January 19, 1998CAN'T SELL BONDS, EXPERT SAYS; N.C. nuke dump suffers new setback
Copyright 1997 Wilmington Star-News, Inc.Associated Press
SANFORD - A former official with the state's local government commission has told members of the group overseeing the development of a low-level radioactive waste dump that it cannot sell bonds in order to pursue the project.J.D. Foust offered the legal opinion Tuesday at a committee meeting of the state Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Authority.
The authority was forced to suspend development of a planned dump in Chatham County last month after the seven-state regional commission overseeing the project cut off funding.
The commission is upset that North Carolina officials have not established a way to continue paying for the licensing phase of the project.
So far, the regional group has paid for more than half of the $100 million spent on the project. Some North Carolina officials believe the money has been wasted and that the dump will never be built. They want the state to pull out of the project.
But the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Authority is trying to save the project and is looking for alternative funding.
Andy James, a spokesman for the authority, said an authority member suggested Mr. Foust speak during a future meeting with members the Southeast Regional Compact Commission.
Mr. Foust's legal opinion should ``lend credence to the state's position,'' Mr. James said.
He said compact members appear to be waiting for a new proposal from state officials to pay for the licensing process.
Mary MacDowell, who monitors action on the proposed dump on behalf of Chatham County's board of commissioners, said she believes there is still a lot of people who don't believe the project is dead.
``It is clear the authority wants to move forward on this. It is clear that the compact and generators' group want North Carolina to do something and proceed,'' she said.
Most Southeast nuclear waste now goes to a facility in Barnwell, S.C.
Fees from Barnwell, funneled through the compact commission when South Carolina was a member, have paid for the bulk of site work for the North Carolina facility. That money disappeared when South Carolina left the compact in 1995.
The compact now has about $14 million left.
States in the compact are Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Alabama and Mississippi. South Carolina, which opened the first dump under the compact, dropped out when it became frustrated with North Carolina's progress.
The dump would handle wastes ranging from used reactor parts to lab gloves and rags.
Despite the $100 million spent on the project, so far only a few test wells have been drilled and soil tested. It is also unclear whether the site is suitable, and construction is considered years away.
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