For Immediate Release May
23, 2011
Federal
Judge Rules In Favor of Continuing Los Alamos Nuclear Project Without
Applicable Environmental Impact Statement, Dismisses Environmental
Lawsuit
Says "Supplemental"
EIS (SEIS) Process May Be Sufficient, Claim Not Ripe for
Litigation
Contact: Greg Mello, 505-577-8563 (cell
phone, in Washington DC)
Albuquerque, NM -- Earlier today
U.S. District Judge Judith Herrera dismissed
the lawsuit (pdf) brought last August by the Los Alamos Study
Group (LASG), an Albuquerque-based nonprofit, against the National
Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and Department of Energy (DOE)
over these agencies' evolving Chemistry
and Metallurgy Research Replacement Nuclear Facility (CMRR-NF), a
$6 billion plutonium complex at Los Alamos National Laboratory
(LANL). The lawsuit (the entire docket is available here)
was brought under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and
related law.
The lawsuit sought to compel NNSA and DOE
to pause design and construction of the massive project to prepare an
environmental impact statement (EIS) that examined alternatives to
the project, which is much bigger, with far greater environmental
impact, than when it was originally proposed and analyzed under NEPA
in 2003.
"We believe our arguments were sound and
remain sound, factually and legally. We are studying the
judge's opinion closely and will decide our legal course of action
over the next few days," said Study Group Director Greg Mello.
"It is never legal for a federal agency to decide to implement a
project with significant environmental impact without an applicable,
objective EIS, and that is what is happening here."
"This decision, while disappointing, will not stop our
opposition to this highly destructive project. It's a speed
bump. If NNSA thinks they are in the clear now, they are
wrong. This ruling doesn't change the facts on the ground --
the high seismicity, the cramped site and poor geology, the lack of
need, the lack of money, and the basic horror and immorality of the
mission. All of these are unfavorable to this project."
The Study Group is represented by Thomas Hnasko and Dulcinea
Hanuschak of the Hinkle Law Firm in Santa Fe, Lindsay Lovejoy of
Santa Fe, and Diane Albert of Albuquerque.
Study
Group Director Greg Mello is currently in Washington, DC, meeting
with congressional staff, federal safety officials, and executive
branch officials, carrying
the message (pdf) that attempting to pursue this project at the
same time as eight (8) or more $100+ M construction projects at LANL
in the same immediate area, and also at the same time as five (5)
other multi-billion-dollar nuclear facilities elsewhere around DOE's
weapons complex, would be highly imprudent. The Study Group
believes the project is unnecessary and damaging to national
security.
A call to pause the project on safety grounds was also
voiced by Dr. Everett Beckner, who managed the nuclear weapons
complex for President G.W. Bush.
Judge Herrera's opinion
rested heavily on the "supplemental" EIS process now
underway, stating that this process itself, which began only after
the Study Group's litigation was filed, and its "public
participation" component in particular were sufficient for the
court to stay its hand -- and dismiss the lawsuit. The judge
did not rule on the Study Group's motion to enjoin the project.
The Study Group has been urging members of the public to stay
away from the SEIS hearings, which it regards as illegitimate.
"We need to call them 'hearings,' in quotations," Mello
said, "because the public record is replete with Administration
statements saying it is not under any circumstances going to
reconsider its commitment to this project, unlike what is implied in
the hearing process; because the SEIS openly and illegally rejects all alternatives but the favored project in its opening
pages; and, more broadly, because we believe experience has shown
that DOE has never changed its course of action as a result of NEPA
"public participation."
The Study Group has
instead called citizens to engage substantively with government on
all levels to challenge and reform NNSA's position in regard to this
giant project. Local government resolutions supporting the
Study Group's lawsuit were passed by four
local governments.
Mello: "In numerous
discussions public and private spanning many years we have concluded
that unless citizens can find the courage to face the abyss of
freedom and learn to act politically, they will largely remain
incapable of self-governance."
The Study Group's recent
bulletins discussing these matters can be found here.
***ENDS***
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