Lincoln Journal-Star March 12, 1999
Nuke Battle Could Cost $9 Million
BY FRED KNAPP
Nebraska taxpayers might have to cough up $9 million to defend against lawsuits and hear appeals brought by nuclear power generators. That was the worst-case scenario Mike Linder, Nebraska's director of environmental quality, described to the Legislature's Appropriations Committee Thursday.The generators are upset over the state's denial of a license for a radioactive-waste facility in Boyd County.
A commission representing five states whose generators want to deposit waste in Nebraska has alleged the licensing process, which has cost at least $91 million so far, is a "sham." U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf issued a temporary restraining order Monday that bars Nebraska from using money from generators in the licensing process, Linder said.
That leaves the Department of Environmental Quality with $1 million in bills that it cannot pay, he said.
If Kopf allows the licensing review to resume, and the federal lawsuit continues as well, the cost for the rest of this fiscal year, which ends in June, could rise by another $2 million. Beyond that, the cost of attorneys and technical experts could add another $6 million, Linder said.
A hearing on extending the temporary restraining order will be held April 10, around the same time the committee will make its budget recommendations. "I think there's not a lot we can do yet," said Sen. Roger Wehrbein of Plattsmouth, committee chairman.
It is unlikely Kopf will allow the licensing appeal to resume without also letting the state tap the funds it has been using, Bruce Weible of license applicant US Ecology, said in an interview. Those funds originate with the generators, then are passed through the interstate commission and US Ecology before reaching the state.
But the state still could have to pay court costs to defend the lawsuit by the generators and the commission, Weible said. "In no other case that I'm aware of is the plaintiff forced to pay all the legal costs of the defense up front," he said.
One consequence of the funding freeze is that the Boyd County Local Monitoring Committee, a group of residents appointed by local and state officials to watch over the process, will not get the $100,000 per year it has received in the past.
"That's enough grounds to say, "OK, you can't build the sucker,'" Monitoring Committee Chairman Loren Sieh said in an interview.