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Tori Woodard's Nuke Notes

On March 31, 1999, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan ruled in Washington, D.C., that the Clinton administration does not have to turn over federal land near Needles, California, for the State of California to build a radioactive waste dump. Joe Nagel, president of US Ecology (the licensed dump operator), told the Los Angeles Times that his company would not appeal the ruling. He added, "I think [the] Ward Valley [dump] is dead." US Ecology had already closed its Needles office and pulled its equipment out of Ward Valley in December 1998.  

Opponents of the dump are now asking supporters to contact California Governor Gray Davis at (916) 324-3501. The State has not yet withdrawn its application for the land, nor has it withdrawn from a Federal Court of Claims lawsuit in which it and US Ecology are asking for reimbursement from the federal government (taxpayers) for the millions of dollars they spent trying to open the dump. Ward Valley is not safe until the State withdraws the land application. Even if US Ecology is no longer interested in it, another waste management firm could propose to build a radioactive waste facility there.

What will US Ecology do next? They seem to be to trying to get their existing dump on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington state declared a national facility. The Yakima Indian Nation, as well as the Hanford Education Action League, are opposed to out-of-state waste being dumped there.

 COMMENTS SOUGHT ON YUCCA MOUNTAIN EIS

The Department of Energy is poised to release its Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) on the proposed high level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Under the proposal, highly radioactive spent fuel rods from nuclear power reactors will be transported to Yucca Mountain from around the country, impacting 50 million Americans as they roll through towns and cities on trucks and trains.

The fuel rods would be placed inside Yucca Mountain, which is located on Newe (Western Shoshone) land both within and adjacent to the Nevada Test Site. Earthquakes, volcanism, corrosive minerals, groundwater, and stretching of the earth's crust in the area could cause radioactivity to escape from the mountain during the 250,000 years that the material would remain deadly.

Opponents believe the Department of Energy will gauge public opinion about the proposed repository by the volume of comments received on the DEIS. Your voice can make a difference! The DEIS is expected to be released in June or July 1999 with a 90-day comment period. To receive a copy, contact Wendy R. Dixon, Yucca Mountain Project, Hillshire Complex, 1551 Hillshire Drive M/S423, Las Vegas NV 89134.

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