And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
>Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1998 17:27:38 -0800 (PST)
>From: Jackie Cabasso <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Subject: BIG LEGAL WIN AGAINST DOE!
>To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Pro Version 2.2 (16)
>X-Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, December 14, 1998 P.1 of 2
>CONTACT: Jackie Cabasso, Western States Legal Foundation (510) 839-5877
> Marylia Kelley, Tri-Valley CAREs (925) 443-7148
>
>"HOORAY!" BIG WIN BY 39 PLAINTIFF GROUPS!!
>
>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
>
>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;
> More . . .
>
>. . . Continued, P. 2 of 2
>
> 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.
>
>- - 3 0 - -
>
>Note: Representatives from Western States Legal Foundation, Tri-Valley
>CAREs and other northern California plaintiff groups will hold a news
>conference today, Mon. Dec. 14, at 12 noon at the San Francisco offices of
>the Natural Resources Defense Council, 71 Stevenson, Suite 1825 (near
>Montgomery Street BART at 2nd Street, south of Market Street in San
>Francisco). Representatives from attorney of record NRDC will be available
>by speaker-phone from Washington, DC.
>
>
>* * * Copies of the settlement agreement are available on request. * * *
>
>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
>
> ********************************************
> WESTERN STATES LEGAL FOUNDATION
> 1440 Broadway, Suite 500
> Oakland, CA USA 94612
> Tel: (510)839-5877
> Fax: (510)839-5397
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> ********** Part of ABOLITION 2000 **********
> Global Network to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons
>
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