House Panel OKs Plan to Transfer Ward Valley Site

WASHINGTON — A House committee approved a disputed proposal Tuesday to transfer the Ward Valley nuclear waste dump site from federal to state control, a move that could abruptly cut off debate over the safety of the proposed dump.

If approved by Congress, the language added to the Republican budget reconciliation package would transfer 1,000 acres in the eastern Mojave Desert without conditions sought by the White House.

The move by the House resources committee also stipulates that all environmental safety laws have been met by the project.

That would nullify two lawsuits brought by environmental groups who are opposed to construction of the dump, which would hold low-level radioactive waste from nuclear power plants, hospitals, laboratories and industries.

A Senate committee is set to take up an almost identical proposal today and is expected to have the votes to pass it.

The White House had sought to impose conditions on the transfer, citing its desire to ensure public safety at the proposed dump near the Colorado River. Gov. Pete Wilson has complained that the Clinton Administration was trying to retain control over the dump.

At issue in the decade-long debate is whether radioactive waste particles could move from the dump to the water table, 650 feet underground, and flow to the Colorado River.