Now that attorneys general from two states are threatening to sue the federal Department of Energy over transfer of Fernald's low-level radioactive waste, the standoff could lead to another costly slowdown for cleanup at the former nuclear weapons processing plant 18 miles northwest of Cincinnati.

Federal and state agencies need to keep Fernald's $4 billion cleanup moving ahead. Science and safety should drive the removal of contaminated waste - not deadlines or politics.

Nevada Attorney General Brian Sandoval has threatened to sue DOE to block shipments of Fernald's wastes to the Nevada Test Site 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas. On June 25, Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro also threatened to sue DOE, on behalf of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, to keep DOE contractor Fluor Fernald from removing toxic waste from deteriorating 50-year-old concrete silos and storing it temporarily on site. State attorneys general threatening federal lawsuits at either end of the proposed shipment routes do not leave a whole lot of options for the contractor who has a cleanup deadline of June 2006.

Fluor Fernald officials argue their production plant to remove Silo 3's powdered waste and package it for shipment wasn't designed to be mothballed indefinitely, and that prompt cleanup of Silo 3 will help train their crews for the tougher work involved with emptying the sludge like waste in Silos 1 and 2. That waste must be treated and put in canisters. Fernald Residents for Environmental Safety and Health (FRESH) agrees with Ohio that the federal Department of Energy should honor its cleanup agreement and not store wastes outside the silos, even temporarily. Yet FRESH also wants DOE to press ahead with shipment plans, notwithstanding Nevada's threat to sue.

Nevada officials question whether Fernald's silo wastes are only low-level radioactive. They also object to shipment by truck, which has been common practice since the 1980s. The Fernald plan calls for 3,500 truckloads of a total of 7,000 canisters. Presidential politics could pose a greater threat to the cleanup schedule. The Bush administration may be reluctant to force Nevada to accept Fernald waste before the fall elections.

Petro's team met Thursday with officials from the federal EPA and Ohio EPA, and all three agencies believe the Nevada Test Site is still the best option. Next they seek a meeting with the Department of Energy.

Fluor Fernald already has declared it is ready to begin work on the Silo 3 waste, and expects to ask DOE for authorization by July 8. This standoff shouldn't come down to a question of who blinks first. All parties need to show some flexibility on the timeline. But permanent on-site storage of the waste would be a violation of previous agreements and unfair to local residents. Nor is leaving the wastes in the deteriorating silos a viable option. DOE needs to press ahead with its permanent plan to ship the material to the permanent disposal site in Nevada, even if that means battling the Nevada attorney general in court.