IN BRIEF

PETROLEUM CLEANUP

EPA gives Nevada $1.27 million for leaks

The Environmental Protection Agency will provide Nevada with more than $1.2 million to clean up underground petroleum leaks that threaten to contaminate soil and groundwater layers.

The award of nearly $1.27 million is aimed at curbing contamination from underground storage tank leaks which threaten drinking water supplies, according to an EPA news release issued Thursday.

The award comes from $197 million appropriated to deal with the leaking storage tank problem under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

35-YEAR PROCESS

Last load of radioactive waste shipped to Idaho

Nevada Test Site officials say the last of 65 truckloads of repackaged radioactive waste has been shipped to Idaho, pending final disposal at the federal Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M.

National Nuclear Security Administration spokeswoman Kelly Snyder said Thursday the transuranic waste was due to arrive today for inspection at the Idaho National Laboratory near Idaho Falls.

The NNSA announced the shipment marked the end of a 35-year process of inspecting and repackaging materials generated mostly during nuclear research and development at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California.

Snyder said there has been no radioactivity exposure to workers since the shipping campaign began in January 2004.