State to sign new contract for lawyers to fight nuke dump

Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2002 | 11:14 a.m.

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.

Joe Egan, who heads the firm, said last week he was so confident of winning that he would accept payment only if the repository was stopped.

Bob Loux, director of the state Office of Nuclear Projects, said although Egan offered this deal, the state agency is not permitted to sign a contingency fee contract.

Loux said the $4 million contract supersedes a previous $2.5 million agreement with Egan approved in September 2001 for three years. The contract sets a maximum amount the state can spend.

The new contract is expected to cover expenses for the coming year at Egan's rate of $395 an hour, Loux said.

"All the cases that have been filed will be heard this year," Loux said. That will increase the hours Egan will put in for the state, he said.

Meanwhile, one of Nevada's lawsuits made progress last week.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia circuit declined to dismiss the state's challenge of Nuclear Regulatory Commission rules for licensing a planned repository.

The court rejected the government's motion to dismiss the case on Thursday, Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa said. A merits panel will review the state's reasons for the challenge to the licensing guidelines.

The state is objecting to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission allowing the Energy Department to rely on preventing radiation from escaping the repository by man-made barriers, rather than using the mountain's natural geologic features to contain it. Nevada attorneys are also arguing that current rules only require the department to contain wastes for 10,000 years, when nuclear wastes are dangerous for hundreds of thousands of years.

Nevada is preparing other legal actions.

Charles Cooper, a deputy assistant attorney general in the Justice Department during the Reagan administration, is preparing a lawsuit to test the constitutionality of the Yucca Mountain project. He will earn $450 an hour under a subcontract with his law firm, Cooper & Kirk.

Bill Briggs, a former solicitor for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, will be paid $350 an hour to help the state in its fight to stop the Energy Department from getting a license to build from the regulatory commission. His compensation will come via a subcontract with Ross, Dixon & Bell.

Other attorneys involved are: Howard Shapar at $435 an hour; Charles Fitzpatrick, $370 an hour; Robert Cynkar, $340 an hour; Vincent Colatriano, $295 an hour; Michael Stine, $290 an hour; and Michael O'Mealia, $140 an hour.

The nuclear projects office also has a contract with Antonio Rossmann, a San Francisco lawyer, for $300,000 a year. He charges $300 an hour, and his associate Roger Moore bills at $210 an hour. Rossmann is considered an expert on land use issues.

Del Papa said the Energy Department intends to spend more than $16 million alone in its legal effort to gain a license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

This state money comes from funds approved by the Legislature.

Sun reporter Mary Manning contributed to this report.