State presents latest case against Yucca

Benjamin Grove

Tuesday, May 6, 2003 | 11:06 a.m.

The state of Nevada has fired another shot in its constitutional challenge to Yucca Mountain.

The state, along with Clark County and the city of Las Vegas, in January filed an initial lawsuit in federal court outlining the contention that it was unconstitutional for the federal government to construct the nation's first high-level nuclear waste repository in Nevada. The parties filed their detailed 61-page opening brief late last week in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

A federal government response is likely to follow in the next few weeks.

The lawsuit has been filed against the United States, the Energy Department and Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham.

An Energy Department spokesman was unavailable for immediate comment.

The case is based on the principles of federalism and state sovereignty, state Attorney General Brian Sandoval said in a statement. In this case, the federal government exceeded its powers under the constitution to force state compliance, Nevada officials say.

"At the heart of this case is the question whether there are any constitutional limits on Congress' authority to arbitrarily single out a state and to force it alone to shoulder a burden for the benefit of all other states," Sandoval said.

The Energy Department's decision to locate the nation's waste repository in Nevada leaves the state powerless, Sandoval said. The decision also lacked a basis of "scientifically neutral standards," he said.

"The daunting nature of the problem posed by radioactive waste cannot justify violating the principles of federalism on which this Union was founded," the brief states in its conclusion.

Nevada has four lawsuits pending against the Yucca project. A case against the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's rules for licensing Yucca is scheduled to begin hearings in September. Nevada officials hope the court will consider all the cases together then.