
	Chris Mulick has worked for the Herald since 1998 and has served as the statehouse correspondent covering state government and politics since 2000. He works year-round out of the Herald's Olympia bureau on the state Capitol campus. Have a question? Send Chris an e-mail and he'll answer the best questions regularly.

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Thursday, May. 22, 2008

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Governor's statement on I-297 revealing

You could be forgiven for reading right over Gov. Chris Gregoire’s statement yesterday reacting to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision to uphold a lower court ruling to squash 2004’s Initiative 297 dealing with Hanford cleanup.

But it actually was the most the governor has ever said about the measure.

"I am disappointed in the court's decision invalidating Initiative 297, which barred the import of radioactive and hazardous waste to the Hanford site,” she said. "The initiative was supported by nearly 70 percent of the voters, and we fought hard to defend it in the face of a constitutional challenge brought by the federal government.”

She did not issue a statement when the initiative was first struck down in July, 2006.

It was of great concern to some Tri-City interests in 2004. They feared the measure would only get in the way of cleanup activities and encourage other states that one day may become home to some of Hanford’s waste to implement similar laws.

Benton and Franklin counties were the only two counties in Washington to vote I-297 down.

Here’s what makes the governor’s statement so interesting. Gregoire was asked numerous times about the initiative to the Legislature in 2004, when it was put on the ballot, campaigned for and voted into law. She also was running for governor that year.

Then the attorney general, she initially told the Herald in January that year that she could not take a position on it because she was advising lawmakers on its constitutionality while it was before the Legislature.

But when she was asked in a letter from then Sen. Pat Hale, R-Kennewick, to address a series of questions about the measure’s constitutionality Gregoire declined. Doing so could have compromised the state’s case should it have to defend the initiative in court, her office argued.

The most she said about the measure can be found in this excerpt of an August, 2004 story about a campaign stop Gregoire made in Kennewick.

“Gregoire also addressed concerns over an ongoing wrangle between the state and the Department of Energy, saying that a lawsuit filed by the state last month to stop the shipment of low-level radioactive wastes to Hanford is the best way to force DOE to negotiate the issue,” the Herald’s Jeff St. John wrote at the time.

“As attorney general, Gregoire has said she cannot take a position on Initiative 297, which would block DOE from shipping more wastes to Hanford.

But she did say such an initiative could lead to other states with DOE sites adopting similar laws, stymieing efforts to remove Hanford wastes to future depository sites such as the one proposed for Yucca Mountain, Nevada.

‘That's why I'm litigating,’ she said. ‘The answer here is a good partnership with other states and the federal government.’”

If anything, that suggested Gregoire wasn’t a big fan of the measure. But yesterday’s statement indicating she is “disappointed” I-297 has been dealt another blow in court seems to suggest otherwise and is her strongest comment yet on the subject.

And while she felt obliged to stay mum on the subject before there was no obligation to say anything about it now.

So what does it all mean? Maybe nothing. Maybe something.

But if you're in the business of parsing politicians' carefully chosen words you find it interesting.

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