ML19344A400
| ML19344A400 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Bailly |
| Issue date: | 08/18/1980 |
| From: | Goldberg S NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE LEGAL DIRECTOR (OELD) |
| To: | Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel |
| References | |
| ISSUANCES-CPA, NUDOCS 8008200182 | |
| Download: ML19344A400 (6) | |
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O UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 8/18/80 NUCLEAR REGULATORY C0511SSION BEFORE THE ATOMIC SAFETY AND LICENSING BOARD In the Matter of NORTHERN INDIANA PUBLIC Docket No. 50-367 SERVICE COMPANY
)
(Construction Permit Extension)
)
(Bailly Generating Station,
)
Nuclear-1)
)
NRC STAFF OBJECTLDNS T0, AND COMMENTS UPON, ORDER FOLLOWING SPECIAL PREHEARING CONFERENCE INTRODUCT ION On August 7, 1980, the Licensing Board issued an " Order Following Special Prehearing Conference" which ruled on the several intervention petitions filed in the captioned proceeding. This order had been previously issued on a provisional basis on May 30, 1980 to which objections were invited and filed by the Staff and other conference participants.
. DISCUSSION In its June 24, 1980 objections to the provisional order, the Staff objected to, or otherwise comented upon, the Board's position on standing to inter-vene in a construction permit extension proceeding, the scope of such pro-ceeding and the litigability of the short pilings and ash pond seepage issues in this, matter. The Staff views on these matters had been articulated in earlier responsive pleadings filed herein. The Staff objections were apparently rejected in the present final order. The Staff adheres to the positions 8 00s13g gg
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reflected in its prior objections but believes little purpose would be served by repeating then, at length here.
In addition, the Staff has already made known its position that the short pilings issue should not be litigated in this proceeding and will address this subject again in response to the ques-tions propounded to the Staff by the Board in its Order as regards this matter.
As provided in the Order, the Staff will file a separate statement of posi-tion on the newly filed contentions of the Porter County Chapter Intervenors
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and the State of Illinois. However, the Staff believes that one additional matter requires further clarification. That is, the issue of ash pond seepage i
and construction dewatering.
In ruling on the admissibility of the proposed 7
dewatering contentions, the Board stated that it will permit the Porter County Chapter Intervenors to " establish that the calculations relied upon in the prior [ construction permit] proceeding did not fully eliminate the effect cf the ash pond seepage and that, if they did not, the elimination of the recharging effect of ash pond seepage over the prolonged period of construc-tion would create an adverse environmental impact "and, as so limited, ad-mitted this aspect of the dewatering contentions. Order at 59. The Staff maintains that this inquiry is misdirected and that such issue should not be admitted herein.
The phenomenon of ash pond seepage has no causal relationship to Bailly con-struction. The potential environmental impacts that may follow from the i
elimination of the recharging effect of ash pond seepage is imaterial to a proper ascertainment of the discrete incremental effects of construction dewatering beyond that point in time. As the Staff stated in its April 10,
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i 1980 brief on this matter, the " interrelationship between ash pond seepage l
and construction dewatering, and their collective environmental impacts on the Lakeshore and environs, was fully and finally decided" at the construc-tion permit stage and is not subject to relitigation (emphasis added)
(Brief at 5).
Nonetheless, in recognition of the decision of the National Park Service to require sealing of the ash ponds, the Staff indicated that it will i
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" evaluate the environmental consequences of continued dewatering absent the I
influence of ash pond seepage and cooperate with the National Park Service to further its goal of returning the Lakeshore to its natural state" (Brief l
at4).
Again in its June 24, 1980 objections to the provisional order, the Staff made it clear that "to the extent that construction dewatering continues following the elimination of the effects of ash pond seepage, this presents a litigable issue in this proceeding" (Objections at 11). This is quite a diff1 rent matter from adjudicating the environmental effects of sealing the ash ponds. The ash ponds were sealed at the direction of the National Park Service. This decision does not lie within the province of the NRC nor was it made on its recomendation.
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There is no nexus between 3ealing the ash ponds and the requested extension i
of construction. To the extent that prolonged dewatering has a measurable f
impact on the environment, that impact should and will be evaluated. Logic dictates that the tenuous link between the effects of ash pond seepage and construction dewatering must surely be severed at some point. While some individuals may well have a legitir. ate concern over the er.vironmental effects of the elimination of ash pond seepage, the present proceeding is simply not the prope-forum to seek to litigate such concerns.
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i CONCLUSION l
For the reasons given above, the Staff submits that the present Order should be rnodified in accordance with the consnents and objections thereto expressed herein.
Respectfully submitted, Steven C. Goldberg Counsel for NRC Staff l
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Dated at Bethesda, Maryland this 18th day of August,1980 r
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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA i
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
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BEFORE THE ATOMIC SAFETY AND LICENSING BOARD In the Matter of NORTHERN INDIANA PUBLIC Docket No. 50-367 SERVICE COMPANY (ConstructionPermitExtension)
(Bailly Generating Station.
)
i, Nuclear-1)
)
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that copies of "NRC STAFF OBJECTIONS T0, AND COMMENTS UPON, ORDER FOLLOWING SPECIAL PREHEARING CONFERENCE" in the above-captioned pro-ceeding have been served on the following by deposit in the United States mail, first class or, as indicated by an asterisk, through deposit in the Nuclear Regulatory Comission's internal mail system, this 18th day of August, 1980, OHerbert Grossman, Esq., Chairman Edward W. Osann, Jr., Esq.
Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel Suite 4600 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission One IBM Plaza Washington, D.C.
20555 Chicago, Illinois 60611 cDr. Richard F. Cole Robert L. Graham, Esq.
Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel One IBM Plaza U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 44th Floor i
Washington, D.C.
20555,.
Chicago, Illinois 60611
- Mr. Glenn O. Bright George and Anna Grabowski Atomic Safety and Licegsing Board Panel 7413 W. 136th Lane i
U.S. Nuclear Regulator'y Comission Cedar Lake, Indiana 46303 i
' Washington, D.C.
20555 l
Dr. George Schultz Kathleen H. Shea, Esq.
110 California Street Lowenstein, Newman, Reis, Axelrad Michigan City, Indiana 46360 and Toll l
1025 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.
Richard L. Robbins, Esq.
Washington, D.C.
20036 Lake Michigan Federation 53 West Jackson Boulevard g/oBPIobert J. Vollen, Esq.
Chicago, Illinois 60604
'i 109 North Dearborn Street l
Chicago, Illinois 60602 i
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John Van Vranken, Esq., Chief
- Atomic Safety and Licensing Northern Region Board Panel Environmental Control Division U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Comission "
188 West Randolph Street Washington, D.C.,20555 Chicago, Illinois 60601
- Atomic Safety and Licensing Appeal Board Panel U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Comission Washington, D.C.
20555 i
Clifford Mezo, Acting President
- Docketing and Service Section l
Local 1010 Office of the Secretary United Steelworkers of America U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission i
3703 Euclid Avenue Washington, D.C.
20555 East Chicago, Indiana 46312 l
William H. Eichhorn, Esq.
I Eichhorn, Morrow & Eichhorn i
'5243 Hohman Avenue Hamond, Indiana 46320 l
h Diane B. Cohn, Esq.
l Suite 700 2000 P Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C.
20036 1
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W S Steven C. Goldberg f
Counsel for NRC' Staff I
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