Radioactive soil moved from Topsham siding

TOPSHAM – Maine Yankee has moved 26 rail cars carrying low-level radioactive soil from a siding in Topsham, easing concerns among residents who wanted the cars out of their neighborhood.

The Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Department said the cars were moved out of Topsham on Saturday. Officials at the former nuclear plant had promised to get the cars to Wiscasset by early this week.

“We in the community are pretty happy about getting it out of our back yards,” said Chris Simpson, who lives near the railroad tracks. “Maine Yankee did the right thing.”

Before the removal of the cars, Topsham emergency management coordinator Mike Labbe took a radioactivity measuring device to the tracks. He said his measurements confirmed what Maine Yankee and state officials had said – the rail cars did not contain enough radiation to pose a public hazard.

“There was no increase” in radiation around the cars, Labbe said. “I wanted to be 100 percent sure.”

The 26 rail cars are among 48 that Maine Yankee has called back from various parts of the country. The loads of soil were removed from the former reactor site and were bound for a secure landfill in Utah. They were turned back last month after the landfill operator said previous shipments from Maine Yankee were too wet to bury.

Maine Yankee plans to inspect the cars and, if necessary, empty and reload them with dry soil before sending them for disposal.

The soil is among the least contaminated waste to leave the reactor site during the seven-year, $500 million cleanup. By the time the project ends, 400 million pounds of waste will have been shipped to landfills around the country.