Idaho Falls - Nuclear + Air (Ammon, Arco: construction, living in, military)

[Moderation]

hi we have an option to move to idaho falls. i saw the images on google and i was very impressed with the cleanliness of the city as well as the beautiful outdoors. i read online about the nuclear plant/testing facility built over the aquifer and the nuclear waste targeted to be removed in the future. this concerns me. i am curious what people think who live there.

lastly, of less importance i was wondering if the inversion from salt lake city ever makes it to idaho falls? if so how often?

thanks!

[Mtn. States Resident]

Originally Posted by Moderation

hi we have an option to move to idaho falls. i saw the images on google and i was very impressed with the cleanliness of the city as well as the beautiful outdoors. i read online about the nuclear plant/testing facility built over the aquifer and the nuclear waste targeted to be removed in the future. this concerns me. i am curious what people think who live there.

lastly, of less importance i was wondering if the inversion from salt lake city ever makes it to idaho falls? if so how often?

thanks!

Hi Moderation,

I remember your post from the General U.S. forums. Somehow I didn't think you wanted to be this far west.

Inversions in SLC keep a lot of busy bodies busy. Yes, they happen in N. Salt Lake, but no one ever bothers to read more of what Utah is doing about them. We don't get any inversions from Utah in Idaho Falls. It's an open valley, not between two mountain ranges like SLC metro is.

Depending on the winter, we get limited fog inversions here.

What's your general background educationally and work wise? Also, from what sources did you read anything about the Snake River Aquifer? Let us know a bit more about you so we can give you links to read and form your own opinion. That question has maybe come up twice since I've been a member here.

Dan Q. and others may be able to address the Aquifer more.

[Moderation]

hi mtn. states resident, thanks for your reply. glad to hear about the lack of inversions in that area. may i ask do you live there currently or did you in the past?

[banjomike]

I'm an Idaho Falls native and lifelong resident.

Idaho Falls is concerned, naturally, about nuclear safety, especially when considering our magnificent aquifer, but we are also more aware of what's happening in regards to keeping the aquifer clean and any remediation solutions that are going on if there are trouble spots or potential troubles.

That's because so many of those whose job is keeping our environment clean work at the INL and live here. The INL site is not some vaguely secret government site here; the site and Idaho Falls were conjoined from the site's beginnings, when Idaho Falls was chosen to be the place for the site's management center. The operations are conducted 60 miles to the west in the site's various laboratories, but the headquarters for its coordinated management has always been here, in town.

The site is Idaho Falls' largest single employer, and has been, ever since 1954 when its construction first began. Since it is not, and never has been a military site like Los Alamos or Rocky Flats, and has always been an experimental site, not a nuclear production site, it has never had the massive quantities of nuclear waste that was produced in Colorado, New Mexico and Washington.

And, as part of its mission is nuclear monitoring, the folks who live here always know what's going on out there on the Arco Desert, good or bad. Like any long standing experimental site, there have been accidents in the past and present, but nothing approaching the scale of the others. They all produced massive waste, while the INL has always been directed toward cleaning the waste up and finding ways to store it safely.

So, while we are always alert, we aren't afraid. Since we now have families here who have worked there for 3-4 generations now, we have good reasons for both. Anyone who has a question about environmental safety here only has to go next door and talk to a neighbor to learn the truth of things.

If you move here, you'll find life here to be quite pleasant. Idaho Falls is the center point for more outdoor adventures than I can list, is a thriving and growing community, is very family oriented, and one that takes great pride in our history, our present, and our place in life here in Idaho and the nation.

Lots of folks come and go, but once someone lives here, Idaho Falls stays with them for life. Lots of former residents end up coming back to retire after decades of life in another area.

[Moderation]

thanks banjomike, very well put and i appreciate your time as well as mtn. states resident addressing my questions.

[Mtn. States Resident]

Originally Posted by Moderation

hi mtn. states resident, thanks for your reply. glad to hear about the lack of inversions in that area. may i ask do you live there currently or did you in the past?

Yes, yes and yes. One of the yeses was for living in Salt Lake City in the "Inversion that made national news."

I think BanjoMike did a good job answering your questions; however, you may have more. Ask us what you can't find via search.

BTW, I owe you an apology. It wasn't you who was so stuck on the east, it was a few posters. I'm sorry I got that confused. There was another thread that was very close to your own. I'm glad I checked your thread again!

Can you come and visit? I think that is so important to know what feels right.. Idaho Falls has a lot of what you want and lacks most of what you don't want. I.F. is 60K. Literally across the street is Ammon, a suburb of 15 K.

[Moderation]

thanks mtn. states resident, i appreciate the info. we are planning to visit several places this summer. i agree it's important and there is no substitute. i'll keep you and banjomike posted. thanks again for your help!