Ward Valley denial upheld

NOVEMBER 16, 2000

The District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday upheld a decision preventing the transfer of federal land for use as a nuclear dump near traditional Indian lands on the California-Arizona border.

A proposal to build a low-level nuclear waste dump at a site known as Ward Valley has been the subject of controversy for almost 20 years. Tribes in the California-Arizona border near the site and environmental groups have long opposed the transfer of 1,000 acres of federal land for the site.

In order for the proposal to move forward, the land has to be transferred to California. A private company known as US Ecology has been hoping to develop the site, but were stopped short by a decision preventing transfer.

Literally a day before he left office in January of 1993, Secretary of Interior, Manuel Lujan Jr., approved the transfer. But a month later, Bruce Babbitt, the current and soon outgoing Secretary, rescinded the order.

The rescindment led to a lawsuit filed in 1997 by both the state of California Department of Health Services and US Ecology. Former Governor Pete Wilson had brought the suit on behalf of California but current Governor Gray Davis opted to bow out in 1999, after a lower court ruled the state could not force the land transfer.

California's withdrawal from the suit has left US Ecology alone to challenge the Department of Interior. On Tuesday, the court dismissed US Ecology's lawsuit because the company lacked standing to bring the case

"Even were we todisagree with the District Court and find that Secretary Babbitt improperly rescinded the Record of Decision, appellant's alleged injury would not be redressableunless and until California accepted transfer of the disputed land and elected to proceed with the Ward Valley project," said the court.

The refusal of courts to let the company challenge the Interior has left the Ward Valley proposal effectively dead. Governor Davis also commented on the project's demise, but environmental groups fear a proposal elsewhere.

The land is considered sacred by tribes in the area, including the Quechan Nation of Arizona and California and the Fort Mojave Tribe of Arizona, California, and Nevada. Contamination of the area and the Colorado River is a major concern facing tribes and environmentalists.

Babbitt has closed lands in the area to new mining and the Bureau of Land Management is recommending the denial of a gold mine for fear of damaging the Quechan tribe's cultural traditions.

Get the Decision:
US Ecology, Inc. v. US Dept of the Interior (D.C. Cir No 99-5192 November 2000)

Related Stories:
BLM recommends mine rejection (Enviro 11/10)

Relevant Links:
Save Ward Valley - www.alphacdc.com/ien/wardvly4.html