Nuke free 3
INEEL incinerator plans go up in smoke
High-powered secret negotiations produce fruitful settlement agreement that spells end for nuke burner.
By Rachel Odell, Jackson Hole News 2-10-00
A flurry of secret calls and negotiations last week ended a 10-month battle by killing a proposal to build a hazardous waste incinerator in Idaho.
The talks began March 20 when officials from the Department of Justice representing the DOE offered a settlement agreement to Jackson-based attorney Gerry Spence on March 20 while he was at his California home. Spence represents several environmental groups that sued the U.S. Department of Energy and Energy Secretary Bill Richardson last fall to stop the incinerator.
Win at the first chance
The offer surprised Spence, but he welcomed the opportunity to negotiate.
"They called us, we didn't call them," Spence said. "But you win the case the first chance you get and if the first chance you get is when the other side caves in, that is when you do it."
Following that initial call, Spence's week was spent in conference calls with DOE lawyer Al Linn as well as with the Justice Department and the other lawyers who were working with Spence. For days the group pounded out options for a settlement agreement. One week later they crafted the official agreement which everyone signed Sunday night.
Landmark agreement spells end
The landmark agreement says U.S. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson and the DOE will postpone the construction, pay $150,000 in lawyers fees and convene a panel of independent experts to find environmentally-sound alternatives to incineration.
Power of the pen
The agreement marks an end to a 10-month battle begun last June when Idaho resident David Hensel wrote a letter to the Jackson Hole News protesting plans to build the incinerator and calling on citizens to comment on the plant. Hensel could not be reached for comment.
"The DOE assures us the plant will be safe," Hensel wrote. "The sad truth is that DOE has been wrong about safety before. Cost estimates for cleaning up past DOE practices are estimated to run into the hundreds of billions of dollars."
Jackson grassroots
Wilson resident Mary Mitchell heard and heeded his call. She rallied Jackson Hole residents until a handful of people banded together, formed Keep Yellowstone Nuclear Free, and launched a nation-wide opposition. Spence joined as their lawyer and raised $500,000 in September as he begged the community to join together and fight the government's plans.
Mitchell said this week that she was surprised and ecstatic about the settlement agreement. When she began her fight, she said she was committed to stopping the incinerator.
"It is really wonderful," she said of the news. "The DOE has promised to pursue environmentally-sound alternatives to incineration at DOE sites nationwide. We want this to be about forming a precedent about incineration. This is a victory that gives us momentum to address other issues."
Political pressure
The victory also came in part because of political pressure from U.S. Sen. Craig Thomas, R - Wyo. Thomas intensified pressure on the DOE last month to come up with alternatives to incineration. In a March 2 Senate Energy Committee meeting, Energy Secretary Richardson promised Thomas to actively pursue alternatives to incineration and issue a policy within 30 days.
Soon after Thomas scheduled a hearing for March 28 to force the DOE to DOE to justify why it chose British Nuclear Fuels Limited Inc., the company contracted to build the incinerator. The parent company, British Nuclear Fuels Limited, has come under international fire for its safety record in Europe.
Challenging BNFL
"By putting the hearing out there we were forcing the DOE to defend the incineration process," Kunsman said. "We were going to press the administration to defend BNFL and I don't know if they were entirely comfortable doing that."
Throughout the 30 days Thomas met with Richardson and also partook in the conference calls that rendered the settlement agreement.
"This is a big win for all of us, hard fought that meets the goals I set out both in public and with the Secretary personally," Thomas said.
Agreement specifics
Specifically the settlement agreement provides that the DOE will not pursue permits necessary to build the incinerator. The DOE will construct and operate a supercompaction plant to treat the waste by crushing and repackaging it.
Further, the DOE will convene a blueribbon panel of independent scientific experts to explore technological alternatives to incineration. That panel will deliver its findings in December. In the agreement the DOE promises not to pursue incinerator construction "prior to issuance of the panel's recommendations and a DOE conclusion, after good faith exploration of the issue with the relevant regulatory authorities."
Incinerator future
The agreement also specifies that the DOE must notify the plaintiffs in the lawsuit at least 90 days in advance if the agency decides to try to move forward with construction of the incinerator. The agreement says there is no statute of limitations, and if the DOE chooses incineration, Spence and his team may refile their lawsuit.
Win-win situation
The settlement will allow the DOE to fulfill its obligations to Idaho while remaining sensitive to environmental concerns, Richardson said in a release. "Idaho and neighboring states have lived for many years with this waste stored near some of our nation's most precious treasures," Richardson said. "Our agreement today reaffirms our commitment to act on this obligation and allows us to continue to work with local and state officials to determine the best way to treat and dispose of this waste in an environmentally sound manner."
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