ENVIRONMENT WATCH : Putting On the Brakes

Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt last week wisely put the brakes on efforts to speed approval of a low-level nuclear waste facility at Ward Valley in the eastern Mojave Desert. In so doing, Babbitt has restored some modicum of balance and respectability to a process that previously favored the dump site’s proponents.

The dump is planned to be located on a 1,000-acre site near Needles and is to accommodate materials tainted with low-level nuclear waste, such as contaminated medical gear and nuclear byproducts. In the waning days of the Bush Administration, former Interior Secretary Manuel Lujan Jr. bypassed federal rules that required public comment on a proposal to sell federal land to the state for use as a waste-disposal site.

Under an order handed down by Babbitt last week, the Interior Department will review the environmental impact of the proposed land transfer and also invite additional public comment.

Environmentalists worry that even low-level nuclear waste could seep into ground-water supplies and ultimately contaminate the Colorado River, 22 miles away. The area is also home to the endangered desert tortoise. Proponents of the plan, including Gov. Pete Wilson, argue that the eastern Mojave Desert site is ideal because of the low level of annual rainfall there.

It may yet be decided that Ward Valley could become the location of the dump without negative impact. But in the meantime, Interior officials owe it to the public to make sure all concerns are addressed.