I'm in a group show called Triptych Memphis: Art, Music, and Food. The exhibition will close December 17, 2017. Check it out before it closes!
Brickwood Hall, 391 S. Front St., Memphis, TN 38103.
This is my artist statement for the show...
Tennessee allows dumping of low-level nuclear waste in four landfills. Two of the four Tennessee landfills are located in Memphis: North Shelby County, and South Shelby County Landfills. Most of the nuclear waste dumped in Memphis comes form nuclear reactors outside the state.
Self-monitoring low-level nuclear waste. Companies are allowed by the Tennessee Department of Environmental and Conservation to self-monitor waste. There isn't oversight. No element of the local, state, or federal government holds these companies accountable for proper monitoring.
Even if self-monitoring is done honestly, accumulated low-level waste posses a potential danger to health. Landfills are not designed to hold radioactive materials of any kind.
Just because there isn't an immediate danger, doesn't mean there won't be a catastrophe tomorrow. Flooding, earthquakes, and strong storms can send contamination into your drinking water, and (or) scatter radioactive waste across Memphis. Smoldering fires are possible. The is an ongoing smoldering fire at West Lake Landfill in Bridgeton Missouri that contains radioactive waste, and is harming the people that live around the area.
Be aware, be concern, and inquire about your surrounding.