Federal regulators are moving ahead with plans to ship nuclear waste from Canada across the Peace Bridge, drawing outrage from Congressman Brian Higgins.
Higgins, a member of the Homeland Security Committee, calls the Department of Energy's disregard for the potential impact on the Buffalo area "astonishing." He says the DOE is using outdated information to determine the threat assessment.
"In the post-9/11 era the Peace Bridge is high-impact target for potential terrorist activity. And when you're carrying 150 truck shipments between Canada and the United States of highly enriched uranium it becomes that much bigger of a target," Higgins said.
Despite unanimous approval by the House for a full environmental review, Higgins says the DOE is sidestepping the directive.
Shipments from Chalk River Laboratories near Ottawa to DOE's site in South Carolina are expected to start this year. The route will not be made public.