ENVIRONMENT WATCH : Ward of the State

The proposed Ward Valley dump could receive 100,000 cubic feet of radioactive waste per year. It naturally follows that opening such a dump site, which also happens to be only 19 miles from the Colorado River in the Mojave Desert, is not something to be done without careful deliberation.

Thus the decision by U.S. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt to call for a public hearing to review safety concerns deserves applause. The 1,000-acre site, currently held by the federal government, would have to be transferred to the state before it could become a waste dump. In a letter to Gov. Pete Wilson, Babbitt said he would not transfer the Ward Valley site unless the state conducts a formal hearing.

Babbitt’s recommendation that there be “testimony by qualified experts from both proponents and opponents, under oath, with a reasonable opportunity for cross-examination” is reasonable. Opponents of the dump have raised several safety concerns, including a fear that waste from the dump could leach into the ground water and make its way into the Colorado River. Opponents also have raised questions about the track record of US Ecology, the private firm that would operate the dump.

Babbitt has had to step in before. In February, he rescinded a decision by his predecessor, Manuel Lujan Jr., to transfer the site because so many questions remained unanswered.

That was a wise move by Babbitt. He has made another now. The state should conduct a hearing to fully address all the questions that must be answered.