Mercury Storage Discussion - 6

I agree with Jim.

Here is a blog I posted on Bill Grant's column July 14:(http://www.gjsentinel.com/search/content/news/opinion/stories/2009/07/13/071409_6A_Grant_Column.html)

As the Mesa County Planning Director in the 1980's I recall that when the Cheney Reservoir Disposal Site was permitted by the Mesa County Commissioners as the disposal site for the uranium mill tailings, it was done through local zoning as a conditional use permit. The County took the position that it had a right to permit or not permit the disposal of mill tailings or any waste under local land use authoriy. The conditional use permit that the County granted to the Department of Energy specifically stated that the only waste that could be disposed of at this site was low level radioactive mill tailings from the Grand Junction area. This case demonstrated that County has the right to require local land use authority on BLM land. This is because of a memorandum of understanding between the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and Mesa County which states that the BLM will require local land use approval of activates on BLM land in Mesa County.

Therefore, any change in the conditional use permit would require additional hearings with the County Planning Commission and the County Commissioners and should be denied.  The DOE will attempt to assert federal preemption, but there is already a precedent set by the original conditional use permit.

Bennett Boeschenstein