[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Re: Alliance for Nuclear Accountability
A search on the internet turned up the following story from the "Las Vegas
Review-Journal". Note that the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability is
identified as "a coalition of 39 anti-nuclear and environmental groups."
The opinions expressed are strictly mine.
It's not about dose, it's about trust.
Bill Lipton
liptonw@dteenergy.com
Saturday, February 21, 1998
Special master to help
resolve nuclear waste
contempt issue
By Tony Batt
Donrey Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON -- A federal judge said Friday he
will appoint a special master to help him determine if the
Department of Energy should be held in contempt of
court for not completing an analysis of its nuclear
weapons cleanup program.
District Judge Stanley Sporkin set an Oct. 15 trial
date in the lawsuit against the department by the Alliance
for Nuclear Accountability, a coalition of 39 anti-nuclear
and environmental groups.
Before going to trial, both sides can argue the
contempt issue before the special master, who will
report to the judge, Sporkin ruled.
The alliance sought a contempt order in January
against Energy Secretary Federico Pe–a and other
department officials. Its lawyers charged the department
reneged on an agreement to complete an environmental
impact statement on nuclear waste disposal from military
facilities.
The report would include an analysis of radioactive
waste shipments from Fernald, Ohio, to the Nevada
Test Site, 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
Barbara Finamore, a Natural Resources Defense
Council attorney representing the alliance, said the
department settled a lawsuit in 1989 by promising to
complete two reports, one on its environmental waste
management program and another on its efforts to
modernize the cleanup program.
"They're still going on with their shell game,"
Finamore said.
Martin LaLonde, a Department of Justice lawyer,
said the Energy Department began work on the reports
but decided in 1994 that it would not be appropriate to
make cleanup policy on a national level. Instead, local
officials, including regional Energy Department officials,
should make cleanup decisions on a site-by-site basis,
he said.
LaLonde acknowledged the department should have
informed the court, but maintained that the agency has
the latitude to make such a policy shift.
Sporkin was not convinced.
"I hate to make this sound like federalism, but the
federal (government) made this problem, not the locals,"
Sporkin said. The judge said there needs to be a
national plan in which "the states can buy in or not."
You wrote:
>I am seeking information concerning the Alliance for Nuclear
>Accountability.
...
>Nancy M. Daugherty
>nancy.daugherty@state.co.us
>(303)692-3417 W
I am seeking information concerning the Alliance for Nuclear
Accountability. At a forthcoming meeting, Mr. Brad Morris from that
organization will be presenting an overview of the nuclear waste
problem, an update on recent US/Russia talks regarding nuclear
weapons disposal, and a discussion of emerging issues regarding the
disposition of weapons grade nuclear waste in the United States.
According to information provided about the meeting, "The Alliance for
Nuclear Accountability is a network of 35 public organizations from
around the country working to help the DOE safely and effectively
manage the disposition of nuclear wastes."
It's been a while since I 've worked at a DOE facility, and I have not
heard of either Mr. Morris or the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability. If
you know anything about their charter, activities, interface with DOE, any
advocacy positions that they have taken, or the names of some of the 35
member organizations, please advise me.
Nancy M. Daugherty
nancy.daugherty@state.co.us
(303)692-3417 W
************************************************************************
The RADSAFE Frequently Asked Questions list, archives and subscription
information can be accessed at http://www.ehs.uiuc.edu/~rad/radsafe.html