State allows water pumping at Yucca

Friday, Dec. 20, 2002 | 9:24 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- To avert a health-related water crisis at Yucca Mountain, the state has decided to allow the Energy Department to pump one well for water for drinking, cooking, bathrooms and fire protection.

U.S. District Judge Roger Hunt signed an order Wednesday to permit limited pumping by the federal government.

The Energy Department had said it was in danger of exhausting its potable water supply at the site.

The department had been seeking both a temporary permit to continue to pump underground water and a permanent permit for water use at Yucca, which was approved by President Bush as a dump for the nation's high-level nuclear waste.

The state engineer's office denied both applications as Nevada continues to fight in the courts to derail the nuclear dump project at Yucca, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

The Energy Department responded by filing suit in federal court in Las Vegas. That lawsuit is pending.

Department officials had subsequently filed a request for an injunction against the state to permit pumping because they are running low on potable water.

A hearing had been set for Monday in Las Vegas on that request before the state and the federal government reached an agreement.

Senior Deputy Attorney General Marta Adams said Thursday the state agreed to the temporary use of a limited amount of water by the Energy Department while the lawsuits challenging the Yucca dump make their way through federal courts.

The government will be permitted to pump water from one well until its potable water tanks are filled to capacity, which is 290,000 gallons. That includes 140,000 gallons in reserve for fire and emergency use.

The Energy Department will be allowed to pump water to fill the tanks when they decline to a level of 165,000 gallons.