CARSON CITY, Nev. (Legal Newsline) — Nevada Attorney General Adam Paul Laxalt announced June 1 that his motion to dismiss in the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste lawsuit filed by Texas has been granted by the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
“[This] decision comes after many hard-fought legal efforts to protect Nevadans from the poster child for federal overreach—a cram down of a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain,” Laxalt said in a statement. “This victory proves Nevada is unified in its fight. This type of litigation victory happens but once a decade, and is a credit to the hard work of lawyers in my office including my Solicitor General’s Office that is responsible for the legal briefing in this case. We are also proud to work cooperatively with the Office of Nuclear Project’s staff and the governor’s office.”
According to Laxalt’s office, Texas’ lawsuit was aimed at forcing congressional funding for the Yucca Mountain project and preventing the U.S. Department of Energy from creating a siting policy for nuclear facilities.
"As governor of Nevada, I am incredibly pleased by [this] motion to dismiss," Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval said in a statement. "Our state has long been united in the fight against Yucca Mountain and, whether in court or in Congress, we will continue to oppose the siting of a nuclear waste repository in our great state."