SCELP Success in Radioactive Waste Case

Posted on 10/3/10

On March 10, 2010, the South Carolina Court of Appeals issued a decision in our appeal of Chem-Nuclear’s permit to continue to dispose of radioactive nuclear waste at its landfill in Barnwell. Click HERE to read the Opinion.

Currently, waste is stored in containers with holes in the bottom, allowing water to come into contact with nuclear waste and leach into the groundwater. The Court agreed with us that the permit has to meet technical requirements of the DHEC regulations, including the requirement for engineered barriers that will minimize the migration of water into and out of waste disposal units and that will prevent contact between the waste and the surrounding earth. The Administrative Law Court failed to rule on whether the permit met these regulatory requirements, and the Court of Appeals remanded the case back to the ALC to make specific legal conclusions on whether these requirements were met.

The new legal conclusions required by the Court of Appeals must be made in the context of the ALC’s factual findings. In the findings, the Judge recognized that leaking radiation that has contaminated groundwater and a nearby stream and presents a “monumental hazardous condition that... cannot be overlooked.” We are very optimistic that on remand the ALC will apply these findings of monumental hazards to the legal requirements of barriers to prevent migration of water into and out of the disposal units and to prevent waste from coming into contact with the surrounding earth.

SCELP’s Jimmy Chandler argued the case on behalf of the Sierra Club. Chandler said that “this is the first time a permit for this nuclear waste landfill has ever been challenged. The ruling ensures that waste will finally have to be disposed in a manner that keeps harmful radioactive materials from coming into contact with groundwater and the environment.”