Appeal likely over INL waste ruling

BOISE – The U.S. Department of Energy has filed a notice of appeal in a federal court ruling that ordered it to abide by a 1995 agreement to remove all high-level radioactive waste stored at the Idaho National Laboratory.

The U.S. Department of Justice filed the notice on behalf of the department in U.S. District Court on Monday, the last day allowed under court deadlines.

Officials would not say whether an actual appeal would be filed, though it appeared likely.

In May, U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge rejected DOE’s argument that the agreement signed with then-Gov. Phil Batt only covered waste such as rags, tools, gloves and dirt contaminated with radioactive material that had been stored in barrels on asphalt pads at the southeastern Idaho compound since 1970. The federal government had claimed it was not required to dig up and remove other rotting containers of waste that was indiscriminately dumped into open pits and buried before 1970. DOE officials have said that not moving that waste is safer than trying to dig it up for removal.

State officials don’t want the waste left in place, however, because some studies have shown that buried radioactive material is seeping toward the underground aquifer that feeds the Snake River, which runs almost the entire length and width of Idaho.

In his ruling, Lodge found that the words “all transuranic waste” in the 1995 agreement meant the removal of all nuclear waste, not just some of it.

In court documents, Barclay Samford with the Justice Department wrote only a general statement on what questions would be raised if an appeal were filed: Whether the district court’s findings of fact are clearly erroneous, and whether the court erred in interpreting the settlement.

“The state is disappointed that the Department of Energy has elected to appeal the decision,” said Darrell Early with the Idaho attorney general’s office. “We will await the next steps and vigorously defend the judgment we obtained at trial.”

While the case continues, the DOE will work on cleaning up the INL waste and on “the continued shipment of transuranic wastes out of the state under the 1995 agreement,” spokeswoman Megan Barnett said in a prepared statement. “We intend to continue to work in partnership with the state of Idaho to ensure the safe cleanup of our Idaho site.”