Suit filed to block explosion: 700-ton blast scheduled on June 2

WASHINGTON -- The Western Shoshone tribe and a group of Utah downwinders on Thursday filed a lawsuit in federal court in Las Vegas to prevent a 700-ton explosion scheduled June 2 at the Nevada Test Site.

Robert Hager, a Reno attorney who is representing the tribe and Utahns, said he is confident the court will issue a restraining order to block the explosion. "I believe, based on the violations of the National Environmental Policy Act alone, the court will be required to enjoin the Defense Department from following through with this scheduled blast," Hager said in a phone interview.

The Nevada Division of Environmental Protection last week halted the test until the federal Defense Threat Reduction Agency showed the blast would comply with air quality standards and that hazardous particles would be tracked.

Hager said he understood the Nevada agency has withdrawn its objection to the test. Calls to the agency on Thursday were not returned. "We continue to provide (the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection) the information requested so we can move forward (with the test)," Darwin Morgan, a test site spokesman, said Thursday. >>>cont

Link Here