American Ecology Unit Challenges Nebraska License Denial.

BOISE, Idaho--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 19, 1999--Nebraska officials ignored their own scientific experts in their denial of a license for a Low-Level Radioactive Waste (LLRW) disposal site, developer US Ecology alleges in administrative appeals filed Friday.

US Ecology is a subsidiary of American Ecology Corporation (Nasdaq:ECOL).

"This reconsideration offers perhaps the last hope for a fair and impartial resolution of this matter, not just for US Ecology, but for everyone concerned," said Joe Nagel, American Ecology's president and chief operating officer. "It is our hope that in Nebraska, a state in which the public owns the electrical power infrastructure and in which a third of that power is nuclear, the political leadership will agree a fair solution to the problem of low-level waste disposal is in the public interest."

US Ecology filed identical administrative appeals, which are known as Petitions for a Contested Case Hearing, with the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). The petitions seek a reversal by the agencies of their decision to deny the license. They also challenge the jurisdiction of DHHS in the licensing decision.

US Ecology in 1990 filed an application with the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality for a license to operate an above-ground LLRW disposal facility. The facility was designed to serve waste generators in the five states -- including Nebraska -- of the Central Interstate LLRW Compact.

In 1997, Nebraska ended its scientific and technical review of the application. At that time state experts issued documents indicating the facility, to be located near Butte, could be operated safely and in compliance with environmental regulations.

On December 21, 1998, however, decision-makers in the DEQ and the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services announced their denial of the license. Although the reasons for the denial are purported to be technical in nature, US Ecology alleges they were actually based upon incorrect interpretations of data and regulations. According to US Ecology, the erroneous interpretations were intentional and politically influenced by then-Governor Ben Nelson.

In a separate court action currently before the Nebraska Supreme Court, US Ecology is challenging the authority of DHHS to play a role in the licensing decision. The manner in which the contested case appeals proceed could be affected by the ruling in that case. Additionally, the contested case actions could be delayed by civil lawsuits filed against the State and state officials, by nuclear utilities in the Central Interstate Compact region. The suits allege undue political influence in the review, and seek injunctions preventing the contested case from moving forward until the issues raised by the utilities are decided.

American Ecology provides processing, packaging, transportation, remediation and disposal services for generators of hazardous waste and low-level radioactive waste at licensed facilities throughout the United States. The company has been in business since 1952.