State won't appeal ruling on Hanford initiative

By Associated Press

Summary

The state says it will live with a federal appeals court ruling that found Initiative 297 unconstitutional.

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Story Published: Aug 19, 2008 at 2:59 PM PST

Story Updated: Nov 20, 2008 at 11:53 PM PST

State won't appeal ruling on Hanford initiative
KENNEWICK, Wash. (AP) - The state says it will live with a federal appeals court ruling that found Initiative 297 unconstitutional.

Voters passed the initiative in 2004. It would have barred the federal government from shipping waste to the Hanford nuclear site until the waste that's already there is cleaned up.

A judge struck down the law in 2006, saying the federal government has authority over nuclear waste, and in May, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed.

The state Attorney General's Office had until Tuesday to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review, but declined. Lawyers didn't believe the high court would take the case.