Tareq Khweis

1, April 2015
WIPP Site is Beneficial to New Mexico
ENGL 120-086
Imagine radioactive waste, undisposed of and scattered throughout many areas of the
state of New Mexico. Envision innocent people, especially children, who inadvertently discover
these toxic materials that are deadly in these areas unknown to them. These events could be
solved simply through storing the radioactive waste in a protected region. This is what the Waste
Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in Carlsbad, New Mexico offers. Not only can it help solve this
issue, it also is beneficial to New Mexico. Its location is a great place to store radioactive waste
because it is underground in a desert. It helps support the economy of New Mexico by offering
jobs. There are monitoring programs and funding that help protect New Mexico from radioactive
danger. In order to understand how the WIPP site is beneficial to New Mexico, it is essential to
examine how each situation positively impacts New Mexico.
New Mexico, from a geological standpoint, is a state that has deserts and amounts of free
space. The location of Carlsbad in New Mexico is an area that is barren and has a dry
environment. According to Goldstein, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant is a deep geologic
radioactive waste repository located in the Chihuahuan Desert in salt beds 2,150 feet beneath the
surface and 26 miles southeast of Carlsbad, New Mexico (Goldstein 78). This means that the
WIPP Site is underground, which makes it a perfect place to store radioactive waste. From a
safety perspective, this is the best way to store this waste because it is not on the surface where it
can cause danger. People opposing the WIPP site in New Mexico will be quick to argue about the
incident of the waste drum packaged at Los Alamos National Laboratory and shipped to WIPP
[that] leaked and [caused a] radioactive release (Coleman A1). This is an unfortunate accident
that occurred and people have the right to oppose the WIPP site because of accidents that it can
create. Although the radiation that leaked is detrimental to our safety and environment, having
this event happen underground is better than having it on the surface where damage could

potentially harm many more people. The WIPP site helps us solve this issue of where to store
this radioactive waste because leaving it out on the surface is dangerous where it remains
susceptible to accident or misuse by terrorists (Goldstein 78). People may believe that WIPP is
detrimental to New Mexico, but it is useful and has a great importance to the nation (Coleman
A1). The WIPP site, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, was chosen because of its
deep geological disposal in salt bedsthe salt is free of flowing water, easily mined,
impermeable and geologically stable. Salt rock also naturally seals fractures and closes
openings (DOE par. 5). This removes the danger of water and other environmental factors from
affecting the radioactive waste held underground as well as the radioactive waste interfering with
the water supply along with the environment. The rooms of the WIPP site are structured to
encase the radioactive waste over time by using the natural plasticity of salt under pressure
(Goldstein 79). Eventually, the radioactive waste will be covered safely underground and the
danger will be removed in New Mexicos environment. Overall, the WIPP site is favorable in
New Mexico because it is located in an area that is safe in the desert in Carlsbad.
For New Mexico, the WIPP site supports the economy by creating new jobs. The location
in Carlsbad, especially, is a hard place to create a successful economic setting (Goldstein 79). In
areas of New Mexico, especially desert type ones, it is difficult to create a thriving economy that
can support the local people. Goldstein claims this is due to the boom-and-bust economic cycles
of the local potash and oil-and-gas industries (Goldstein 79) that has plagued Carlsbad. With
these businesses coming and going, there is an instability that causes people to leave the area
because there is no financial security established. The WIPP site can fix this situation by
employing the people in a region hungry for jobs[where] the areas residents were already
accustomed to the inherent dangers of mining and energy extraction (Goldstein 79). The people

of these areas are already used to the dangers of jobs that have been in New Mexico for many
years. This only allowed more local residents to have a higher tolerance for the risks associated
with nuclear waste disposal (Goldstein 79-80). As John Heaton, the former Carlsbad-area state
legislator explains, we are enthusiastic about a high-level waste repositoryit could employ
2,000 people (qtd. in Fleck A1). The people of Carlsbad are willing to allow the WIPP site to
be here in New Mexico because it provides jobs that will help support them, even if it is dealing
with hazardous material. From this, WIPPs perception by the local people is in a favorable
position (Goldstein 79). Many would argue that the WIPP site in New Mexico actually damages
the economy because of the recent event of the radioactive release [that] forced the repository to
close indefinitely (Coleman A1). From this, the Department of Energy officials have said it
could take years and more than a half-billion dollars to get the waste dump fully operational
again (Coleman A1). This indeed would not only hurt New Mexicos economy, but the entire
economy of the United States. While this may be the case, once the WIPP site opens again, it can
create jobs for New Mexico rapidly. Since the site is the only solution to at least part of the
nuclear waste disposal dilemma, andthe only backyard that so far has been willing to step up
and put the nations interests first by hosting it (Balking B2), this makes New Mexico the
only target for storing the radioactive waste. By New Mexico being the only place to dispose of
this nuclear waste, the money to have the waste moved here would help make-up for the costs of
the disaster and create more revenue in the long-run. The WIPP site not only provides this
support, but it also gives the area a reputation for possible future projects toward these types of
issues in the future (Fleck A1). The more projects that could come into New Mexico from this
reputation will surely boost the economy over time, creating numerous amounts of jobs.

Furthermore, the WIPP site is encouraging this positive outlook and increases the possibility for
the economy to grow tremendously in New Mexico.
In New Mexico, there are monitoring programs designed to protect and keep the people
safe from any dangers that arise from the WIPP site. According to Acosta, a program
established in 1991, the Carlsbad Environmental Monitoring and Research Center (CEMRC)
has operated an independent environmental monitoring program for the Waste Isolation Pilot
Plant to detect for exposure to Radioactive materials (Acosta par. 1). This program has been
around since 1991, providing protection from potential hazards that come from the WIPP site.
This increases the safety of the people and allows the WIPP site to continue on in New Mexico to
help it benefit economically. Accordingly, the CEMRC began its environmental monitoring
program in 1997, and two years later the WIPP site received its first waste (Acosta par. 5). As
stated by Hardy, the director of CEMRC, this time allowed two years of background baseline
data before any waste was placed into the ground that we then can compare to and show that the
WIPP site was not having any impact on the environment (qtd. in Acosta par. 6). This allowed
the watchful eye of the program to continue its research on the effects of the WIPP site on the
environment, if any. As Acosta noted, the CEMRC was the first to discover and quantify the
presence of small amounts of radioactive contamination which escaped the WIPP site[it had] a
negligible impact to the local environment and the population since the radiation release
(Acosta par. 8). The CEMRC has been doing its job correctly and showed that the WIPP site has
had a slight effect on the environment This only increases the reason that the WIPP site is more
beneficial than detrimental to New Mexico. Consequently, the U.S. Department of Energy has
helped to fund this program by providing a grant for a five-year $15 million financial assistance
to allow it to continue to manage the WIPP site (Acosta par. 3). With these funds, the program

can enhance itself and provide even further protection to the environment of New Mexico,
increasing the safety. With the monitoring that this program provides, the safety and security of
New Mexico is in good hands. The WIPP site thus can continue to be a positive force in New
Mexico.
The WIPP site is beneficial to New Mexico. There is no reason to risk the lives and
increase the danger of people everywhere by allowing radioactive waste to stay on the surface.
WIPP solves this issue because the location of it is in a secure place where it can store dangerous
radioactive waste safely and effectively from the people of New Mexico. This is the right thing
to do for New Mexico and for the United States. The jobs that it will provide in the future and the
other projects that come into New Mexico will benefit the economy in the long-run. Not only
does it increase the economic well-being of New Mexico, it provides a location where we can
store these hazardous materials so they are not on the surface where they could cause greater
problems. New Mexicos WIPP site is the only place that stores radioactive waste in the country,
which makes it extremely important in value and allows New Mexico to take in all the
radioactive waste for a profit. Without it, there is no proper place to store radioactive waste
where it is safe in the United States. With the CERMC monitoring the WIPP site, it is safe to say
that the WIPP site is a great place to store radioactive waste without it hurting the people of New
Mexico and its environment. Safety should be our biggest concern moving forward, especially
with the increase of waste that will accumulate in the future. WIPP is the key for the future.
Overall, the WIPP site is beneficial to New Mexico because it provides more pros than cons.

Works Cited
Acosta, Tiffany. NMSUs Carlsbad Environmental Monitoring Research Center protects
residents. Las Cruces Sun-News (NM). NewsBank. 15 Feb. 2015. Web. 29 Mar. 2015.
"Balking at fines wont help DOE reach a nuke solution." Albuquerque Journal
(NM). NewsBank. 22 Feb. 2015, Editorials: B2. Web. 30 Mar. 2015.
Coleman, Michael "U.S. Energy chief backs WIPP, B-61 - Moniz vows waste site will reopen,
bomb work to go on." Albuquerque Journal (NM). NewsBank. 26 Mar. 2015, Front Page:
A1. Web. 30 Mar 2015.
Fleck, John. "Could N.M. Seek Nuke Waste? - Feds Looking To Replace Site at Yucca
Mountain." Albuquerque Journal (NM). NewsBank. 26 Jan. 2011, Front Page: A1. Web. 29
Mar. 2015.
Goldstein, Jon. "How To Build A Better Sepulcher: Lessons From New Mexicos Waste Isolation
Pilot Plant." Bulletin Of The Atomic Scientists 67.5 (2011): 78-80. Academic Search
Complete. Web. 1 Apr. 2015.
"WIPP Update." Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. U.S. Department of Energy, 19 Mar. 2015. Web. 29
Mar. 2015.