State Sues Federal Government

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The state sued the federal government yesterday to end an impasse over clean-up and long-term management of the West Valley nuclear site, which once housed the nation’s only commercial nuclear fuel reprocessing operation.

The suit filed in U.S. federal court in Buffalo also seeks damages for harm to New York’s natural resources.

In April, state officials said they were worried about getting stuck with added costs of cleaning up and monitoring the Cattaraugus County site as the U.S. Department of Energy cuts staff and funding. Negotiations have been going on for years, first with the Clinton administration, but there has been no resolution.

“We will not tolerate senseless delays and uncertainty related to this important project,” Governor Pataki said. “Since numerous discussions have failed to resolve this issue, we are taking the necessary legal steps to force the Department of Energy to complete the cleanup.”

DOE spokeswoman Megan Barnett, said the department “remains committed to fulfilling our legal commitments under the West Valley Demonstration Act.”

She also noted the site 30 miles south of Buffalo was owned, operated, and managed by the state and its private contractor when the waste was created.

From 1966 to 1972, spent nuclear fuel from commercial nuclear power plants and Energy Department sites was chopped, dissolved and its uranium and plutonium extracted at West Valley. The commercial operation shut down for upgrades in 1972 but remained closed after stricter regulatory requirements that were passed during the closure made the prospect of reopening too expensive.

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority now holds title to the 3,300-acre site. The 1980 West Valley Demonstration Project Act passed by Congress made the state and Energy Department partners in its decontamination and decommissioning. Under federal law, the state is responsible for 10 percent of the costs of the cleanup, while the federal government pays the rest.


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