New York State Energy Research & Development Authority v. Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc.

102 F.R.D. 18, 38 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 379
District Court, W.D. New York·Decided October 7, 1983·No. No. Civ-82-426·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

MEMORANDUM and ORDER

ELFVIN, District Judge.

This is a case involving the current storage of spent nuclear fuel by the above named defendants and others at plaintiff (“NYSERDA”)’s Nuclear Fuels Disposal and Reprocessing Center at West Valley, N.Y. (“the Center”). Defendant Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc. (“NFS”), a subsidiary of defendant Getty Oil Company, is a former operator of the Center and is a current owner of spent fuel stored therein. Spent nuclear fuel in storage at the Center is also owned by various utilities, among which are General Public Utilities Service Corporation, Jersey Central Power & Light Company and their parent, General Public Utilities Corp. (collectively referred to hereafter as “the GPU defendants”), Commonwealth Edison Company (“Comm.Ed.”), Wisconsin Electric Power Company (“Wisconsin”) and Rochester Gas and Electric (“RG & E”).

The extensive facts underlying this action are set forth in a previous opinion of this Court, see N.Y. St. Energy R. & D. Auth. v. Nuclear Fuel Serv., 561 F.Supp. 954 (W.D.N.Y.1983), and will not be repeated here except as they may particularly relate to the instant motion. In an Order dated June 29, 1983 (filed June 30, 1983) I declared that the utility defendants in this action (all the above-mentioned entities save RG & E and NFS) are under a duty to remove their spent nuclear fuel from the Center with reasonable dispatch and with specific reference to an alleged particular present schedule of the United States Department of Energy (“the DOE”). The exact schedule for removal of the fuel has not as yet been proposed and a trial on this issue is scheduled, although Wisconsin and Comm. Ed. are to commence removal of their fuel prior to commencement of such trial.

The State of Ohio (“Ohio”) has now moved pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 24(a) and 24(b) for leave to intervene as of right or, alternatively, to be granted permissive intervention as a defendant and cross-claimant in this action. Ohio, which was ably represented in this matter by its counsel,' has apparently been notified by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (“the NRC”) that the latter had received plans from Wisconsin and Comm.Ed. for [21]*21the transporting of nuclear fuel through Ohio to respective storage facilities in Wisconsin and Illinois. Ohio seeks intervention in order to be relieved of, pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. rule 60(b), the April 8, 1983 and June 30, 1983 Orders rendered by this Court wherein and whereby it was established that the utility defendants are under a duty to remove their spent fuel from the Center within a reasonable amount of time to forestall a declaration of liability for trespass. Ohio seeks to establish that the claimed trespass by these defendants, which has resulted from the unauthorized but continued presence of their spent fuel at the Center, is justified by the common law privilege of public necessity. In addition, and perhaps as the overall thrust of the present motion, Ohio seeks to put in issue the impact upon it and its citizens of the anticipated numerous shipments of spent nuclear fuel through Ohio and through its most densely populated county as an equitable consideration affecting the propriety of injunctive relief to NYSERDA rather than monetary damages as a result of such trespass. The basis for this aspect of Ohio’s motion is the perceived lack of emergency capability to respond to the consequences of any accident which might befall the shipment of nuclear fuel.

Ohio also seeks to intervene in order to assert cross-claims against Wisconsin and Comm.Ed., alleging that the transportation of nuclear fuel is a public nuisance in that it constitutes a significant risk to public health and public safety. Ohio asks that this Court forbid the shipments or upgrade the terms pursuant to which such shipments would be made so as to protect the citizens of Ohio. Lastly, Ohio seeks a determination that the utility defendants are liable for the costs to be incurred by Ohio in order to assure the safety of its citizens.

NYSERDA and NFS oppose any efforts by Ohio to intervene, arguing essentially that Ohio’s stated concerns fall outside the scope of this lawsuit. Comm. Ed., Wisconsin and the GPU defendants, contrastingly, favor Ohio’s intervention (even though Ohio seeks thereby to assert cross-claims against Wisconsin and Comm. Ed.) but oppose granting Ohio its request for more stringent controls on transportation of the spent fuel.

Fed.R.Civ.P. rule 24(a)(2), which governs Ohio’s request to intervene “as of right,” provides that “[u]pon timely application anyone shall be permitted to intervene in an action * * * when the applicant claims an interest relating to the property or transaction which is the subject of the action and he is so situated that the disposition of the action may as a practical matter impair or impede his ability to protect that interest, unless the applicant’s interest is adequately represented by existing parties.” Generally, intervention “as of right” under rule 24(a)(2) requires a showing (1) of a timely application, (2) of an interest in the subject matter of the action, (3) that disposition of the action may impair or impede the protection of the interest as a practical matter and (4) that the interest is not adequately represented by a party or parties to the action. United States Postal Service v. Brennan, 579 F.2d 188, 191 (2d Cir.1978); Levin v. Mississippi River Corp., 47 F.R.D. 294 (S.D.N.Y.1969). Despite the above goals of intervention, however, Ohio concedes that the gravamen of its asserted interest “is in the protection of the citizens from the needless transport of [nuclear] waste if an arrangement for its continued storage [at the Center] can be implemented.”

Ohio’s claims seeking to prohibit the shipment of spent nuclear fuel through Ohio or seeking to upgrade the terms pursuant to which such shipments would be made so as to better protect its citizens does not state a protectable interest so as to permit its intervention as of right in this Court. It is clear that rule 24(a)’s requirement that one must have “a significantly protectable interest” (Donaldson v. United States, 400 U.S. 517, 531, 91 S.Ct. 534, 542, 27 L.Ed.2d 580 (1971)) relating to subject property or transaction cannot be taken to mean that one must have “a specific legal or equitable interest in the chose” (see, Rios v. Enterprise Ass’n Steamfitters Loc. [22]*22U. # 638 of U.A., 520 F.2d 352, 357 (2d Cir.1975)), and that, where “[t]he existence of a ease or controversy [has] been established as between [the original litigants], there [is] no need to impose the standing requirement upon the proposed intervenor” (United States Postal Service v. Brennan, supra, 579 F.2d at 190). The precise nature of the interest necessary to sustain intervention as of right has been delineated differently by various courts (see, Rosebud Coal Sales Co. v. Andrus, 644 F.2d 849, 850 n. 3 (10th Cir.1981)), some courts reading the requirement more restrictively than the interpretation prevailing in this circuit (e.g., Allard v. Frizzell, 536 F.2d 1332 (10th Cir.1976); Solien v. Miscellaneous Drivers & Helpers U., Loc. No. 610, 440 F.2d 124 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 403 U.S. 905, 91 S.Ct. 2206, 29 L.Ed.2d 680 (1971).

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New York State Energy Research & Development Authority v. Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc., 102 F.R.D. 18, 38 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 379 (W.D.N.Y. 1983).

102 F.R.D. 18 (New York State Energy Research & Development Authority v. Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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