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Public Citizen released the following July 9, 2004:
Victory in Yucca Mountain Lawsuit; Court Overrules Government's Lax
Radiation Standards for Nuclear Waste
Statement of Public Citizen President Joan Claybrook
Today's ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit that
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) illegally set its
radiation release standards for groundwater for the proposed high-level
radioactive waste dump at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, marks a major victory
for citizens of Nevada, for the environment and for science over
politics.
The EPA set 10,000 years as the period during which radiation in the
groundwater cannot exceed drinking water standards at the site's
boundary, but this time frame would not protect the health of future
generations. As the court ruled, the Energy Policy Act requires that the
EPA determine public health and safety standards for Yucca Mountain
"based upon and consistent with" the National Academy of Sciences'
recommendations. The Academy's recommendation is that the compliance
period should extend through the time of the peak risk for radiation
doses from the repository, which studies show are likely to occur in
300,000 years or more. To compensate for Yucca's geologic unsuitability,
the EPA ignored the findings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"It would have been one thing had EPA taken the Academy's
recommendations into account and then tailored a standard that
accommodated the agency's policy concerns. But that is not what EPA
did," the Court wrote in its ruling. "Instead, it unabashedly rejected
NAS's findings, and then went on to promulgate a dramatically different
standard, one that the Academy had expressly rejected."
Given this ruling, the Yucca Mountain Project should be finished. The
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) must show that it can prevent
groundwater contamination above drinking water standards at the
compliance boundary for 300,000 years - a standard that the DOE's own
analysis shows the Yucca Mountain site cannot meet. The EPA faces the
choice of either appealing the decision or revising its standard. The
rules have been bent too often to promote Yucca Mountain. We will be
watching closely to see if the EPA makes a wise choice and protects
future generations, as the court mandated.
To read the court's decision, go to
http://pacer.cadc.uscourts.gov/docs/common/opinions/200407/01-1258a.pdf.###################################################
Six Months Later and Consumers Still at Risk
Statement by Wenonah Hauter, Director of Public Citizen's Food
Program
Today's announcement by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
that it is again delaying the proposed rules regarding bovine spongiform
encephalopathy (BSE) is an extreme disappointment.
The agency has broken the promise it made to American consumers on Jan.
26, when it announced that it was going to take immediate action to
strengthen the firewalls against BSE. At the time, Health and Human
Services Secretary Tommy Thompson stated: "Small as the risk may
already be, this is the time to make sure the public is protected to the
greatest extent possible."
It is nearly six months later, and the gaping holes in the animal feed
ban still exist - with no specific date when those holes would actually
be closed. It is obvious that the Bush administration has, once again,
kowtowed to industry interests. We call on the administration to
immediately issue an interim final rule that would close these holes.
We must ensure strong and vigilant surveillance of our meat safety
system in order to protect consumers. The FDA must work harder to
protect the health and safety of the public.
Please visit our website at www.citizen.org
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