Four federal judges have told Washington state that the cleanup of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation is a federal matter, so the odds are pretty slim the state will prevail in its bid to reinstate voter-approved Initiative 297. The latest rejection came from a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which called the initiative an unconstitutional intrusion.

Initiative 297 was popular, with nearly 70 percent of voters liking the idea that Hanford must be cleaned up before any more waste could be shipped into the state. But the jurisdictional question was raised from the beginning, so it isn’t surprising that the effort will probably be for naught. Plus, it appears that few voters understood the ramifications of such an edict and how the fallout could harm Washington state.

The cleanup of Hanford requires that waste be shipped out of state. But if potential repository states such as New Mexico and Nevada passed a similar initiative, the feds could be forced to leave Hanford’s waste where it is.

Attorney General Rob McKenna has done his duty by twice defending this citizen initiative, but now he should surrender. Then the state can return to the Tri-Party Agreement as the basis for its involvement.