Tuesday, August 19, 2008 - Page updated at 03:20 PM

State won't appeal ruling on Hanford initiative

The state says it will live with a federal appeals court ruling that found Initiative 297 unconstitutional.

KENNEWICK, Wash. —

The state says it will live with a federal appeals court ruling that found Initiative 297 unconstitutional.

Voters passed the initiative in 2004. It would have barred the federal government from shipping waste to the Hanford nuclear site until the waste that's already there is cleaned up.

A judge struck down the law in 2006, saying the federal government has authority over nuclear waste, and in May, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed.

The state Attorney General's Office had until Tuesday to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review, but declined. Lawyers didn't believe the high court would take the case.

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Information from: Tri-City Herald, http://www.tri-cityherald.com

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