Judge Denies Request By Anti-Nuclear Group

A federal judge in Brattleboro has denied a request by the antinuclear group New England Coalition to be a party in the lawsuit filed against the state filed by Entergy Vermont Yankee.

U.S. District Court Judge J. Garvin Murtha has not yet made a final ruling granting party status to the Vermont Conservation Law Foundation and the Vermont Public Interest Research Group.

In separate rulings this week, the judge ruled that the would-be interveners share the same interests as the state - that is, to prove the constitutionality of Vermont's law giving the legislature power to decide on Vermont Yankee's bid to extend its license for another 20 years.

In 2010 the Senate voted overwhelmingly not to allow the state Public Service board to renew the plant's operating license, which expires in 2012.

Murtha wrote that the three groups failed to show that the state could not adequately defend its right to make the decision.

The groups will be allowed to request permission to file Amicus, or ‘Friend-of the Court,' briefs.

Corrections: An earlier version of this story said that Judge Murtha had ruled against granting party status to the Vermont Conservation Law Foundation and the Vermont Public Interest Research Group.