Jerry Uhlmann, Director
State Emergency Management Agency
P.O. Box 116
Jefferson City, MO 65102-0116

December 13, 2004

* University may need $6 million to clean up radioactive site
Fremont Triune

* Radioactive waste was burned near Mead -- NU Faces Payment of Millions For Land Cleanup
Nebraska StatePaper

March 10, 2004

* Nebraska - 25 tritium exit signs missing from staiways; no clue (City of Holdrege)

* Nebraska - Old store demolished and removed without segregating any of 13 tritium exit signs (Omaha)

December 19, 2003

* Nebraska - four tritium exit signs (1980s-vintage) apparently scrapped during renovations over the years (Novartis Consumer Health Inc., Lincoln NE)

August 13, 2003

The County Board in Boyd County Nebraska dropped its proposal to ban, via zoning, the disposal or storage of radioactive materials and hazardous waste within the county. U.S. Ecology had claimed that the proposed zoning ordinance would be in violation of state and federal law, and suggested that it would file a lawsuit if it was enacted. On Tuesday, the County Board approved a different zning approach -- and its amended regulations now require such a facility to obtain a permit from both the planning board and the County Board of Supervisors after public hearings.

[Ref: Associated Press, "Boyd County will have to approve nuke waste dump", August 13, 2003 3:47 AM Eastern Time]

June 25, 2003

* Nebraska kicked out of Central Interstate LLRW Compact, by the other states

June 13, 2003

Central Interstate LLRW Compact case pleaded before Appeals court today

... [I]n October ... U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf... said the state [Nebraska] acted in bad faith in refusing to license a proposed low-level facility in Boyd County, which was to hold waste from Nebraska, Kansas, Arkansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma. [Judge Kopf] found that former Gov. Ben Nelson, now a U.S. senator, purposely killed plans to build the dump... [Judge Kopf] ordered Nebraska to pay $151 million in damages.

... The dispute dates back decades. At the urging of Congress, Nebraska joined the other four states in 1983 to form the Central Interstate compact, which was to find a place to store waste such as contaminated tools and clothing from nuclear power plants, hospitals and research centers.

The compact commission voted in 1987 to put the waste in Nebraska and the fight began, with Nebraska opposing the move and both sides wrangling in court on several issues.

Nebraska said in 1998 that it planned to deny a license for the site, citing potential pollution problems and a high water table.

Several utilities and the compact then filed a lawsuit to recover the money they contributed toward the project.

... Nebraska is challenging [Judge Kopf's] ruling. ... [arguing that he] should have granted Nebraska a jury trial ... Denying the jury trial was a "fundamental legal error," state attorney Brad Reynolds argued Thursday before a three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. He also questioned the award, asking the court to revisit it.

"It has to go back to a jury and be done the right way," he said.

The appeals judges focused much of their questioning on the damage award and the jury question. Judge Pasco Bowman asked why the Constitution's Seventh Amendment didn't guarantee a jury trial in this case.

Alan Peterson, attorney for the Central Interstate Low Level Radioactive Waste Compact Commission, said the judges should instead look to colonial days for precedent, when a political panel settled disputes among colonies.

Peterson emphasized that the group of states formed a "family" and selected its own "cop" - the compact commission - to settle its disputes.

"This is a mess your honor, it really is," Peterson acknowledged. ...