Actually, this stuff would be sent to the Savannah River Site, which is a pre-existing site that handles nukular(tm GWB) materials. I'm not sure quite how depressed the economy is in Aiken, Barnwell and Bamberg Counties, which contain the SRS, but overall we're doing pretty well down here in SC.
Hodges says that his problem with the shipments isn't that they're coming here per se, it's that the Federal government hasn't given any timetable or promises for the stuff to be taken back out. It's not supposed to be stored here permanently, it's supposed to come here for some sort of processing, then sent back out to Yucca Mountain or wherever. But the Feds steadfastly refuse to set any sort of timetable for removing the stuff--which makes it look like they're going to dump 30 tons of waste at SRS, then walk casually away whistling with their hands in their pockets and hope nobody notices.
Besides, Hodges is in trouble. Either Peeler or Sanford stands a very good chance of beating him in November. Hodges got elected as a one-trick pony--lottery, lottery, lottery, to save our failing schools.
But, the "Education Lottery" hasn't been the panacea he promised everybody it'd be. Hell, he ran around promising that it'd be a magic wand to instantly cure our crappy K-12 schools. Well, turns out that almost all the lottery money is going to college scholarships--to send any SC student with a B or better average to an in-state public four-year indoctrination institution, free. Gee, Unca Jim, how are kids supposed to get the B average and their free ride to USC or Clemson or SC State if their schools suck? Other than massive grade inflation, that is.
The public schools are cutting budgets to and past the bone, and statewide most agencies are cutting 8% or more. Folks are realizing that Emperor Hodges is buck-ass nekkid, so he's pulling this stunt to show himself as a "man of the people." Which he ain't.
}:-)4
He'll cave. But not before he milks it for all the free facetime on the news and photo-ops he can get out of it.
When Hodges (the Democrat) told Graham (the Republican--see what's going on here?) that that wasn't good enough and threatened a lawsuit, Graham, (the lawyer, the smart one, the Republican running for the Senate) warned Hodges that if he attempts to sue the Federal government, he would lose, and that suing the Feds wouldn't help them at all in negotiations, but Hodges (the desperate Democrat running for re-election in a very conservative state) being a typical Democrat trying to legislate through the courts, says Graham is full of it. Graham, (the lawyer, the farsighted one) introduces legislation in the U.S. House that would impose fines on the Feds for leaving plutonium in the state longer than promised, because he knows Hodges will lose in court.
Well, lo and behold, who turned out to be right? The one who knows the law and the courts. The desperate Democrat is now trying to invoke the memory of Ft. Sumter, typical Democrat grandstanding during an election year. He thinks he's David protecting South Carolina from Goliath. That's how he hopes it will come across to the voters, anyway.
If I'm not mistaken you can enter Savannah River Plant from the Georgia side without involving SC highways. Isn't it all Federal roads inside SRP?