Groups win Landmark Nuclear
Weapons "Cleanup" Victory
to Avoid Contempt Finding, Energy Department Agrees to Open Database, Analysis of Long-term Stewardship Plans, $6.25 Million Citizen Monitoring Fund
December 1998

WASHINGTON, DC/SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- To settle a lawsuit brought by 39 environmental and peace organizations including the Oakland-based Western States Legal Foundation and Livermore's Tri-Valley Communities Against a Radioactive Environment (CAREs), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has signed a landmark agreement which will increase public oversight of its efforts to address severe contamination problems in the nation's nuclear weapons complex.

The settlement, which was delivered to Federal District Court Judge Stanley Sporkin today, ends nine years of litigation charging that DOE failed to develop its "cleanup" plans properly. DOE faced a contempt of court hearing before Judge Sporkin for not complying with a previous legal agreement in the case.

"From the perspective of protecting the nation's water, air and land, this settlement is superior to the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement DOE originally agreed to prepare," said David Adelman, a Natural Resources Defense Council lawyer who represented the plaintiffs. "We now have the data, the resources and the processes necessary to make DOE's environmental work more accountable to the public." The Washington, D.C. law firm of Meyer & Glitzenstein provided pro bono litigation counsel.

Key elements of the settlement include:

• Creation of a regularly updated, publicly accessible database including details about contaminated facilities and waste generated or controlled by DOE's cleanup, defense, science and nuclear energy programs, including domestic and foreign research reactor spent fuel, listing characteristics such as waste type, volume, and radioactivity, as well as transfer and disposition plans;
• DOE funding for at least two national stakeholder forums to assure the database is comprehensive, accurate and useful;
• Completion of an environmental analysis, with public input, of plans for "long-term stewardship" at contaminated DOE sites to ensure protection of the public and the environment;
• Establishment of a $6.25 million fund for non-profit groups and tribes to use in monitoring DOE environmental activities and conducting technical reviews of the agency's performance;
• Payment of plaintiffs' legal fees and expenses incurred to litigate this case; and
• Continuing federal court oversight to assure adherence to the agreement.

"I'm really excited! This is a major victory both for the environment and for public participation," said Marylia Kelley, of Tri-Valley CAREs in Livermore, California, one of 39 plaintiff groups." We have won access to the tools the public needs to monitor DOE's compliance with the nation's obligation to address the radioactive and toxic legacy of nuclear weapons production." DOE's "cleanup" program is slated to become the largest environmental project in U.S. history, with an estimated total cost of more than $250 billion.

"Since the mid-1980's we've been asking for a breakdown of DOE-generated waste by program and facility," added Jackie Cabasso of Oakland's Western States Legal Foundation, a plaintiff and communications coordinator for the lawsuit. "DOE is currently gearing up its nuclear weapons research and development activities -- the same kinds of activities that created this environmental disaster. Now, for the first time, using DOE's own data, we'll be able to demonstrate the link between cause and effect, a powerful argument against any further nuclear weapons design and production."

Many of the groups first sued DOE in 1989, claiming that the agency must conduct a thorough analyses before moving ahead with plans to address the radioactive and toxic legacy of nuclear weapons production and modernize its facilities. The next year, DOE signed a legal agreement promising a full public review of its proposals. In 1994, however, DOE leaders decided to abandon the Environmental Restoration Programmatic Environmental Impact

Statement process without consent of the plaintiffs or Federal Court Judge Sporkin, who had approved the initial settlement. In April, 1997, plaintiffs went back to Judge Sporkin seeking enforcement of the original agreement.

In a series of court hearings, Judge Sporkin made it clear that he expected DOE to abide by its commitments. Earlier this year, he ordered DOE to "show cause" why it should not be held in contempt for failing to conduct the environmental analysis. In depositions taken by the plaintiffs, former Energy Secretary James Watkins and other former senior DOE officials strongly backed plaintiffs claims. The discussions which led to today's settlement were conducted at Judge Sporkin's urging.

PLAINTIFF ORGANIZATIONS

The Atomic Mirror, CA

Bay Area Nuclear (BAN) Waste Coalition, CA

Citizen Alert, NV

Citizens for Alternatives to Radioactive Dumping, NM

Citizens Opposed to a Polluted Environment, CA

Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, NM

East Bay Peace Action, CA

Energy Research Foundation, SC

Friends of the Earth, Washington, DC

Greenpeace, Washington, DC

Hayward Area Peace and Justice Fellowship, CA

Lane County American Peace Test, OR

Lawyers' Committee on Nuclear Policy, NY

Livermore Conversion Project, CA

Los Alamos Study Group, NM

Nashville Peace Action, TN

Natural Resources Defense Council,Washington, DC

Neighbors in Need, OH

Nevada Desert Experience, NV

Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, CA

Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, TN

Peace Action, Washington, DC

Peace Farm of Texas

Physicians for Social Responsibility, Washington, DC

Physicians for Social Responsibility - Greater SF Bay Area, CA

Physicians for Social Responsibility, CO

Physicians for Social Responsibility, NM

Physicians for Social Responsibility, NY

Plutonium Free Future, CA

Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center, CO

San Jose Peace Center, CA

Seattle Women Act for Peace/Women Strike for Peace

Shundahai Network, NV

Sonoma County Center for Peace and Justice, CA

Tri-Valley Communities Against a Radioactive Environment, CA

Western States Legal Foundation, CA

Women Concerned/Utahns United

Women for Peace - East Bay, CA

Women's International League for Peace and Freedom - East Bay Branch, CA

More information is available from: WESTERN STATES LEGAL FOUNDATION, 1440 Broadway, Suite 500, Oakland, CA USA 94612, Tel: (510) 839-5877, wslf@igc.apc.org