No Dumping

OVER HALF THE medical research going on in Harvard-affiliated laboratories and hospitals may soon grind to a halt for lack of a dumping site for the low-level radioactive wastes it produces. Recently, Gov. Dixie Lee Ray shut down the University's only outlet for waste disposal. Tuesday, she met with officials of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and has now announced that she will not even consider reopening the site until Nov. 6.

The NRC and the Department of Transportation--the two federal agencies charged with hazardous waste disposal--are responsible for the current problems. In one spot check, state officials discovered that one-third of the trucks carrying the wastes into Washington were violating safety procedures. Ray told federal officials that until she is satisfied that safety measures will be enforced, the site will remain closed. The two agencies concerned must tighten their enforcement of the law regulating transport of radioactive wastes.

It would seem that the creation of a regional dumping site is the obvious solution--but it has met with vehement opposition from New Englanders, who fear that the low-level radioactive wastes are a health hazard. The federal government needs to undertake to determine the effects of the waste storage and the potential of on-site incineration. If, on balance, the dangers of waste outweigh the benefits of the medical research that produces them, then either the medical research should be halted or we should turn to on-site incineration, if it is feasible. If waste storage is safe, Harvard should lobby for the creation of a regional dumping site, which would remove the dangers involved in shipping the wastes all the way across country to Washington state.