U.S. Water News Online
LAS VEGAS -- Nevada officials recently welcomed a federal judge's decision to wait until other lawsuits are decided before he rules whether the state can shut off water for the planned Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump.
``This is complementary to our effort and quite supportive,'' said Bob Loux, who coordinates Nevada's anti-dump efforts. ``It recognizes that substantive issues are going to be decided in the court in Washington.''
Stephen Bartell, the Department of Justice lawyer handling the water issue for the federal government, declined comment.
U.S. District Judge Roger Hunt said in his ruling that he would wait until the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit decides a range of issues about the legality of the nuclear dump 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas before he decides whether the state must supply water to it.
``It seems prudent. ... that this court avoid the danger of having the tail wag the dog,'' Hunt said. His 12-page ruling was received by lawyers on both sides.
Water is crucial to the planned nuclear waste repository approved last year by President Bush and Congress.
The Energy Department plans to entomb 77,000 tons of the nation's most radioactive waste in tunnels bored 1,000 feet beneath a desert ridge at the edge of the vast Nevada Test Site. The arid site averages less than 7 inches of precipitation annually and in recent years has experienced drought.
Hunt referred to five other federal lawsuits the state has pending against the project. They challenge the science, safety standards, site guidelines, the approval process and the constitutionality of forcing one state to accept the nation's waste.
The judge noted those cases are due to be argued together in September in Washington, D.C.
``The judge is saying a couple of things,'' said Marta Adams, the deputy state attorney general arguing the water case. ``One, there are significant issues to be answered in the District of Columbia. Second, he affirmed the right of the state to regulate water.''
On the latter issue, Hunt extended indefinitely an agreement under which the state is supplying the federal government enough potable water at Yucca Mountain for worker facilities and emergencies -- but not enough for building and operating the repository.
The judge also instructed the state engineer, Hugh Ricci, to hold another hearing soon on the federal government's request to pump 140 million gallons of water per year for the project.
No date was set for that hearing, Adams said.
Hunt said that although the state has the right to allocate water reserves, Ricci abused his discretion to deny the federal request with a sweeping declaration last year that construction and operation of a nuclear repository would be ``detrimental to the state's public interest.''
The judge also provided a cautionary note about the public interest to the federal government.
``The language, 'threatens to prove detrimental to the public interest,' suggests ... the safety of Nevada's citizens,'' Hunt said. ``Hopefully, the United States is not taking the position that the 'safety' of a state's citizens is pre-empted by the 'interest' of the national government to have a single nuclear waste repository.''
The state and the federal government have been fighting over water for Yucca Mountain for more than three years. In February 2000, Ricci's predecessor shut the tap, and the federal government sued.
Hunt at first dismissed the suit, but the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ordered him to rehear it.
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