ML19260C718
| ML19260C718 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Comanche Peak, South Texas  |
| Issue date: | 12/27/1979 |
| From: | Blume M NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE LEGAL DIRECTOR (OELD) |
| To: | Copeland J BAKER & BOTTS |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8001080504 | |
| Download: ML19260C718 (4) | |
Text
. arco UNITED STATES o
8 '{
q #f',,g NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
/. t WASHINGTON, D. C. 20555
%... + p' December 27, 1979 J. Gregory Copeland, Esq.
2 Baker & Botts 3000 One Shell Plaza Houston, Texas 77002 Re: Houston Lighting & Power Company, (South Texas Project, Units 1 & 2),
NRC Docket Nos. 50-498A, 50-499A, Texas Utilities Generating Company, et al.
(Comanche Peak Steam Electric Station, Units 1 & 2), Docket Nos. 50-445A & 50-446A
Dear Mr. Copeland:
I am distressed by the confusion expressed in your December 4 letter regarding Staff's decision to postpone Dr. Herbert Woodson's deposition.
It indicates several misimpressions on your part which I wish to correct.
First, you state that you sent a letter to me on September 10, 1979 listing the documents in Dr. Woodson's files. You apparently do not recall that we discussed this matter at Dr. Gordon Taylor's deposition, at which time I in-formed you that I had not received any such letter.
You were kind enough to produce a copy of that letter at Dr. Taylor's deposition on October 26, 1979.
You indicated in that letter that there might be other documents in Dr. Woodson's possession and, if so, that you would forwani a list of those to me.
I have never received any such list, nor any notification that there exist no other documents in Dr. Woodson's files.
Indeed, a comparison of your letter to me of September 10, 1979 and the attachment thereto with Schedules A and B attached to a letter from Lynn Pitman of the Department of Justice to Gordon T.C. Taylor indicates that there are at least nine documents in Dr. Woodson's files which were not listed in your August 24, 1978 letter to Mr. Stahl nor in your September 10, 1979 letter to me:
(1)
CSW application filed with FERC on February 22, 1979; (2) Transcript Volumes 9,10,12,13 and 15 from the Dallas antitrust action between WTU and TESCO, et al.;
(3) A November 22, 1978 letter with a short brief attached from E.W. Barnett to Judge Porter; (4) A transcript of D.E. Simmons' coments of November 29,1978 at the Oklahoma City Conference on Pooling and Wheeling in the Southwest; 1703 325 8001080 5 By rn a
(5) A copy of a January 30, 1979 opinion by Judge Porter in the Dallas District Court antitrust proceedings; (6) A February 20, 1979 judgment by Judge Porter in the Dallas District Court antitrust proceeding; (7) The deposition transcript of Jack Wenders, taken August 25, 1978; (8) Houston Lighting & Power reply of April 30, 1979 in support of its motion for sumary judgment; (9) Brief in opposition of the State of Texas in response to the State of New Mexico's petition for review to the United States Supreme Court.
A copy" of the two lists is attached to this letter for your convenience.
You state that Staff has " essentially known [Dr. Woodson's] views since September 21, 1978," since CSW deposed him in advance of the District Court trial. As I hope you know, the government does not share CSW's private interests, and does not wish to be limited to knowledge of Dr.
Woodson's thinking only to the extent to which Central had an interest in the context of a more limited, and at this point somewhat dated proceeding.
On July 11, 1979, Houston offered copies of the transcripts of testimony of Messrs. Woodson, Gerber and Simmons in exchange for the same regarding Messrs. Lerner and Hartley.1/ On September 13, 1979, Staff provided copies of prefiled testimony of Mr. Hartley, Staff's expert engineering witness, pursuant to the above-referenced agreement. On October 22, 1979, Staff requested of you Dr. Woodson's publications and testimony pursuant to this agreement, but has never received the documents requested. 2/ Mr. Hartley was deposed November 2,1979, over six weeks subsequent to Etaff's delivery of his prefiled testimony, and I thus find disturbing your statement that "the government has never produced the documents of its experts as far as a week in advance of their deposition."
Insofar as you note that the Department of Justice examined Dr. Woodson's documents on November 19, I must remind you that I had been attempting, through you, to inspect Dr. Woodson's documents for nearly three months without success.
I should not be expected to make travel plans on one day's notice during Thanksgiving week, in which transportation and hotel reserva-1/ See letter from William J. Franklin to R.P. Lessy, Jr.
2/ See letter from R.P. Lessy, Jr. to J. Gregory Copeland.
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tions would be difficult to obtain. This is also a time in which, as you know, there has been extensive travel to Texas on the part of the govern-ment's attorneys.
At this point, I request production and mailing of all those documents listed in the appendix to this letter, as well as all documents in Dr.
Woodson's, yours, or HL&P's files responsive to Staff's " Supplemental R,equest for Production of Documents" dated July 13, 1979 and Dr. Woodson's subpoena, which have not heretofore been indexed for or produced to Staff. The Staff would appreciate receiving these documents by January 11, 1980 so that we can proceed to schedule the initial deposition of Dr. Woodson in this pro -
ceeding.
In addition to the above, I renew my request of November 6 to you for clari-fication of whether the " Service Area Map of Houston Lighting & Power Co.
Showing Planimetry and Power System," dated 1967 and showing dually certi-ficated areas, is current.
Thank you for your assistance.
Yours truly,
,.f
.1 Michael B. Blume Counsel for NRC Staff cc:
Counsel of Record e
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APPENDIX i
ERCOT Report to the DOE on Coordinated Bulk Power Supply Programs, 4/1/78 Letter from L. Oakes (Oak Ridge Nat'l Laboratory) to Director, Division of Operating Reactors Office of Nuclear Reactor Regu-lation, NRC - 4/11/78 - Re: Transmission System Disturbances:
Florida Power & Light, 5/16/77; Con Edison, 7/13/77 Control of Generation and Power Flow on Interconnected Systems, by Nathan Cole, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (Publisher), New York, 1961 Letter-from E.W. Barnett (Baker & Botts) to Judge Porter -
11/22/78 - Re: WTU v. TESCO). A short brief highlighting legal 3
& factual issues following conclusion of trial.
cc: all counsel
" Task Force Report on Claims Made by Parties Resisting the ERCOT/SWPP Interconnection" - 10/31/77 - prepared by Task Force assigned by Mr. B.J. Harns (CSR Services, Inc.)
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