BEFORE THE NEBRASKA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY AND THE
NEBRASKA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES REGULATION AND
LICENSURE
IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION ) DENIAL OF APPLICATION
BY US ECOLOGY, INC. FOR A LICENSE ) FOR A LICENSE
TO CONSTRUCTION, OPERATE, AND CLOSE )
A COMMERCIAL LOW-LEVEL )
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL FACILITY )
CONTINUED...Final two pages...
Conley Smith concluded that, although some progress had been made in reducing
operating losses, the overall financial position of the Company had not improved and its
opinion of American Ecology's ability to fund the low level radioactive waste disposal site
to be located near Butte, Nebraska had not changed.
7. Following public hearings on the proposed license decision, Conley Smith was asked
to update its analysis in light of comments provided by the applicant. In a report dated
December 1998, Conley Smith concluded as follows:
At the present time American Ecology is not generating a positive cash flow from
operations and the outlook over the near term is limited at best. While there was a
dramatic improvement in American Ecology's financial position as a result of the
agreement with the Chase Bank, our negative opinion regarding the Company's ability to
fund the Boyd County Project without assistance from the major generators of waste not
not changed.
III. Conclusions
The existence of a corporate guarantee is not a written assurance as defined by Title 194, Chapter
6, Section 002.08 and, in fact, is specifically prohibited as a form of financial assurance. The ability of the
Central Interstate Compact to provide financing is not a written assurance as that term is defined in Title
194, Chapter 6, Section 002.08. The Departments concur with the Conley Smith report indicating that
the applicant and its parent corporation, American Ecology Corporation, lack sufficient capital assets to
fund the construction of the facility without loan commitments or obtaining capital or guarantees from the
Central Interstate Compact Commission or major generators. The applicant did not obtain these loan
commitments, capital or guarantees.
US Ecology's license application to construct and operate a low-level radioactive waste disposal
facility in Boyd County, Nebraska is denied, in part, because the applicant has failed to show that it either
possesses the necessary funds or has written assurance of obtaining the necessary funds as required by
Nebraska Administrative Code Title 194, Chapter 6, Section 001.
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Signed this 18th day of December, 1998 Signed this 18th day of December, 1998
_____________/s/________________ _____________/s/________________
Randolph Wood, P.E. David P. Schor, MD, MPH, FAAP
Director LLRW Program Director
Department of Environmental Quality Department of Health and Human
Services Regulation & Licensure
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THE END!
WE HOPE!