Controversy, concern over proposed PA cobalt-60 irradiation facility Morning Call (Allentown, PA) June 19, 2003 Thursday SECOND EDITION Residents air beefs about irradiation plant; But Milford Township supervisors say their hands are tied. by Steve Wartenberg Of The Morning Call Phil Stein had had enough. "Thank you very much for your no; I'm leaving," he told the Milford Township supervisors late Tuesday night, barely able to control his anger. Then Stein, president of the Concerned Citizens of Milford Township, stood up and left. He had requested two things in relation to a meat irradiation facility being built in the township: Ask the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to come to Milford for a public forum and appeal the NRC's approval of the facility, if and when the agency approves it. The answer to both requests was no, which angered Stein and other members of his group, which numbered about 15 at the meeting. The group recently changed its name from Nuclear Objecting Citizens Opposed to Bucks Acquiring Lethal Treatments for Food. "You have blinders on and our lives are at stake," Anne Preston of Richlandtown told the supervisors a few minutes later. The supervisors seemed equally frustrated. "We're at 11:30 at night and I don't want to go through things we don't have any control over," fired back Supervisor Robert Mansfield. And so it went, back and forth, for more than an hour during the public comment portion at the end of the meeting, as the debate over the meat irradiation facility heated up. CFC Logistics is in the final stages of building an irradiation facility in an existing 150,000-square-foot cold storage warehouse on AM Drive, just off Route 663 near the Quakertown interchange of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The facility needs approval from the NRC before it can begin operations. CFC Logistics is a subsidiary of Clemens Family Corp. of Hatfield, which also owns Hatfield Quality Meats Inc. The Clemens Family Markets chain of supermarkets is owned by a separate corporation. The irradiation facility will expose meat to gamma rays emitted from cobalt-60, a radioactive material. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved irradiation of meat, spices, wheat, flour, potatoes, fruits and vegetables. In 2002, the U.S. Department of Agriculture approved the use of irradiated meat in the national school lunch program. The CFC Logistics system is a new design that places the cobalt-60 rods, also called "pencils," at the bottom of an 18-foot-deep tank of water. Martin H. Stein, who designed the system for Gray Star Inc. of Mount Arlington, N.J., said the meat is placed in airtight "bells" and lowered on pallets into the tank for 15 minutes of irradiation. Stein, who was not at the meeting, said the process is completely safe. "Otherwise we couldn't do it," he said in an interview last week. "We're doing it to make food safe, to kill pathogens such as E. coli, salmonella, listeria and others." According to Sharon Turner, CFC's radiation safety officer, the irradiation system could be up and running by the end of the year. She was outside the township building during Tuesday night's meeting to answer questions. "You can go out and talk to her," Supervisor Chairman Charles Strunk said at the beginning of the meeting. "And if you're an outside agitator, we're not giving you a forum for half-truths." Previously, a member of Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group founded by Ralph Nader, met with local residents and gave them suggestions on how to voice their opposition to the facility. Members of Concerned Citizens of Milford Township, who have hired an attorney, have several concerns. They are worried an accident or terrorist attack could release radioactive material and that their property values could suffer. "We're also concerned about the reason for this," said Jon Holznagel, a member of the group and owner of a Quakertown health food store. "The fact that the meat coming in from all these factory farms is so contaminated that it's forcing them to irradiate isn't good." But most of all, members of the group feel the community has not been included in the decisionmaking process. "We don't know that much about the process and possible dangers and people should know more about this," said Skip Moyer, treasurer of the Concerned Citizens. "Look at MTBE [an additive put in gasoline]. They said it was safe -- and later we find out it's poisoning our wells." The supervisors and Township Manager Jeffrey Vey say the future of the facility is now in the hands of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission -- and there is nothing the township can do to stop it from being built. "There are limits to the power of a township," Vey said before the meeting. "There are areas where we are pre-empted. For example, we can't tell the Turnpike Commission they can't have a tollbooth in the township." In response to Stein's request, Terry Clemons, township solicitor, said: "The township isn't interfering with your right to petition the NRC and ask them to come here for a meeting." When accused of shirking their responsibility to residents, Mansfield said, "I don't think having confidence in the NRC to oversee this is shirking our responsibility We took no position in endorsing this; we only dealt with the permit stage." Freelance writer Nancy Williams contributed to this article. Philadelphia Inquirer June 18, 2003 Wednesday MONTCO EDITION Plan to irradiate food generates heat in Milford A company hopes to open the facility at an existing warehouse by Labor Day. A new opposition group hopes that does not happen. By Walter F. Naedele; Inquirer Staff Writer MILFORD, Pa. - Zapping raw food with a radioactive chemical has stirred local and national activists into organizing opposition to a company that intends to irradiate with cobalt 60. It is the latest chapter in the struggle between a technology that emerged in the 1960s and the persistent fears that irradiation creates more problems than it solves. CFC Logistics, an arm of Hatfield Quality Meats, is completing an 18-foot-deep tank to cleanse materials of contaminants. The tank is part of a 17-dock cold-storage warehouse the company opened late last year just off the Quakertown exit of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. "The assumption we are making is that we will be operational by Labor Day," company president Jim Wood said in an interview at the warehouse. Some hope that doesn't happen. In the last few weeks, Charles Moyer of Milford, who teaches at Nazareth Middle School in Northampton County, has organized an opposition group, N.O.C.O.B.A.L.T.-4-Food. Moyer said part of his concern about irradiating food was that "if you took meat and analyzed it before and after, there are some new compounds that are created, from my understanding." He was uncertain of what they were. Monique Mikhail, a Washington organizer for Public Citizen, the nonprofit consumer advocacy organization that Ralph Nader founded, spoke at a May meeting that Moyer organized. Mikhail said in a phone interview that "the overriding question is why should the citizens of Milford Township have radioactive material in their neighborhood for an unnecessary technology." Public Citizen's Web site says that "irradiation merely masks filthy conditions in slaughterhouses, which cause meat to be contaminated with bacteria that cause illness." "Irradiation forms new chemicals in food that are known or suspected to cause cancer and birth defects." But the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration all have approved food radiation. In 1997, according to the USDA Web site, the FDA "approved irradiation of meat products for controlling disease-causing micro-organisms." The USDA approved it in 1999, according to its Web site. "Like pasteurization, irradiation kills bacteria and other pathogens that could otherwise result in spoilage or food poisoning," according to the EPA Web site. And, the CDC notes on its Web site, "the food that NASA astronauts eat has been sterilized by irradiation to avoid getting food-borne illness in space." Neil Sheehan, spokesman for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission office in King of Prussia, said he and three other NRC officials toured the company site June 6. "They would have to get a construction license and then a use license" from the NRC, which is reviewing its application, Sheehan said. He added that the company was far into construction, "at their own risk, confident enough that they can win approval." On Friday, Wood showed how the process takes place in a 7-by-6-foot stainless-steel tank sunk 18 feet into the warehouse floor. The company intends to make the irradiation operation available to businesses from far and wide. Wood said the company would irradiate not only meat, but "botanicals, spices [and] medical devices" such as condoms. His first customer, he said, is a producer of milled plants, such as St. John's wort, sold in health-food stores. The Milford operation is a subsidiary of the Clemens Family Corp., which owns Hatfield Quality Meats. "It would be virtually impossible for the coolant to leak out," Sheehan said. The water, which is the radiation shield, "does not become irradiated." Forty cobalt rods sit in a narrow 5-foot, 4-inch-tall container at the bottom of the tank. Material in metal boxes is lowered to one side of the cobalt, exposed for 71/2 minutes, then lowered to the other side for 71/2 minutes. The irradiator is the product of Gray Star Inc. of Mount Arlington, N.J., and Sheehan said it is "the first of its kind that they've designed; it's their prototype." "I'm told there are approximately 50 cobalt-60 irradiators nationwide. Only a few currently do meat irradiation." Cynthia Hoyt, who lives in Plumstead Township and has worked in public relations, said she helped Moyer establish the opposition group last month "because our understanding was most of the citizens in Milford didn't know about it and would be concerned about it." Hoyt said "something of this magnitude, that would affect the community, should have been addressed" more publicly. But Terry W. Clemons, solicitor for Milford Township, said that public comment about the cobalt operation had been heard at three supervisors meetings since Feb. 4. Clemons said the company needed from the township only a building permit for the addition to the warehouse. "Those kinds of permits are issued every day," for instance "for someone who wants to put in a swimming pool, Clemons said. "This permit could have been issued without any public discussion," he said. "It could have been a simple administrative action" by the zoning officer. But at the request of the township manager, the company took its irradiation advisers to the Feb. 4 supervisors meeting to explain the plan. Clemons said the supervisors told the company officials that "before they put this into operation they have to demonstrate to us that they have acquired the necessary permits" from the NRC. "We thought that was over and done. "We didn't know that this activity was going to push anybody's button." Morning Call (Allentown, PA) June 5, 2003 Thursday SECOND EDITION Safety is questioned for irradiation plant; When finished, Milford plant will use gamma rays to clean food. By Nancy Williams Special to The Morning Call Concerns about the safety and planning of a food irradiation plant drew about 50 area residents to the Milford Township supervisors meeting Tuesday night. Supervisors agreed that safety was a concern but maintained that the authority of the municipality did not include regulating nuclear devices. "The [Nuclear Regulatory Commission] handles all licensing of the process," said Supervisor Chairman Charles Strunk. The township, he said, is only responsible for land development issues, which have been resolved. The facility is part of a 150,000-square-foot cold-storage warehouse that will be owned and operated by the Clemens Family Corp. of Hatfield, owners of Hatfield Quality Meats Inc. The irradiator under construction is owned by CFC Logistics, a subsidiary of the corporation. It is on Am Drive, just off Route 663 near the Turnpike interchange. The Clemens Family Markets supermarket chain is owned by a separate corporation. The CFC plant would be the third facility in the country that uses gamma rays to kill or slow the growth of disease-causing bacteria and parasites in food. Other irradiation plants use electricity. Last fall, the U.S. Department of Agriculture approved the use of irradiated meat in the national school lunch program. In February, CFC applied for a building permit to bring in the cobalt-60 irradiation technology. The work included cutting a hole in the floor and digging about 18 feet deep. "When they came to us about this, we weren't sure whether we actually needed to grant them a permit," said Township Manager Jeffrey A. Vey. Residents claimed that the township moved ahead with the plans without public notice. But township solicitor Terry W. Clemons said at least two public hearings were held. Tom Clemens, a CFC representative, was at Tuesday night's meeting and addressed criticism of the technology. "There are only a few of these in operation now in this country," he said. "The technology for this type of facility is very new." He invited the public to come and view the plant in operation once the NRC has granted the final licenses. Clemens also explained how the equipment is maintained. "The product comes in already packed in boxes on skids. We put it on an overhead conveyor, and then it goes on a crane, which lowers it into a water tank in an air-tight bell. No water actually touches the product," he said. Clemens added that the water is kept pure and is never contaminated by the radioactive material, and therefore poses no health risk. The first delivery of the radioactive material could occur in July. Nancy Williams is a freelance writer. Morning Call (Allentown, PA) May 30, 2003 Friday Irradiation plant facing opposition; Upper Bucks residents meeting with activist to plan strategy. By Hal Marcovitz Of The Morning Call A group of Upper Bucks residents hopes to generate opposition to a meat irradiation plant in Milford Township when it meets Saturday with an activist from Public Citizen, the Washington-based advocacy organization founded by Ralph Nader. Charles Moyer, a Milford Township resident who is helping to organize the meeting, said he hopes the group can begin formulating a strategy to oppose the plant, which will use gamma rays derived from radioactive cobalt-60 to purify meat. The group, called "NOCOBALT-4-FOOD," which stands for Nuclear Objecting Citizens Opposed to Bucks Acquiring Lethal Treatments for Food, will meet at noon Saturday at the James A. Michener Library, 229 California Road, Richland Township. Moyer said he questions the safety of the irradiation process. "It's radioactive and it's scary," he said. "I'm no expert, but it seems like a pretty big risk to be taking for cheap meat." Moyer said he isn't sure what course the group will take. He'd like to see members organize an informational drive to alert the community to what the group perceives are the plant's hazards. Moyer said the group could also begin laying the groundwork for a legal challenge. The irradiator, which is under construction, is owned by CFC Logistics, a subsidiary of Clemens Family Corp. of Hatfield, owners of Hatfield Quality Meats Inc. The Clemens Family Markets supermarket chain is owned by a separate corporation. Contractors are building the irradiator inside a 150,000-square-foot cold-storage warehouse on Am Drive, just off Route 663 near the Pennsylvania Turnpike interchange. The CFC plant would be the third facility in the country that uses gamma rays to kill or slow the growth of disease-causing bacteria and parasites in meat. Other irradiation plants use electricity. Last fall, the U.S. Department of Agriculture approved the use of irradiated meat in the national school lunch program. Monique Mikhail, the Public Citizen organizer who will address the group, said she intends to urge members to seek a public hearing before the Milford Township supervisors. Mikhail said Public Citizen believes food irradiators are unnecessary if farmers and slaughterhouses observe proper sanitation procedures. "Most people don't know what's going in there," she said. "They don't know what cobalt-60 is. They don't know what food irradiation is. They don't know what's going on in their back yard." CFC President Jim Wood said it may be too late to ask for a public hearing. The company has already received a zoning permit, he said. A public hearing was held in March, he said, and township supervisors indicated the company has permission to occupy the building once the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission grants CFC a license to operate the irradiator. Wood said CFC is in the late stages of the licensing procedure and all that remains is to submit some final documents to the federal agency. It is expected that the project will be completed this summer, he said. Milford Township Manager Jeffrey A. Vey said he doesn't believe further hearings before the supervisors are possible or that supervisors have any further say in the regulatory process. Vey added that the township is satisfied that all safety measures are being followed by CFC. "I live within 4,800 feet of that building," Vey said. "I'm the president of the fire company. If something happens, it's my guys who are the responders. It isn't like people are taking this casually." Wood said the company must abide by safety standards similar to what hospitals observe for their nuclear medicine departments. The cobalt is transported under guidelines established by the International Atomic Energy Agency as well as rules enforced by the state government, he said. Wood said construction of the $1.5 million irradiator is nearly finished. At some point, he said, the company would like to hold an open house to show people how the irradiator operates and to point out the plant's safety features. "We feel very confident this is safe and it doesn't impact on the environment," he said. "People hear "nuclear' and they think nuclear waste and meltdown. We recognize there are certain people who are not going to like it; they have to speak their peace."