2000 tons of Radio Active waste illegally dumped (Lexington, Irvine: schools, live in)

[marino760]

I read about this illegal dumping of 2000 tons of radio active waste from West Virginia into Estill County landfill in or near Irvine, next to the Kentucky River.
I don't mean to sound naive, but how could something like this happen? There has to have been a paper trail and someone approving this at the landfill as well as someone from West Virginia who gave the go ahead to dump this in Estill county. I would think there would be a major cleanup effort and heads would be rolling as well as people going to prison for this. Am I wrong?
Does anyone have any current information regarding this?

http://www.lex18.com/story/32800498/...ng-in-landfill

[Crazee Cat Lady]

I have seen stories about it on the news, and there was an article or two about it in the newspaper - but I haven't seen anything about it lately. Yes, it is infuriating and disgusting.

I can give you links, but they are all older than the one you just linked to.

New citizens group plans rally against radioactive waste dumping | Lexington Herald-Leader

No criminal charge, but lawsuit filed in Estill Co. landfill case

Fallout from Unauthorized Dumping of Fracking Waste in KY / Public News Service

AG launches investigation into landfill case | News | richmondregister.com

Beshear: No criminal charges for dumping radioactive waste | News | glasgowdailytimes.com

[marino760]

Thank you for the links. 2000 TONS must have been a caravan of semi trucks. It's difficult to fathom. I hope it doesn't get brushed under the carpet. Sooner or later that stuff must have the potential to effect the river and local environment. I read somewhere that small traces are already being picked up near one of the schools which is close to the landfill.

[censusdata]

Eastern Kentucky and West Virginia have been dumped on (literally) for decades. I understand the need for mining but it has been done as cheap as possible and has resulted in environmental disaster. Many people have tap water that is unsafe to drink, cook, or bath in. Sometimes people are killed when rocks from blasts fly through their home. I'm not surprised secretly dropping toxic waste that's not properly secured would be the next step. My dad's side of the family lived on Black Mountain along the KY/ VA border. Life expectancy before 1900 was 80s for men and 90s for women despite no doctors. Today the region has the USA's lowest life expectancy, in some counties men on average are dead before age 60.

[marino760]

That's just horrible! Irvine in near the top of my list of potential towns that I hope to retire in. If something like this had happened in the state I currently live in, people would be going to jail and there would be a massive cleanup effort being planned or underway. I kid you not, at my work, we are not even allowed to throw away empty bottles of hand lotion because the state considers it toxic.
I totally agree that mining is a necessary thing and employs many people, but it needs to be done right and not at the expense of the health of the good people of Kentucky.

[Mr. In-Between]

If you're thinking of moving to Kentucky, get used to this. This is the way things are done here. We just found out a few months ago that the town I live in allowed large factories to dump toxic wastes in the city parks for years. That's right, in the city parks, and yes - the city allowed it. Because that's Kentucky. If you have money and power, you can crap all over the faces of the people who don't, and the government allows it because money has more rights than no money.

Get used to it. You'll see it every day if you move here. Kentucky is one of the most corrupt states in the country, right down there with Mississippi, Louisiana, and I think maybe Alabama. Can't remember the others, but we're right down there at the bottom.