Judge Denies NIF Injunction Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Judge Denies NIF InjunctionLawrence Livermore National Laboratory's $1 billion, 192-laser National Ignition Facility project will continue as planned following a federal district court judge's refusal to place a preliminary injunction against the facility on environmental grounds.
The Natural Resource Defense Council's complaint alleged that the Department of Energy (DoE) failed to disclose environmental impact studies for several government facilities, including the Livermore site. As part of his decision, the judge requested that the DoE disclose environmental and health risks, and suggest alternatives to the project's stated goals of maintaining the US' nuclear weapon stockpile stewardship program. Plaintiff's attorney Lisa Dowden says her clients may appeal the decision or ask for a summary judgment. They had until mid-September to inform the court of their intentions.
In an unrelated event, site construction was halted for nearly two weeks after the discovery of PCB contamination of the site.