[CPEO-MEF] JPG DU Hearing

[CPEO Moderator <cpeo@cpeo.org>]

The following was posted by Richard Hill <phill@venus.net>

__________________________________________
Save the valley, inc. Po box 813
Madison, in 47250
Phone 812-265-4577
Fax 812-265-4577
Press release
Contact: richard hill
Phone: (812) 265-2580 x 4156 (week days) or (812) 273-6015 (evenings &
weekends)

For immediate release
Noon est, february 7, 2003

Save the valley granted hearing on fate of depleted uranium at jefferson
proving ground

Yesterday a nuclear regulatory commission judge granted Save the
Valley’s request for a hearing regarding the u.s. army’s license
termination plan (LTP) for the depleted uranium impact area of Jefferson
Proving Ground near Madison, Indiana.

In his memorandum and order granting the request Judge Rosenthal notes
that save the Valley “…assigns five independent reasons why it believes
that the LTP under present consideration does not meet the criteria
imposed … with regard to the restricted release of the site that the
licensee desires.  In addition, petitioner (STV) maintains that, for two
stated reasons, the licensee’s characterization of the JPG site is
flawed, inadequate and incomplete, making it impossible to verify that
the LTP meets the necessary criteria for approval.”

He goes on to say that “It is enough that a hearing requestor present at
least one area of concern that bears upon the matter at hand – here
whether the current ltp satisfies all applicable commission requirements
with regard to the restricted release of the JPG site. …  the petitioner
has met that test …”

In the same order, the judge also granted STV's request to defer the
actual hearing until after the NRC completes its technical review of the
plan.  This is expected to take until October 2004.  This request for
deferral was not objected to by the army and was supported by the nrc
staff.

In an unusual turn of events, on Wednesday, February 5, the day before
the judge’s decision was ordered, the Army made public a letter to the
NRC containing a contingent request to replace its request for license
termination with an alternative license amendment.  The alternative
proposed by the Army would be to create a “possession only license for
an indefinite period of time”.

 “With the judge’s decision, Save the Valley has reached a very
important milestone in its efforts to protect the residents of
southeastern Indiana.” Says Richard Hill, president of STV.  “This will
give us the avenue we have been pursuing to show that the army’s plan is
inadequate.  It is obvious to us that some other approach to the fate of
the du at jpg is needed.”

Bob Gray, Chairman of STV states, “The Army’s plan to effectively
abandon the site by doing no remediation and discontinuing monitoring
while relying on institutional controls to restrict an area that
contains approximately 150,000 pounds of depleted uranium rounds on and
in the ground is simply not acceptable.”

As to whether or not the Army’s new alternative request would better
serve to protect human health and the environment, Hill replies:  "This
is an alternative that we will look at more carefully.  If it will
provide sufficient monitoring of the DU and its potential migration,
then perhaps it will be a more suitable approach.”

-end-

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