request to the U.S. Department of Energy for a drilling program, he said, merely suggestions for a couple of drilling locations.

Wade also added he was concerned about the perception there’s been no communication of the groundwater studies. Wade said the NNSS has had open house meetings in Beatty over the last two years, where scientists presented information, another one is planned from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. May 25 at the Beatty Community Center.

In 2009, the DOE announced it detected tritium in a sample well from nuclear weapons testing but Wade sought to dispel any panic.

“Tritium is a very short-lived isotope. So basically within a century the tritium will be all gone. The other thing I would like to emphasize, though it’s off the test site, it was still on federal land many, many miles from the nearest water source,” he said.