ML20195H544

Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance Contentions Re Private Fuel Storage Facility License Application (Low Rail Spur).* Public Fuel Storage License Application Amend Should Be Rejected for Listed Reasons.With Certificate of Svc

ML20195H544
Person / Time
Site:	07200022
Issue date:	11/18/1998
From:	Condit R, Jacqwan Walker AFFILIATION NOT ASSIGNED, SOUTHERN UTAH WILDERNESS ALLIANCE
To:	Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel
References
CON-#498-19735 ISFSI, NUDOCS 9811240027
Download: ML20195H544 (8)

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DM qy 00CKETED USHRC UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BEFORE THE 98 Nov 23 P4 :11 NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION O

P OFFIO BEFORE THE ATOMIC SAFETY AND LICENSING BOARD RULOS

,f ADJUDGi..km eiAFF Private Fuel Storage, a Limited Liability Coinpany; Docket No. 72-22 November 18,1998 (Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation).

SOUTHERN UTAH WILDERNESS ALLIANCE'S CONTENTIONS REGARDING PRIVATE FUEL STORAGE FACILITY LICENSE APPLICATION (THE LOW RAIL SPUR),

Pursuant to 10 C.F.R. @ 2.714, the Southem Utah Wildemess Alliance (SUWA) hereby submits its contentions regarding the amendment to the license application of Private Fuel Storage ("PFS") to operate a nuclear fuel storage facility on the Skull Valley Goshute Indian Reservation in Tooele County, Utah. SUWA is filing, with this statement ofits contentions, a petition for intervention and request for hearing, which, along with the attachments to that document, SUWA hereby incorporates and references.

SUWA's petition and request establish that SUWA should be allowed to ful!y participate l.

in this proceeding with regard to assessment of and decision making involving the alignment, construction and operation of the Low Rail Spur and the construction and maintenance of any associated impacts such as the fire buffer zone.

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. As documented below, the applicant PFS has not complied with the required standards established for licensing a nuclear fuel starage facility. In fact, PFS's license application is 1

9811240027 981118 PDR ADOCK 07200022 C

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t substantially incomplete. SUWA therefore respectfully submits that this license application should be denied.

I.

CONTENTION A:

Statement: The License Application Amendment fails to consider adequately the impacts of the l ow Corridor Rail Spur and the associated fire buffer zone on the wildeniess character and the potential wilderness designation of a tract of roadless Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land - the North Cedar Mountains -- which it crosses. SUWA has i

determined, after significant analysis, that the North Cedar Mountains qualifies for and should be designated as wilderness under the Wilderness Act of 1964 and therefore should be preserved in its current natural state until the United States Congress has an opportunity to evaluate the land for wilderness designation.

Basis: PFS's amendment to its license application includes, inter alia, as a preferred option, construction and operation of the Low Rail Spur and the associated fire buffer zone.

PFS intends to use the Low Rail Spur to transpen hir,li level nuclear waste from the Unic a Pacific main rail line at Low Junction to the Skull Valley Reservation. License Applicatic, l

Amendment, August 28,1998 (" Amendment").

The Low Rail Spur will traverse approximately 32 miles of undeveloped public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) including the North Cedar Mountains, an outstanding natural area identified by SUWA as possessing wilderness character and therefore suitable for wikierness designation and protectic under the Wilderness Act of 1964. The Low Rail Spur will entail construction of a right of way of 250 feet on each side of the railroad center i

line, Amendment at Figure 4.5-6. Sheet 1, and " clearing and grubbing activities for a width of 2

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l-approximately 50-ft."M at 3.2.1.5. Furthermore,"[t]o reduce the potential for increased range L

. fires that may be caused by rail transport, the 40 ft wide rail spur corridor will be cleared of vegetation...." E at 4.4-9.

SUWA included the North Cedar Mountains in its 1998 Citizens' Wilderness

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. Reinventory, which specifies all the BLM lands in Utah that qualify as wilderness. SUWA has widely publicized the results of the reinventoiy to the public. The event generated a great deal of l

media coverage and was taken seriously by the government and the public. Further;SUWA md L

the Utah Wilderness Coalition (UWC) will attempt to educate members of Congress about' l

. Utah's wilderness areas and support the passage of federal legislation that will designate all the lands in the 1998 reinventory as wilderness. Until then, SUWA will take all necessary steps to I

preserve these lands, inclu' ding the North Cedar Mountains, in their current state and to protect f

them from any development or other impacts which would disqualify them for wildemess L

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' designation. See, SUWA's petition and request.

The inventory of the North Cedar Mountains area was conducted according to a rigorous and informed procedure. ' Inventory staff spent approximately 10 hours1.157407e-4 days <br />0.00278 hours <br />1.653439e-5 weeks <br />3.805e-6 months <br />, including review of aerial photographs, preparing maps for field survey work. The area was then surveyed by a p

( volunteer who took field notes describing each of 24 pictures which were also linked to USGS maps. Inventory staff members revisited the site and took 38 more photographs, described in i3

field notes and linked to maps. The technical review team then used this information to o

d:termine the boundaries of the proposed wilderness area depicted on Exhibit "2", attached to i

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. SUWA's petition and request. See, also, Affidavit ofJim Catlin.

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As the description of the proposed project indicates, the construction and. operation of the Low Rail Spur and the clearing of the fire buffer zone will irreversibly impair the wilderness character of the North Cedar Mountains. See, Affidavit of Jim Catlin, attached as Exhibit "3" to

- SUWA petition and request. If constructed pursuant to the PFS amendment, the Low Rail Spur will significantly intrude into the North Cedar Mountain roadless area so that it will no longer be an area which " generally appears to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature, with the imprint of[ human] work substantially unnoticeable;..." Wilderness Act.16 U.S.C.A.

o I131(c)(1). In addition, the operation of the rail spur will significantly intrude upon the areas currently " outstanding opportunities for solitude...." M, { l131(c)(2). Finally, the construction and operation of the rail spur will have adverse impacts on the area's wildlife and plant life, values which are essential to the ecological health of the area. E, Q l131(c)(4). See, Affidavit of Jim Catlin.

Despite the wilderness character of the North Cedar Mountains and its potential designation as wilderness pursuant to the Wilderness Act of 1964, PFS har. failed to adequately l

address the potential impacts of the Low Rail Spur and the associated fire buffer zone on this roadless, wild area. Specifically, PFS fails to analyze the impacts that the construction and l

l operation of the proposed project will have on the North Cedar Mountains roadless area and its current status as an area which " generally appears to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature, with the imprint of[ human) work substar,tially unnoticeable." PFS fails to consider that the operation of the rail spur will significantly intrude upon the area's currently " outstanding opportunities for solitude." Finally, PFS does not adequately address the consequences of the 4

construction and operation on the area's wildlife, wildlife habitat, plant life, and other ecosystem values which are essential to the ecological health of the area and favor it for wilderness designation. See, Amendment. See, PFS Amendment.

To establish the basis for this contention SUWA relies and intends to rely on: 1) the expert opinion of Dr. Jim Catlin and his affidavit attached to SUWA's petition and request; 2) maps, field notes, photographs and other information documenting SUWA's 1998 reinventory and in the possession of Dr. Catlin and SUWA; 3) Wilderness Act of 1964,16 U.S.C.A. {

l131-36, and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA),43 U.S.C.A. s 1701-84, National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), BLM regulations and other relevant statutes and regulations; and,4) the opinions of biological experts who consulted on the reinventory process including Dr. Leila M. Shultz of Harvard University.

II.

CONTENTION B:

i Statement: The License Application Amendment fails to develop and analyze a meaningful range of alternatives to the Low Corridor Rail Spur and the associated fire buffer zone that will preserve the wilderness character and the potential wilderness designation of a tract of roadless Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land - the North Cedar Mountains --

which it crosses.

Basis: SUWA incorporates as a basis for this Contention, the basis stated for Contention A. As was demonstrated in Contention A, despite the wilderness character of the North Cedar Mountains and its potential designation as wilderness pursuant to the Wilderness Act of 1964, PFS has failed to adequately develop and analyze a meaningful range of alternatives to the Low Rail Spur and the associated fire buffer zon^ on this roadless and the alignment of these proposed 5

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projects that will protect the wilderness character of the North Cedar Mountains and will preserve, for Congress, the opportunity to designate the area as wilderness pursuant to the

' Wilderness Act of1964.

JIII.

Conclusion In sum, as a result of the inadequacies in the current application, the PFS's license application amendment should be rejected, SUWA should be allowed to intervene in this proceeding and these issues should be litigated in this proceeding.

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~ Respectfully submitted this 18'h day of November,1998 '

Richard E. Condit mI, Land and Water Fund of the Rockies l

2260 Baseline Road, Suite 200 Boulder, Colorado 80302 (303) 444-1188 ext. 219 Boulder,Co 80302 bh b

Joro Walker Land and Water Fund of the Rockies 165 South Main Street, Suite 1 Salt Lake City, Utah 8411l'

'(80l)355-4545 Attorneys for Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance 4

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0006_fE0 UST. C

- CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that copies of: 1) SOUTHERN UTAH WILDERNESS kLI f

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REQUEST FOR HEARING AND PETITION TO INTERVENE; 2) EOUTHERN UTAH n.

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I ADA WILDERNESS ALLIANCE'S CONTENTIONS REGARDING THE LOW RAIL SPUR;

3) NOTICE O' F APPEARANCE OF COUNSEL FOR SUWA; 4) OGD'S MOTION FOR LEAVE TO REPLY TO APPLICANT'S AND STAFF'S RESPONSES TO OGD'S l_

l-CONTENTIONS RELATING TO THE LOW RAIL TRANSPORTATION LICENSE '

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' AMENDMENT, dated November 18,1998, were served on the persons listed below (unless otherwise noted) by e-mail' with conforming copies by U.S. mail, first class, postage prepaid, this 18th day of November 1998.

l G. Paul Bollwerk III, Esq., Chairman Dr. Jerry R. Kline Administrative Judge Administrative Judge Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel L

. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission l

. Washington, D.C. 20555-0001 Washington, D.C. 20555-0001 e-mail: GPB@nrc. gov e-mail: JRK2@nrc. gov Dr. Peter S. Lam

• Adjudicatory File.

Administrative Judge Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel

. Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.C. 20555-0001 l-Washington, D.C. 20555-0001 L.

e-mail: PSL@nrc. gov l

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-' E-mail copies will not include Exhibits.

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Catherine L. Marco, Esq.

• Charles J. Haughney Sherwin E. Turk, Esq.

Acting Director, Spent Fuel Project Office Office of the General Counsel Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Mail Stop O-15 B18 Safeguards U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.C. 20555 Washington, D.C. 20555 e-mail: pfscase@nrc. gov Denise Chancellor, Esq.

Jay E. Silberg, Esq.

Assistant Attorney General Ernest Blake, Esq.

Utah Attorney General's Office Paul A. Gaukler, Esq.

160 East 300 South,5th Ploor Shaw, Pittman, Potts & Trowbridge P.O. Box 140873 2300 N Street, NW Salt Lake City, Utah 84114-0873 Washington, DC 20037-8007 e-mail: dchancel@ state.UT.US e-mail: jay _silberg, paul _gaukler, and ernest _blake@shawpittman.com John Paul Kennedy, Sr., Esq.

Connie Nakal ara, Esq.

Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Utah Dep't of Environmental Quality Reservation and David Pete 168 North 1950 West 1385 Yale Avenue PO Box 144810 Salt Lake City, Utah 84105 Salt Lake City, UT 84114-4810 e-mail: john @kennedys.org e-mail: cnakahar@ state.UT.US Clayton J. Parr, Esq.

Danny Quintana, Esq.

Castle Rock, et al.

Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians Parr, Waddoups, Brown, Gee & Loveless Danny Quintana & Associates, P.C.

185 S. State Street, Suite 1300 50 West Broadway, Fourth Floor l

P.O. Box 11019 Salt Lake City, Utah 84101 Salt Lake City, Utah 84147-0019 e-mail: quintana @xmission.com e-mail: karenj@pwlaw.com Diane Curran, Esq.

Office of the Secretary Harmon, Curran, Spielberg &

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Eisenberg, L.L.P.

Washington D.C. 20555-0001 2001 S Street, N.W.

Attention: Rulemakings and Adjudications Washington, D.C. 20009 Staff l

. e-mail:Deurran.HCSE@zzapp.org e-mail: HEARINGDOCKET@NRC. GOV (Original and two copies) l

• By U.S. mail only.

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Richard Condit. Esq.