Batt Sees Way To End Waste Fight

As the Navy picks up congressional support to resume dumping nuclear waste in Idaho, Gov. Phil Batt suggested on Wednesday that a resolution to the long-running dispute with the federal government may be possible.

“I think that we can’t afford to take the attitude that it’s better for Congress to dictate what happens in Idaho because we could wind up with all the waste,” Batt said. “I believe a solution can be reached.”

Batt’s statement came as the state seemed to be losing the upper hand in its campaign to keep the federal government from continuing to use the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory as the nation’s de facto nuclear waste dump.

The governor declined to discuss any specifics about what he labeled at one point as negotiations toward resolution of the long-running battle over waste storage, saying only that “we do continue to discuss matters with different people.”

“I consider this to be a very real thing - the possibility that the needs of the national defense might be of such importance to Congress that they might order this waste into the state regardless of court orders,” Batt said.

After suffering severe criticism during his first month in office for failing to vigorously fight eight waste shipments that would have been ordered into Idaho by a court even if he had objected, Batt had taken the position that no more shipments would be acceptable without a reasonable, enforceable deadline for moving the waste back out of Idaho once it was processed.

And even just a few weeks ago, the governor had said he feared prospects for a radioactive waste dump outside Idaho at any time soon seemed to be fading rapidly.

That has been the most difficult point of his demands for INEL. The others involve continuing waste cleanup at the site and securing new missions that will keep the facility economically sound.

But on Wednesday, as the leverage of court orders against shipments seemed to be weakening in the face of a congressional tide to override them, Batt said it was possible that some resolution on new shipments could be reached before September.