ISP CISF federal court appeals consolidated into a single case
On August 26th, 2021, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the second highest court in the land, issued an Order, consolidating the various appeals by opponents against the Interim Storage Partners consolidated interim storage facility targeted at Waste Control Specialists, LLC, Andrews County, West Texas, 0.37 miles (and upstream from) the New Mexico state line, near Eunice, NM.
A deadline of Sept. 27, 2021 was also set by the Court, for motions from the various parties "to govern future proceedings in this case."
Opponents to the ISP CISF which have filed federal court appeals in the case include: Beyond Nuclear; Don't Waste Michigan, et al. (a national grassroots environmental coalition comprised of seven groups, including two from Texas -- SEED Coalition and Public Citizen's Texas Office); Fasken Land and Minerals, Ltd. -- a century-old, family-owned oil, gas, and ranching company, as well as the Permian Basin Land and Royalty Owners; and Sierra Club Lone Star Chapter.
The opponents have sued the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the federal agency in charge of licensing the dump, as well as mandated to protect public health, safety, security, and the environment.
NRC is poised to approve the construction and operating license for ISP's CISF as early as Sept. 13, 2021, after a many years long, contested licensing proceeding. NRC's FSER (Final Safety Evaluation Report) will be published at the same time as the three-serving NRC Commissioners very likely unanimously rubber-stamp the ISP license, as each of the three NRC Commissioners have already voted in favor of ISP's CISF every step of the way thus far, rejecting scores of opponents' legal and technical contentions.
Interim Storage Partners (ISP) is also a party to the federal court appeal. ISP is comprised of Waste Control Specialists, LLC (WCS) and Orano (formerly Areva) WCS is already a national so-called "low-level" radioactive waste dump, taking in Class A, B, and C "low-level" radioactive wastes from nuclear power plants in 36 states. Orano is the largely French government-owned nuclear giant's North American division.
NorthStar -- also comprised of Orano and WCS -- is very closely affiliated with ISP. NorthStar is a decommissioning consortium, currently decommissioning the Vermont Yankee atomic reactor, as well as managing the irradiated nuclear fuel and highly radioactive Greater Than Class C (GTCC) "low-level" radioactive waste stored there.
August 26, 2021