State court to interpret Hanford initiative

YAKIMA – The Washington Supreme Court can decide how a nuclear waste initiative overwhelmingly approved by Washington state voters last fall should be interpreted, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.

The federal government has filed suit seeking to overturn Initiative 297, which bars the U.S. Department of Energy from sending any more waste to the Hanford nuclear site until all existing waste there is cleaned up. The initiative has not been enforced pending resolution of the lawsuit.

The state, which is defending the initiative, asked U.S. District Judge Alan McDonald in Yakima to allow the state Supreme Court to first decide how the measure should be interpreted.

McDonald granted the motion Tuesday.

“We’re very pleased. It confirms our thought that it’s appropriate for a state court to interpret what state law means,” said Sheryl Hutchison, spokeswoman for the state Department of Ecology.

Specifically, the state wants clarification of the definition of “mixed waste” under state law and how waste in unlined trenches should be characterized.

The state also questions whether the initiative bars movement of nuclear waste already on the site or disposal of sealed nuclear reactor vessels from retired U.S. Navy submarines. In the event the federal judge finds only part of the initiative constitutional, the state also wants the state Supreme Court to decide if the entire measure would be nullified.

McDonald certified all of those questions for the state Supreme Court to resolve.

The federal government wants to overturn the measure on grounds that it violates federal laws governing nuclear waste and interstate commerce. Government attorneys had fought the move to ask the state Supreme Court to interpret the measure, arguing that the state has no authority over radioactive waste with regard to health and safety, and that questions about federal law belong before a federal court.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Justice said the agency was still reviewing the ruling and could not yet comment.

“This is a very, very significant step forward, and recognition that if the initiative is what the sponsors and supporters say, it will hold up in court,” said Gerald Pollet, executive director of Hanford watchdog group Heart of America Northwest, which sponsored the initiative.