State Seeks Control of Dump Site : Environment: California asks U.S. government to transfer ownership of land in Mojave Desert for possible use as a nuclear waste facility.

Trying to keep the door open for building a controversial low-level nuclear waste dump in the Mojave Desert, the state Department of Health Services has asked the federal government to transfer its ownership of the site to the state, it was learned Wednesday.

The request, made last week in a letter to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management from state Health Services Director Molly J. Coye, was not made public, although copies were delivered to several state legislators.

The request caught opponents of the dump by surprise. They accused the state of acting in bad faith because it has not held new hearings on the dump’s safety. No date has been set for the hearings.

State officials said they were only trying to preserve the Ward Valley site 24 miles west of Needles for public use if a decision is made after the hearings to build the facility. Ron Joseph, chief deputy director of the health department, said the site could be opened to mining and other private claims after Sept. 19 unless the state takes action.

In her letter to the Bureau of Land Management, Coye said the safety hearings--forced on the department by the state Senate--would take about eight months. Afterward, the department will decide whether to issue a license to US Ecology Inc. to operate the landfill.

Backers of the dump, including US Ecology, last year urged Gov. Pete Wilson to direct the Health Services Department to acquire the site directly from the Bureau of Land Management. At the time, the independent state Lands Commission had declined to take title under a previous arrangement with the federal government.

Lt. Gov. Leo T. McCarthy and state Controller Gray Davis of the three-member commission said they had reservations about the facility’s safety and were concerned that California taxpayers would be liable for damages.

Steve Romano, vice president and manager of California operations for US Ecology, said Wednesday that Coye’s request was “the logical thing to do.”

But Daniel Hirsch, president of the anti-nuclear Committee to Bridge the Gap, objected. “I think it’s a sign of bad faith,” he said. “It’s clear once again that the Department of Health Services is just acting as a pawn of the dump company.” In her letter, Coye said no license would be issued “until I am satisfied the public health and safety is protected.”

Low-level radioactive waste comes from sources as varied as nuclear power plants, aerospace factories and medical research labs. It does not include such highly contaminated waste as spent nuclear reactor fuel rods.

Wednesday’s developments came one day after backers of the dump filed suit against the state, charging that it has unduly delayed a decision on construction.

In a brief filed with the state Supreme Court in San Francisco, US Ecology said the state’s delays have made it impossible to meet a federal deadline for opening the facility in January. The firm said the decision by the Health Services Department to hold additional hearings on the controversial proposal was politically motivated and would only add to the delay. It said Wilson agreed to hold the hearings to win state Senate confirmation of two of his appointees, Health and Welfare Agency Secretary Russell Gould and Coye.