Federal Judge Says Shuts Off Water for DOE Drilling at Yucca
The Department of Energy will no longer be allowed to use Nevada's water for bore hole drilling at the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository.
U.S. District Judge Roger Hunt's says the Department of Energy can't ignore state limitations and just keep using water for drilling test holes near the site.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat who has led state opposition to the Yucca project, hailed the ruling as a victory for state rights.
Five years ago on Sept. 4, President George Bush gave the green light to the site 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas as the storage place for all of the nation's high-level nuclear waste. The state of Nevada has been fighting the Department of Energy over the project for decades.
The state engineer recently re-instated a cease and desist order on the use of the state's water to drill into the mountain for the repository. On Tuesday, the DOE filed an appeal to be able to keep drilling so the repository can open in 2017.
In a strongly worded 24-page order, U.S. District Court Judge Roger Hunt denied the Department of Energy's motion for a preliminary injunction.
In a statement Tuesday, Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto stated, "Judge Hunt's order vindicates Nevada's long-standing position that DOE's sleight of hand in using Nevada's water for an unauthorized bore hole drilling program is neither mandated by federal law nor consistent with the public's interest."
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Gregor Gable
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