ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Despite day-to-day disputes and legislative logjams that so often generate headlines, there are “large areas” of policy on which members of Congress agree, including the cleanup of radioactive wastes and Department of Energy sites, Rep. Chuck Fleischmann said Thursday.
If “you walk into a nuclear cleanup caucus, a national labs caucus, I can sit down with a member on the other side of the aisle … and say, ‘Isn’t it very important that we engage in cleaning up our legacy sites all across the United States?’” the Tennessee Republican said at the National Cleanup Workshop. “And I’ll get an affirmative. I’ll get a yes. ‘Let’s work together.’”
The consensus, Fleischmann seemed to suggest, stems from some lawmakers’ understanding of just how important environmental cleanup is – and the benefits it brings.
“Let’s face it. It’s needed. We owe it to the people of this country to clean it up,” the congressman said. “It’s great for the local communities. It’s great for the working communities.”
The Savannah River Site south of Aiken is home to some of the most hazardous substances on the planet: plutonium, a nuclear weapons ingredient, and so-called tank waste, a toxic byproduct and vestige of the Cold War.
The 310-square-mile reserve is also a major economic engine for South Carolina and Georgia; contractors at SRS employ thousands, and projects – yearslong commitments – can cost billions of dollars.
“The cleanup mission, whether you’re in Oak Ridge, or in Hanford, or in Paducah, or in Savannah River, you name it, we know where all the reservations are,” Fleischmann said. “Critically, critically important.”
Fleischmann’s district, Tennessee’s 3rd, includes Oak Ridge.
On Twitter Thursday, the congressman vowed to “always fight for strong bipartisan support for EM’s cleanup mission,” using shorthand for Environmental Management, the Energy Department’s cleanup office.
