[CPEO-MEF] DOE Statement on Washington State Suit

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_From the DOE Press Room:

DOE Statement on Washington State Suit
WASHINGTON, DC --Responding to Washington State's decision to sue the
Department of Energy in an attempt to halt shipments of transuranic
waste to the Hanford site, the Department s Assistant Secretary of
Environmental Management Jessie Roberson released the following
statement:
"We are extremely disappointed and believe it is very unfortunate that
the State has decided to go to court in an attempt to halt the work of
the Department of Energy to cleanup the legacy of the Cold War. Efforts
spent in court would be better spent making progress on the cleanup of
the Hanford site.

"As we entered our negotiations with the state, we made it clear that
the we could not agree to expand the state's regulatory authority. We
cannot agree to turn over regulatory authority to the state of
Washington, or any other state, by agreeing to legally enforceable
commitments regarding the disposition of transuranic waste.

"In the course of our negotiations with the state, DOE offered
aggressive and enforceable commitments to retrieve large quantities of
buried waste, to determine whether this buried waste and other
quantities of waste are mixed waste, and to treat Hanford s anticipated
inventory of mixed low-level waste. We also offered target milestones (a
type of milestone under the Hanford Tri-Party Agreement designed to
address matters of concern to the State involving activities over which
it lacks regulatory authority) for the certification of transuranic
waste so that it can be sent to DOE's disposal facility in New Mexico.
However, the State pressed to gain regulatory authority of transuranic
waste, which we cannot agree to by law. Unfortunately, the state
decided, just this morning, to seek court action in this case."

Media Contact:  Joe Davis, 202/584-4940
Tom Welch, 202/586-5806
Release No. PR-03-045
Release Date: March 5, 2003

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