Arizona, California towns at nuke transportation crossroads

Waste 'out of sight, out of mind' in Kingman

By Jennifer Robison / Staff Writer

A tractor-trailer travels east on Interstate 40 as it passes over its intersection with U.S. 93 in Kingman, Ariz. The site may be heavily used for high level nuclear waste transportation to Yucca Mountain. Photo by Aaron Mayes.

KINGMAN, Ariz. -- This small town in northwestern Arizona is at the nexus of Interstate 40, U.S. Highway 93, U.S. Route 66 and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad.

Kingman officials say that coalescence of transportation routes positions the city perfectly for growth. Over the last two decades, the Kingman Airport and Industrial Park has drawn major companies to the area: Airplane parts manufacturer Honeywell International, tire-maker Goodyear and Pepsi-Cola are just some of the businesses at the park.

Despite the city's interest in expanding its economy -- and perhaps because of its long-standing history as a shipping through-route -- the potential transportation of high-level nuclear waste through Kingman en route to Yucca Mountain seems to raise few eyebrows in this town of 35,000.

"I can't see it having much of an impact or influencing people," said 18-year Kingman resident Molly Woods, a real estate appraiser. "There's probably a lot of toxic chemicals going through here right now, but the attitude here is 'Out of sight, out of mind.'"

Kerry Raymond, the town's top-producing real estate agent, struck a similar tone.

"We have had every kind of waste going through this area," said Raymond, who works for Realty Executives Mohave and is a lifetime resident of Kingman. "For years and years we have had lots of toxic materials going through the city of Kingman. It's nothing new."

That's despite two high-profile hazardous-materials incidents in Kingman during the last three decades.

On July 5, 1973, a 30,000-gallon train tank-car filled with propane burst into flames about a mile south of where the Burlington Northern intersects I-40.

Public-safety officials from around the region and two fire engines from Kingman's fire department responded, and shortly after the second engine's arrival, the tank-car exploded. Twelve people died as a result, including 11 firefighters, and more than 100 bystanders were injured.

Kingman Fire Chief Chuck Osterman, who was a high school senior in Kingman at the time of the explosion, said the city's economic climate was affected, though it has since recovered.

"From a commerce-type standpoint, it did have a small effect," Osterman said. "The propane-tank facility was lost, as was an adjoining tire facility and a truck shop. Some businesses in that immediate area were basically taken out of business. And we now have an ordinance that imposes stricter regulations on the storage and transfer of propane.

"But the sad part, the deeper look at the issue, is that those firefighters who were killed were mostly volunteers. Those who died were business managers, school principals -- basically it just went down the line of active community leaders. If you look at the ebb and flow of money in the community, it didn't hurt us too much, but if you look at what it took for everyone to pull themselves back up by their bootstraps, it was devastating."

Osterman also recalled an incident at a Kingman truck stop about two years ago that put the community on high alert for potential radioactive contamination.

A truck carrying building materials from a decommissioned low-level nuclear facility in Illinois was parked in Kingman and began to vent air to the outside.

Osterman said nuclear regulators from Arizona and U.S. Energy Department officials flew into Kingman immediately to check the situation.

He said the fire department took its radiation-monitoring devices to the site, and local, state and federal officials "deemed there was no radiation escape."

Osterman said the incident received substantial media attention in the region, but "once we found out no radiation got into the community as a result, it died rather quickly."

Osterman has served on Kingman's Emergency Planning Committee since the committee's inception in 1987. He said he's well aware of the possibility of nuclear waste traveling through town on its way to Yucca Mountain.

"Transportation is my biggest concern, personally. With a fixed facility, you know what's there. We're at a major crossroads of transportation. I'd be foolish not to be concerned."

Osterman said the community has planned for nuclear hazards traveling through Kingman, because the "Department of Defense can transport that stuff, and they don't even have to tell you or put a placard on it. You never know. You have to be prepared."

He said low-level nuclear waste shipments already go through Kingman, and those shipments are carefully tracked should they stray off course or should a truck with such materials break down and need a "safe haven."

"I'm no different from the people in Clark County or anywhere else in that if it didn't have to come through here, we would be better off," Osterman said. "Unfortunately, as the nuclear age dawned, the waste was made, and it's there. Something has to be done. If you look at the global and environmental picture, it needs to be stored in a better manner where we know it's contained. If that involves it coming through my community, it's the sacrifice we have to make."

Raymond said Kingman is small enough that nuclear waste shipments would spend little time within Kingman city limits.

"By the time it hits our first border and the time it's to our far end, that's five minutes," she said. "Our odds are really good. How do you address it? You just pray."

Should an accident involving nuclear waste occur in Kingman, Raymond said the community would survive.

"(Toxic waste spills) happen here and there, but when they happen in other places, people don't all leave the area. We had to deal with the tragic loss of life when that tank-car blew up. But those things can happen. More people are killed in their bathtubs every year than are killed by nuclear waste. So do you quit taking baths?

"It's been a part of our lives with the railroad. (Hazardous materials) have been here and the town has grown around them."

Tommy Armstrong, general manager of the Hualapai Mountain Lodge, discusses the transportation of nuclear waste through nearby Kingman, Ariz., during an interview at the resort's restaurant. Photo by Aaron Mayes.

Tommy Armstrong, general manager of the Hualapai Mountain Lodge, is less sanguine about Yucca Mountain in general.

"I don't like (Kingman) being on the route to (Yucca Mountain), and accidents do happen," said Armstrong, a 15-year Kingman resident who is a former Las Vegan. "I'd rather they spend money on finding a way to neutralize nuclear waste. And I don't agree with it going to Nevada. I know it has to be put somewhere, but I think having it that close to a major tourist destination that attracts hundreds of thousands of people is not wise."

Despite his philosophical objections to Yucca Mountain, Armstrong, like other Kingman residents, said he didn't think nuclear waste shipments through Kingman -- or even an accident involving such waste -- would curb business at his property, which is about 15 miles southeast of Kingman.

"I don't think it would make Kingman a negative place to be. We're a growing community right now. I just couldn't see it being detrimental to us. For us, any drop in business would be so minute I don't think it could be counted."

Armstrong said he hopes public officials "take a hard, close look at Yucca Mountain. On the human side of it, I just don't see putting it that close to a major tourist attraction."

Though it's not the destination Las Vegas is, Lake Havasu City, Ariz., has a business community that, contrary to Kingman, is concerned about Yucca Mountain and the ensuing nuclear waste shipments.

Lisa Krueger, executive director of the Lake Havasu City Chamber of Commerce, said the town of 36,000 sits on Arizona State Route 95, which is a direct corridor between Interstates 10 and 40.

"We can only assume there's a possibility" nuclear waste shipments might wend their way to Yucca Mountain via Lake Havasu City, Krueger said.

Krueger said the local chamber of commerce drafted an official position opposing Yucca Mountain about two years ago.

"Being this close, and being downstream (of Nevada), it makes local people very uncomfortable," she said. "Our concerns about our tourism base are part of it, but also important is our mission to enhance the quality of life in the area. We just feel it's a little frightening."

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