Trial for Green River water for nuclear power plant

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Green River nuclear water rights trial scheduled for last week in September. Outcome of 9/23-9/30 trial critical for future of Utah’s first proposed nuclear reactor project
HEAL Utah announced that their effort to overturn the State of Utah’s decision to approve water rights for the proposed Green River nuclear reactor project will be heard in Price between Sept. 23-30.
The case, “HEAL Utah et al v. Blue Castle Holdings et al,” will be tried in front of Judge George Harmond in the Seventh District of Utah’s District Court. The trial is scheduled to begin on Monday, Sept. 23 and last until Monday, Sept. 30 at the courthouse located at 149 East, 100 South, Price.
HEAL and fellow plaintiffs Uranium Watch, Living Rivers, and several Green River-area businesses and residents, will argue that State Engineer Kent Jones failed to uphold state law when he gave Blue Castle Holdings approval to take more than 53,000 acre feet of water from the Green River to cool a proposed nuclear power project.
The plaintiffs contend that Jones should have done much more in reviewing the water rights applications, including making sure that financially-struggling Blue Castle Holdings had enough money to complete the project, as state law requires. Plaintiffs also contend that the State Engineer failed to show that the nuclear reactors won’t interfere with other water rights or harm the fragile Green River ecosystem, among other claims.
The trial in Price is critical because it’s the only remaining opportunity for a Utah official to have a say in whether the Green River nuclear project goes forward.
If the state’s water rights decision stands, Blue Castle Holdings will be free to apply to the federal U.S. Nuclear Reactor Commission for a permit to site their nuclear reactors just four miles northwest of the city of Green River.
HEAL and their fellow plaintiffs will plan daily briefings during and after the trial.