Baldridge said that, while a Clinton Administration challenge would prove fatal to the proposed voluntary transfer of the Ward Valley site from the U.S. Department of Interior to the state, California still could obtain the land if the courts rule in its favor in its lawsuit pending in U.S. District Court in Washington. The federal government Monday asked a court to dismiss a lawsuit that the California Department of Health Services and the would-be operator of the site filed against the U.S. Department of Interior.
Federal officials contend the state's application to acquire the site is improper.
The Clinton administration action probably will prove fatal to the project, said Peter Baldridge, a lawyer for the state Department of Health Services. Negotiations over acquisition of federal land in far eastern San Bernardino County had hit roadblocks over concerns about the safety of storing nuclear waste. The site lies 20 miles from the Colorado River, a major source of California water. In addition, Colorado River Indian tribes and anti-nuclear activists joined forces to protest the proposed transfer. Wilson repeatedly has accused Clinton and U.S. Department of Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt of dragging their feet over the land transfer.