Babbitt Requests Public Hearing on Nuclear Dump : Safety: In a letter to Gov. Wilson, the Interior secretary urges a review of concerns raised over proposed disposal site in the eastern California desert. Ward Valley opponents welcome the news.

In a move long sought by environmentalists, U.S. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt on Wednesday requested Gov. Pete Wilson to hold a public hearing to review safety concerns at a proposed nuclear waste dump in the eastern California desert.

In a letter to Wilson, Babbitt made it clear that even though federal law did not require such a hearing, he wanted one held before he would agree to transfer the site, now in federal hands, to the state for the proposed Ward Valley dump.

“This project has created a substantial amount of controversy and genuine public concern,” Babbitt wrote to Wilson. “It is essential that the public have confidence that the problem of low-level radioactive waste . . . is manageable and that a credible process has been followed in determining that this site is appropriate.”

Babbitt told Wilson that he was “not prepared to transfer the Ward Valley site to you under (the Federal Land Policy and Management Act) without your Administration conducting a formal hearing.”

In February, Babbitt rescinded a decision by his predecessor, Manuel Lujan Jr., approving the transfer of the 1,000-acre dump site to the state. He said he wanted more public comment.

In May, a state appeals court ruled that California law did not require the Wilson Administration to hold a public hearing as part of its decision to grant a license for the dump to US Ecology, the company that would operate it. Wilson took the position that he was prohibited by that ruling from conducting a hearing.

With Babbitt’s move to require a hearing, opponents of the waste disposal site will have a forum to publicly address safety issues for the first time. Opponents fear that waste from the dump could leach into nearby ground water and make its way to the Colorado River 19 miles away.

A spokesman for the California Department of Health Services said Wednesday that the request by Babbitt was reasonable. Deputy Director Ron Joseph said the department is reviewing the letter at Wilson’s request.

“I am somewhat encouraged by the letter,” Joseph said. “I think it gives us an operable plan and maybe one that will bring to conclusion the extended process that has been taking place.”

Opponents of the dump hailed Babbitt’s request.

“It is an important recognition that serious safety questions remain,” said Daniel Hirsch, president of Committee to Bridge the Gap, an environmental organization fighting against locating the dump at Ward Valley.

But Hirsch cautioned that the scope of the hearing would determine its effectiveness.

“It must be an adjudicatory hearing,” he said, “in which witnesses under oath can be cross-examined and in which the discovery process allows access to records which both the state and US Ecology have kept hidden from the public.”

Hirsch added that the hearing should allow for an examination of US Ecology’s record of managing nuclear waste disposal facilities.

Babbitt recommended to Wilson that the hearing should be presided over “by some disinterested person acceptable to you and me,” that it focus on the possibility that radioactive waste could be spread by floods or earthquakes, and that “there be . . . testimony by qualified experts from both proponents and opponents, under oath, with a reasonable opportunity for cross-examination.”

Citing a concern by Wilson that a hearing might open the door to an interminable legal process, Babbitt established a tight schedule, calling for the hearing to be conducted in September and the findings forwarded to him by year’s end.

Steven A. Romano, a vice president and manager of US Ecology’s California operations, said he was “pleased by number of things” in Babbitt’s letter.

“We are very encouraged that the secretary has called for a hearing process that would permit the transfer (of the land) by the end of the year,” Romano said.

“US Ecology has never opposed an examination of the technical issues. We are confident that such an examination will bear out the wisdom of proceeding with the project. Our concern always has been that such a process not provide an opportunity for endless delays and legal maneuverings.”

If licensed, Ward Valley would receive 100,000 cubic feet of radioactive waste annually from nuclear power plants in California and the Southwest.