The State : Kesterson Plan Blocked

A congressional subcommittee has ordered the Interior Department to halt its plan to clean up Kesterson Reservoir and seek a cheaper and more effective way to eliminate selenium. Rep. Tom Bevill (D-Ala.) and Rep. John Meyers (R-Ind.) wrote last week to Interior Secretary Donald P. Hodel saying that the committee refuses to finance the current Kesterson cleanup plan, basically a 45-acre toxic landfill. The plan calls for scraping 6 to 12 inches of soil from about 900 acres of selenium-contaminated ponds and piling the tainted soil and vegetation into a landfill encased by impermeable clay and plastic liners. The cost has been estimated at $60 million.