Environmental coalition files oppositional responses against ISP/WCS CISF in Texas

OPPOSITION OF DON’T WASTE MICHIGAN, CITIZENS’ ENVIRONMENTAL COALITION, CITIZENS FOR ALTERNATIVES TO CHEMICAL CONTAMINATION, NUCLEAR ENERGY INFORMATION SERVICE, PUBLIC CITIZEN, INC., SAN LUIS OBISPO MOTHERS FOR PEACE, SUSTAINABLE ENERGY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COALITION AND LEONA MORGAN, INDIVIDUALLY TO ISP/WCS MOTION TO STRIKE, filed on Dec. 30, 2018 by Terry Lodge, legal counsel for the environmental coalition.

Lodge's filing came in response to the Dec. 27, 2018 INTERIM STORAGE PARTNERS LLC’S MOTION TO STRIKE PORTIONS OF THE REPLY FILED BY DON’T WASTE MICHIGAN et al.

Update on January 2, 2019 by admin

Similarly, Sierra Club responded to ISP's motion to strike its intervention:

SIERRA CLUB’S ANSWER TO INTERIM STORAGE PARTNERS’ MOTION TO STRIKE PORTIONS OF SIERRA CLUB’S REPLY, filed on Jan. 2, 2019 by Wally Taylor, legal counsel for Sierra Club.

Beyond Nuclear files Petition for Review and Motion to Hold in Abeyance (re: Holtec/ELEA and ISP/WCS CISFs) with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

Legal counsel for Beyond Nuclear (Diane Curran, of Harmon, Curran, Spielberg, & Eisenberg, L.L.P. of Washington, D.C.; and Mindy Goldstein and Caroline Reiser of the Turner Environmental Law Clinic at Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, GA) have filed a Petition for Review, and Motion to Hold in Abeyance (Beyond Nuclear, Inc., Petitioner, v. United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and United States of America, Respondents), regarding the proposed Holtec International/Eddy-Lea Energy Alliance, and Interim Storage Partners/Waste Control Specialists irradiated nuclear fuel consolidated interim storage facilities. The filings were submitted to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. See links to the documents, below:

Cover letter for Petition for Review.

Beyond Nuclear Petition for Review, and Exhibits A, B, and C.

Petitioner's Motion to Hold Petition for Review in Abeyance.

Certificate of Service.

Certificate as to Parties, Ruling, and Related Cases.

Petitioner's Rule 26.1 Disclosure.

Resistance against high-level radioactive waste CISFs continues

Opposition to consolidated interim storage facilities (CISF) for irradiated nuclear fuel, targeted at the Southwest, persists. On Dec. 17, a coalition of environmental groups defended their legal standing, and dozens of legal and technical contentions, challenging the Interim Storage Partners (ISP) CISF for 40,000 metric tons of highly radioactive waste, targeted at the Waste Control Specialists (WCS) national "low-level" radioactive waste dump in Andrews County, West Texas. Meanwhile, the licensing proceeding has moved ahead for the Holtec International/Eddy-Lea Energy Alliance, targeting southeastern New Mexico -- just 40 miles from WCS -- with a CISF for another 173,600 MT of irradiated nuclear fuel. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Atomic Safety and Licensing Board has ordered oral argument pre-hearings in Albuquerque beginning at 9am Mountain Time on Wed., Jan. 23. Beyond Nuclear has legally intervened against both CISFs, after NRC rejected our motions to dismiss both licensing proceedings, for lack of legal jurisdiction or authority to even consider such proposals. What can you do to help stop these CISFs? When it comes to radioactive waste transportation, we all live in TX and NM. Urge your city, county, and/or state to pass resolutions opposing these CISFs, as many other communities have already done! To learn more, see our Centralized Storage and Waste Transportation website sections.

U.S. Rep. Shimkus (R-IL) introduces amendments to fund Yucca Mountain dump, and consolidated interim storage

Thanks to Don Hancock of Southwest Research Information Center for alerting us to this news and analysis:

U.S. Rep. Shimkus (R-IL) has brought two amendments to the U.S. House Rules Committee - one similar to H.R. 3053 (the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 2018 -- passed in the U.S. House last May, but not by the U.S. Senate -- which would expedite Yucca dump licensing, expand waste burial limits from 70,000 metric tons of highly radioactive waste to 110,000 MT, authorize consolidated interim storage, etc.), and the other to provide $120 million for Yucca Mountain high-level radioactive waste dump licensing, and an additional $30 million for consolidated interim storage.

The U.S. House bill includes border wall funding, so it's not clear whether it can pass the U.S. House, but presumably can't pass the U.S. Senate.

So there could be a government shutdown on Friday night, primarily over the Trump border wall.

But these high-level radioactive waste issues may be included (or not) too!

So the Congressional chaos continues. It's not clear when the U.S. House will vote - maybe tonight, maybe tomorrow. If the U.S. House passes this bill and its amendments, the U.S. Senate will have to consider it. But the U.S. House might not actually pass any bill.

Update on December 20, 2018 by admin

As reported by the Washington Post:

House passes spending bill that includes funds for border wall, but government remains on track for partial shutdown

Update on December 21, 2018 by admin

Further updates from Don Hancock at SRIC:

The House passed the Continuing Resolution to fund seven government agencies through Feb. 8, 2019 (the same as the Senate). But the bill added Section 141 to fund the Border wall at $5.7 billion and funding for many government agencies involved with 2018 disaster relief.
https://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20181217/BILLS-115SAHR695-RCP115-88.pdf

The House did not vote on the Shimkus amendments to add nuclear waste funding for Yucca Mountain and Consolidated Storage.

The Senate comes back into session today at noon eastern. It may vote on the House bill, which presumably doesn't pass because of Democratic opposition to the border wall. It may vote on the House bill, minus the
border wall funding. It may not vote on anything. Of course, many senators and many Reps. have left DC, not expecting to come back until January 2. So whether some do come back to do something over the weekend
or after Christmas is another question. They may just leave some of the government shut down until the new Congress comes in so that Congress has to deal with re-opening a lot of the government, rather than doing
other things that the House Democrats say they want to do. Chaos continues....

"The NRC staff determined that NRC regulations do not specifically address bribery."

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has delivered an early Xmas present to Holtec International. NRC has decided that "NRC regulations do not specifically address bribery." The shocking statement is included in a December 20, 2018 "Closure Letter," re: an "Allegation" of bribery against Holtec, that NRC launched an official investigation of, lasting nearly five months. In the end, NRC's curt "Closure Letter" announced that bribery is not its department!

Are concerned citizens and watch-dog groups like ours supposed to activate the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate these bribery allegations, since NRC has flippantly washed its hands of the matter? NRC has done this despite Holtec's documented involvement in a bribery scheme that led to a conviction. NRC is behaving like that bribery conviction never took place.

On July 30, 2018, in its public comments re: NRC's National Environmental Policy Act scoping process vis-a-vis Holtec's proposal to "tempoarily store" all the highly radioactive waste to ever be generated in the United States (and then some) in southeastern New Mexico, Beyond Nuclear included allegations of bribery by Holtec. See page 2 of Beyond Nuclear's comments, here, re: the bribery allegations against Holtec CEO Krishna Singh.

Specifically, Holtec's CEO, Krishna Singh, attempted to bribe industry whistle-blower Oscar Shirani of Commonwealth Edison/Exelon (as well as NRC whistle-blower Dr. Ross Landsman), into silence, re: widespread, serious quality assurance (QA) violations in the design and fabrication of Holtec containers for high-level radioactive waste storage and transport, used extensively throughout the U.S. nuclear power industry.

Singh was also implicated in bribing a Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) official in order to secure a contact at the Browns Ferry nuclear power plant in Alabama. The bribery led to a court conviction, and resulted in Holtec paying millions of dollars in fines, as well as a 60-day suspension (a bar) on doing business with TVA.

Of course, $2 million in fines, and a 60-day bar, were mere slaps on the wrist for a giant international corporation like Holtec. Holtec was then simply allowed to proceed merrily along its way, executing and profiting from the contract it secured through bribery, and others that followed thereafter.

Mining Awareness, on July 29, 2018, published an exposé and provided documentation of Holtec's TVA bribery and kick-back scandal.

Update on July 29, 2018 by admin

Posted July 29, 2018 --

Holtec Nuclear Waste Cans-Kris Singh: Apparent Bribery-Kickback And Allegation Of Attempted Bribery

As published by Mining Awareness.

Update on September 14, 2018 by admin

Posted September 14, 2018 --

CEO of N.J. firm given $260M in tax breaks trashes local workers as lazy, drug users

As reported by NJ.com.

Update on May 23, 2019 by admin

Re: Holtec -- "A False Answer, a Big Political Connection and $260 Million in Tax Breaks"

As reported by ProPublica and WNYC.

Update on June 3, 2019 by admin

Posted June 3, 2019 --

Sources: Subpoena issued to New Jersey Economic Development Authority seeks documents on Holtec

As reported by Politico.

The news follows an earlier exposé by Politico and WNYC, dated May 23, 2019, re: Holtec's false testimony to the State of New Jersey on an application which won the company a $260 million tax break. Holtec testified that it had never been barred from doing business with the federal government or any state government. This was false. It had been barred from doing business with the Tennessee Valley Authority, due to a bribery conviction at the Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant in Alabama.

Update on June 4, 2019 by admin

Posted June 4, 2019:

The Tax Break Application Had a False Answer. Now the State Has Put the Break on Hold.

After WNYC and ProPublica identified a false answer on nuclear company Holtec International’s New Jersey tax break application, state officials have frozen the break pending further investigation.

As further reported by WNYC and ProPublica.

Update on June 26, 2019 by admin

June 26, 2019 --

A Huge Tax Break Went to a Politically Connected Company in New Jersey Despite Red Flags

Holtec International told New Jersey regulators that Ohio was competing for its new headquarters. But officials there stripped the firm of past tax awards for failing to create the jobs it promised.

As reported by ProPublica and WNYC.

Update on June 30, 2019 by admin

Posted June 30, 2019 --

Jim Walden went after the mob as a federal prosecutor. Now he’s investigating N.J. tax breaks

As reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Update on July 2, 2019 by admin

Posted July 2, 2019 --

Meet the Congressman Defending Questionable Tax Breaks for a Company Connected to His Rich Brother

After multiple issues have surfaced with Holtec International’s New Jersey tax break application, Rep. Donald Norcross, its biggest congressional supporter (and the brother of a Holtec board member) is playing defense.

As reported by ProPublica and WNYC.

Update on July 9, 2019 by admin

Posted July 9, 2019 --

Holtec funneled $50,000 to federal employee in bid to win contract, inspector general report says

As reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Posted July 9, 2019 --

Holtec CEO was at center of inquiry that led to disbarment by federal agency

As reported by Politico.

Update on July 10, 2019 by admin

[NJ State Senate Majority Leader] Weinberg ‘troubled’ by Holtec revelations

As reported by Politico.

Update on July 16, 2019 by admin

Pilgrim Watch Motion to File a New Contention, re: Holtec trustworthiness, reliability, and character (vis-a-vis allegation of bribery attempts, and more)

See the July 16, 2019 Motion filed by environmental watch-dog organization Pilgrim Watch, in the context of Holtec International/SNC-Lavalin's takeover of the permanently shutdown Pilgrim atomic reactor license for decommissioning and irradiated nuclear fuel management purposes.

Update on July 25, 2019 by admin

SNC-Lavalin's radioactive and other skeletons in the closet (Holtec International and SNC-Lavalin have formed a consortium to undertake nuclear power plant decommissioning, as well as high-level radioactive waste management, named Comprehensive Decommissioning International, CDI):

See a long list re: SNC-Lavalin's skeletons in the closet, posted at Beyond Nuclear's DECOMMISSIONING website section.

SNC-Lavalin has been implicated, and its officials convicted and imprisoned, for massive bribery schemes, internationally. This has led to it, and its subsidiaries, being banned and barred from doing business with the World Bank, and other official institutions.

Update on November 18, 2019 by admin

Cops drag out activist as [Holtec International board of directors member] George Norcross testifies at N.J. Senate hearing on tax incentives

As reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer.

George Norcross is a Holtec International board of directors member.

Holtec itself was one of several Norcross affiliated companies that benefited from these controversial tax breaks, to the tune of $1.1 billion altogether.

Holtec alone got $260 million, despite its CEO, Krishna Singh, providing false information on its application paperwork.

Norcross's brother, an attorney, was instrumental in the passage of the tax break law in the first place.

Another Norcross brother is a U.S. Representative.

Further complicating matters in New Jersey, Holtec has secured a takeover of Oyster Creek nuclear power plant, for decommissioning and high-level radioactive waste management.

The high-level radioactive waste at Oyster Creek could be shipped to New Mexico for "interim storage" at a "consolidated facility," if Holtec gets its way.

Update on November 23, 2019 by admin

Nuke Farm, New Mexico (Part One), by Nick Maxwell at We the Fourth

Excellent summary of the Holtec International/Eddy-Lea Energy Alliance consolidated interim storage facility fight, by Nick Maxwell, as posted at We the Fourth.

Update on January 15, 2020 by admin

Is The Company Poised To Dismantle Indian Point Too Radioactive?

As reported by WNYC.

For additional background information about Holtec International and SNC-Lavalin, see Beyond Nuclear's respective "skeletons in the closet" annotated bibliographies, provided at the hot links.

Holtec has applied to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a license to construct and operate a consolidated interim storage facility for 173,600 metric tons of irradiated nuclear fuel in southeastern New Mexico. This would involve thousands of road, rail, and/or waterway shipments of high risk, high-level radioactive waste, through most states, over the course of decades.

Update on January 16, 2020

See also:

• USA Today Network - Holtec faces tough questions about Indian Point teardown at first public meeting in Buchanan - Thomas C. Zambito, Rockland/Westchester Journal News
• TheExaminerNews.com, Officials, Residents Grill Company Chosen to Decommission Indian Pt. - Rick Pezzullo

Update on April 27, 2020 by admin

The Holtec Partnership, Probed

Statement from Lea County, NM resident, and We the Fourth spokesman, Nick Maxwell:

Greetings from Lea County,

Blessings continue daily. I have new information regarding the investigation into the Holtec-ELEA partnership in New Mexico. On Friday, the State Auditor officially confirmed an open investigation of my procurement complaint filed on July 17, 2019.

Below, please find my recently published commentary of the government misconduct being investigated.

I’d encourage you to share this information in any way to build public awareness. On social media, please share from my public Facebook post (linked below) or share the link to my commentary website (https://wethefourth.org) in your new post to generate a thumbnail preview.
(https://www.facebook.com/nick.maxwell.56/posts/10156883662191791)

To date, mainstream media has not reported on this matter.

#JusticeForNewMexicans

Nick Maxwell,
resident of Lea County

---

The Holtec Partnership, Probed

What the Hobbs News-Sun and Associated Press aren't reporting:

April 27, 2020

https://wethefourth.org

(LEA COUNTY, NM) -- This past Friday, State Auditor Brian Colón confirmed the open investigation of a procurement complaint filed last year against the Eddy-Lea Energy Alliance, a regional government in a partnership with Holtec International to site a large nuclear waste storage facility in Lea County.

Last July, Lea County resident Nick Maxwell brought the complaint to the state auditor's office and publicly issued his accompanying statement to the press. His complaint alleged that public officers of Eddy-Lea Energy Alliance (ELEA) had colluded with executives of Holtec in a joint-effort to defraud a competitive public procurement. Notably absent from the mainstream media outlets has been any report about the state's receipt of Maxwell's complaint for prohibited bidding.

Equipped with New Mexico's inspection statutes, Maxwell had obtained the invoice of the attorney who had been commissioned by ELEA to draft a revenue sharing deal in the later months of 2015. According to the invoice, this deal was secretly slipped exclusively to Holtec in anticipation of ELEA's announcement of a competitive public procurement offering the purchase of the group's publicly owned surface rights for the purpose of siting a nuclear storage facility. Not long thereafter and near the beginning of 2016, the deal was kicked back to ELEA within Holtec's sealed proposal at the end of public procurement.

The attorney had been tasked with preparing the terms which outlined this procurement. Per those terms, proposals from the public would have to include a revenue sharing deal for consideration.

Maxwell has alleged ELEA's tax-funded kickback deal was a bribe: a fabricated promise returned by Holtec for allocating no less than 30% of their future revenues to ELEA should Holtec receive a facility license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and get everything operational. In effect, future costs associated with Holtec's storage facility may become artificially inflated to afford the "30% bribery cuts" that will get regularly paid out to ELEA for their enduring "local public support".

Even in the state of New Mexico, white collar crimes such as bribery can be charged as racketeering scams when organizations attempt to pass off their crime as legitimate business activities. If held liable for commissioning their henchman-in-fact attorney to broker a bribe, the energy alliance could face asset forfeiture of Holtec's promised land to the State of New Mexico as well as involuntary judicial dissolution of the local government-owned limited liability company.

John Heaton, longtime chief officer of ELEA and former state representative in the Democratic Party, has kept his high seat on the board of directors of the energy alliance despite the investigation.

Maxwell commented on the auditor's investigation, "The people of New Mexico demand and deserve transparency, honesty, and integrity from their public officials. This organized effort from ELEA and their partner to broker a favorable bribe had resulted in a less-than-competitive public procurement and should be exposed as a criminal racket funded from the public treasury. Any billion-dollar bid rigging conspiracy like this must be brought to justice for New Mexicans before it is too late."

author: Nick Maxwell

###

Update on June 25, 2020 by admin

Report: Company Decommissioning Pilgrim Nuclear Plant Under Criminal Investigation

As reported by WBUR.

Holtec International, owner of the Pilgrim Nuclear Plant, and conducting its decommissioning and high-level radioactive waste management, has also proposed a highly controversial consolidated interim storage facility for commercial irradiated nuclear fuel in New Mexico.

Update on July 6, 2020 by admin

Court rejects George Norcross challenge to EDA task-force probe

As reported by Jim Walsch of the Cherry Hill Courier-Post.

Cherry Hill, NJ has long been a Holtec International headquarters location.

George Norcross III is a Holtec International board of directors member.

Although not mentioned in the article linked above, Holtec International and its CEO, Krishna Singh, are also under criminal investigation in New Jersey re: the NJ Economic Development Authority (EDA).

As revealed last year by ProPublica and WNYC, Holtec International CEO Krishna Singh provided false information, under oath, and signed his signature onto a NJ EDA tax break application form, winning him and Holtec $260 million in tax incentives. Singh and Holtec then used the money to build its newest headquarters and fabrication plant, in Camden, NJ.

The false statement involved Singh's denial that Holtec had ever been barred from doing business with a state of federal government agency. In fact, Holtec had been barred from doing business with the Tennessee Valley Authority, after a bribery conviction of a TVA official at the Browns Ferry nuclear power plant. Singh was implicated in paying the official a $55,000 bribe, to secure a radioactive waste management contract at the triple-reactor facility in Alabama.

Also not mentioned in the article linked above is the fact that a third Norcross brother serves as a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives. U.S. Rep. Norcross (D-NJ) has voted in favor of legislation favorable to Holtec International, namely the legalization of the U.S. Department of Energy taking title (ownership) and liability for irradiated nuclear fuel at a private interim storage site, even in the absence of a licensed and operating deep geologic repository. Holtec International has applied for a license to build and operate a consolidated interim storage facility in New Mexico, and hopes DOE (that is, American taxpayers) will pay all the bills (including a handsome profit margin to Holtec). Never mind that the law of the land has long been that, while DOE (taxpayers) is responsible for permanent disposal, the nuclear utilities are responsible for interim storage.

Update on August 26, 2020 by admin

During a public comment webinar/call-in session re: the NRC's Holtec CISF DEIS on August 26, 2020, Nick Maxwell of We the Fourth in Hobbs, NM, a Holtec CISF opponent and ELEA watch-dog, raised an allegation of bribery associated with the scheme.

Before allowing Nick Maxwell a second opportunity to submit verbal public comments towards the very end of the hours-long session, NRC meeting facilitator Chip Cameron warned Maxwell that he, and the assembled NRC staff, did not want to hear any more about bribery allegations.

As a federal government official, Chip Cameron had no right to censor Nick Maxwell's free speech. This not only violated Nick Maxwell's First Amendment free speech rights, it also violated Nick Maxwell's rights under the National Environmental Policy Act to submit any public comments re: the Holtec/ELEA CISF scheme that he chooses to make.

After all, Nick Maxwell's allegations of bribery are bolstered by all of the documentation posted above.

And of course it goes without saying that NRC's flippant lack of concern about Holtec's, and allegedly also ELEA's, penchant for engaging in bribery, is shocking and outrageous. After all, how can NRC fulfill its mandate, to protect public health, safety, and the environment, when it looks the other way as its own licensees engage in such serious criminal wrongdoing as bribery, not to mention providing false information (that is, lying) under oath? How can a company that behaves this way be entrusted with the storage and transportation of forever deadly, highly radioactive, commercial irradated nuclear fuel, and Greater-Than-Class-C "low" level radioactive waste?

Incredibly, despite Beyond Nuclear's and Mining Awareness's raising these issues of Holtec's penchant for engaging in bribery, in their July 2018 public comments during NRC's environmental scoping phase re: this CISF, and despite the extensive media coverage from 2019 to 2020 posted above, the words "bribe" and "bribery" do not even appear in the 488-page NRC Holtec CISF DEIS, published in March 2020. Yet again, the agency is behaving as if the bribery conviction in which Holtec was involved, and additional allegations of Holtec attempting bribery, simply never took place.