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2002 YUCCA MOUNTAIN LAWSUITS IN THE NEWS Read past news and articles on Yucca Mountain lawsuit information. December 03, 2002 -- NUCLEAR WASTE: State files challenge to Yucca -- Legal brief says DOE acted improperly in selecting site -- President Bush and Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham used flawed and incomplete information this year to recommend Yucca Mountain for entombing the nation's spent nuclear fuel, leaving many questions unanswered about terrorism, public safety and the repository's design, according to court papers Nevada filed Monday in Washington, D.C. -- Las Vegas Review Journal ( Editorial - Yucca assurances aren’t reassuring -- Reno Gazette Journal ) ( More Coverage - New York Times) November 09, 2002 -- Federal court to hear three major Yucca Mountain suits together -- At the request of lawyers for the state of Nevada, a federal appeals court has agreed to hear three major Yucca Mountain lawsuits together. At the same time Thursday, the court agreed to have the same three-judge panel consider all three suits challenging federal plans to build a nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Oral arguments on the cases are scheduled for September 2003 before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia -- Associated Press September 06, 2002 -- State approves contract to continue Yucca legal fight -- $4 million pact retains Virginia law firm -- CARSON CITY -- The Board of Examiners on Thursday approved a $4 million contract with a Washington, D.C., legal firm to continue Nevada's fight against construction of a high-level nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain. The contract with Egan & Associates of Virginia runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30, 2003, and was approved by Gov. Kenny Guinn, Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa and Secretary of State Dean Heller despite concerns over the state's financial health - Las Vegas Review Journal Sept. 04, 2002 -- Groups File Reply Brief in Case Against EPA’s Yucca Mountain Standards, Seek Stronger Radiation Protection Rule WASHINGTON, D.C. – Seven environmental and public interest organizations suing the federal government over its weakening of groundwater standards for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump have asked the court to require the government to strengthen a rule regarding how to measure contamination from the dump. The request, contained in a reply brief filed jointly with the state of Nevada late Tuesday to the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, is part of a legal challenge to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) radiation standards for the proposed storage of nuclear waste at the site. September 03, 2002 -- -- State to sign new contract for lawyers to fight nuke dump -- CARSON CITY -- State officials are ready to sign a new $4 million contract for high-priced private attorneys who will lead the fight against a nuclear dumpsite at Yucca Mountain. The state Board of Examiners will be asked Thursday to approve the contract with Egan & Associates, a McLean, Va., law firm that specializes in nuclear issues. August 31, 2002 -- One of state's lawsuits against Yucca project moves forward Court rejects motion to dismiss case -- Nevada advanced in one of its lawsuits against the Yucca Mountain project when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia circuit declined to dismiss the state's challenge of rules for licensing the planned repository - Las Vegas Review Journal. August 28, 2002 -- Attorney aiding Nevada's Yucca fight `very encouraged' -- RENO -- A high-profile Washington, D.C., attorney hired by Nevada to help in its fight against Yucca Mountain said Tuesday he is "very encouraged" that the state might have a case against the repository on constitutional grounds -- Las Vegas Review Journal August 28, 2002 -- List of lawsuits Nevada has filed to block Yucca Mountain. - Reno Gazette Journal August 27, 2002 -- Del Papa vows fight in courts against Yucca -- RENO -- Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa said today the next 18 months are critical in the state's fight to stop the construction of a high-level nuclear dump at Yucca Mountain -- by By Cy Ryan, Las Vegas Sun -- SUN CAPITAL BUREAU August 12, 2002 -- Judge Allows Suit to Proceed Against Energy Department over Nuclear Waste -- WASHINGTON — A federal district court judge late Friday denied the Department of Energy's motion to dismiss a suit alleging that the agency gave itself the authority to illegally reclassify high-level nuclear waste so that it could leave it at three facilities. In his ruling, the judge, B. Lynn Winmill at U.S. District Court in Boise, said, "[I]t is inconceivable that Congress intended to allow the DOE unfettered discretion in the management of radioactive waste as the Defendants [DOE] have alleged." (A pdf file of the judge's decision is available from NRDC.) -- ENN Online July 25, 2002 -- Lawyer confident Yucca project will fail -- State's legal strategy for fighting nuclear waste repository laid out at briefing -- The lawyer leading Nevada's effort to thwart the Yucca Mountain Project claimed Wednesday that federal agencies have left a paper trail that shows scientists knew in 1995 the ridge can't isolate the nation's spent nuclear fuel -- Las Vegas Review Journal July 14, 2002 -- OPINION -- Nevada prepared to fight in court -- Frankie Sue Del Papa, Attorney General, State of Nevada -- Published in the Nevada Appeal (Carson City) (Related article - Reno Gazette Journal)  July 11, 2002 -- Goodman isn't optimistic about winning Yucca fight -- Las Vegas mayor returns from 'two brutal days' in D.C. -- Although he spent more than three decades as a criminal defense attorney, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman said he is not optimistic that Nevada will win its fight against the Yucca Mountain project in the courts -- LV Sun
July 09, 2002 -- VENUE CHANGE: State pins last hopes on courts -- Elected officials confident they can prevail by exposing DOE flaws -- by Steve Tetreault, Las Vegas Review-Journal May 23, 2002 -- State to file sixth lawsuit against Yucca -- WASHINGTON -- The state of Nevada on June 4 plans to file its sixth lawsuit designed to kill Yucca Mountain, Nevada sources said. The lawsuit will challenge the Department of Energy's final environmental impact statement, or EIS, for Yucca, said Joe Egan, the Washington-area lawyer hired by the state to mount legal challenges to the proposed nuclear waste repository -- Las Vegas Sun April 11, 2002 -- Nevada files lawsuit against the Nuclear Regulatory Commission -- LAS VEGAS (AP) - Nevada is challenging the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's licensing rule for making Yucca Mountain the nation's nuclear waste dump. The state attorney general's office filed a lawsuit with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on Thursday against the regulatory commission's November ruling. That ruling established health and safety regulations for storing 77,000 tons of the nation's high-level nuclear waste 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. (Related Story) March 19, 2002 -- Lawsuits over radiation standards advance -- WASHINGTON -- A federal court has agreed to hear challenges to the government's radiation safety standards at the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada. In a March 12 order, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit set a schedule for briefs to be submitted in lawsuits that were filed last year against the Environmental Protection Agency by the state of Nevada, environmental groups and the Nuclear Energy Institute -- Las Vegas Review Journal February 18, 2002 -- Yucca strategy: Sue, stall -- State hopes legal battles will slow or kill project --Now that President Bush has approved a nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain, Nevada officials plan to stuff the courts with lawsuits, tying up the issue for as long as possible. Although the state's ultimate goal is to block the repository, attorneys and officials admit that with the federal government's deep pockets and their own questionable legal grounds, Nevada's real court strategy is delay -- Las Vegas Sun (Related Story - Legislature has few options in 2003) February 08, 2002 -- State moves on Yucca fight -- Las Vegas Sun January 27, 2002 -- Letter: State will exhaust all legal avenues -- including constitutional ones -- I must take serious exception to your Jan. 13 editorial, "The dog that hasn't barked," which suggests Nevada politicians are not pursuing every legal avenue available to defeat the proposed high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain - By FRANKIE SUE DEL PAPA, Attorney General, State of Nevada (The Letter was published in the Las Vegas Review Journal) January 15, 2002 -- State is geared for years of opposition Nevada leaders plan delaying tactics, suits over the long haul -- By Mary Manning (Las Vegas Sun) |
