Judge denies Shoshone request to stop Yucca work

Thursday, May 19, 2005 | 10:02 a.m.

A federal judge Tuesday denied an injunction requested by an Indian tribe to stop government work at the planned Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository.

U.S. District Judge Philip Pro issued a nine-page ruling that put aside an injunction at this time because the Western Shoshone National Council could not demonstrate "immediate and irreparable" harm at the mountain, which the tribe claims is protected under the 1863 Treaty of Ruby Valley.

Attorney Robert Hager of Reno, representing the Western Shoshone, said late Wednesday that a decision on whether to appeal has not been made. "It's a well-reasoned decision," he said.

Pro's ruling allows the tribe to seek an injunction if work begins at Yucca Mountain in the future, Hager said.

"To the Western Shoshone people the past and ongoing desecration of Yucca Mountain and Mother Earth hurts their individual and collective spirit, although we understand that kind of harm is not recognized by the law as 'immediate and irreparable injury' that is required for a preliminary injunction," Hager said.

Pro said that the tribe did not prove that prayer sites had been declared off-limits and ancestral remains had been removed from graves during preparations at Yucca Mountain. Tunneling and drilling have ceased, the judge said.