AG argues water-use permit for Yucca

Thursday, Aug. 14, 2003 | 11:21 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The state Attorney General's Office is arguing that the Energy Department should not be granted an application for water use at Yucca Mountain because the construction and operation of the proposed high level nuclear dump there at will lead to contamination of Nevada's underground water supply.

Senior Deputy Attorney General Marta Adams says the "operation of this repository is potentially capable of undermining future beneficial uses of the public water."

Those positions were stated in the pre-hearing briefs presented Wednesday to the state engineer who will start hearings on the water application Aug. 20. Three days have been set aside for the hearings.

Lawyers for the Energy Department say State Engineer Hugh Ricci must concern himself only with state law involving his agency and that means his decision should be based solely on a determination of whether there is an adequate source of water for Yucca and whether there's a conflict with existing water rights.

Brent Kolvet, attorney for the Energy Department, said other agencies have the duty to protect the public's health and safety, not Ricci.

Ricci once before ruled against the Department of Energy but that was overturned by the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the case is back before the engineer.

Adams, representing the Nevada Nuclear Waste Project Office, has urged the state engineer to permit evidence of water contamination into the record. She argues that the water used at Yucca Mountain, about 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, will cause contamination of the Amargosa aquifer. This project, she said will have "adverse consequences" on the public of Nevada.

But Kolvet says the federal Nuclear Waste Project Act gives the authority for protecting the water resources to federal agencies. He said this is an attempt by the state "to inject a political issue into an area where science has traditionally prevailed."