Reid questions payment to law firm

Suzanne Struglinski

Wednesday, March 31, 2004 | 11:43 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., questioned the Yucca Mountain Project's top official today about the Energy Department's intention to pay a law firm up to $45 million to defend the department's license application.

The Energy Department announced last week that it hired Hunton & Williams to work on the license application for the proposed nuclear waste site at Yucca, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Department spokesman Joe Davis said the contract has a limit of $45 million over five years, but the actual amount paid will depend on the amount of work completed.

"That seems like a lot of money to me," Reid told Margaret Chu, the Yucca Mountain project director, "Your staff should be competent enough to draft and assemble the application itself."

"Given the incredibly technical nature of this application, how is it possible for a bunch of lawyers to add $45 million in value to this process?" Reid said at a Senate Appropriations Energy and Water Subcommittee hearing today.

"While I am hopeful that Hunton & Williams will not have any of the obvious conflicts of interests that your previous law firm did, Winston & Strawn, I will be keeping a close eye on the staffing and billing of this legal team," He said.

Reid is the top Democrat on the subcommittee, which controls the project's budget each year. Reid asked Chu to answer the questions at a later time.

Reid also took issue with the department reaching a $4.5 million settlement with LeBoeuf, Greene and MacRae, a firm that sued when it did not get the original Yucca contract

"That is a lot of money for a law firm that did not one single minute of work for the American taxpayers on this matter," Reid said.

LeBoeuf sued when Winston & Strawn won a $16.5 million contract to work with the Energy Department on the project. It withdrew in 2001 after conflict-of-interest allegations surfaced.

Davis said Hunton & Williams has been hired to lead the department's efforts to present its case to the NRC. "The firm will review any legal work done, including by Winston & Strawn, as necessary in preparing for the NRC proceeding," Davis said.