U.S. District Court Judge Garvan Murtha is holding a two-day hearing on whether he should block Vermont from closing the plant while the underlying legal battle plays out.
Vermont Yankee employees drill a well from which tritium-contaminated water will be pumped and stored at th Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in March.BRATTLEBORO, Vt. – About 50 protesters were awaiting the start Thursday morning of a federal court hearing that is part of an effort by the owners of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant to block the state’s efforts to close the Vernon reactor next March.
U.S District Court Judge J. Garvan Murtha is holding a two-day hearing Thursday and Friday on whether he should block Vermont from closing the plant while the underlying legal battle plays out.
Vermont Yankee owner Entergy Corp. maintains in court papers that it is likely to prevail when the full case goes to trial. It says it already meets the other legal test of irreparable harm because uncertainty about the plant’s future is causing valuable employees to leave.
The state’s lawyers say they doubt Entergy will prevail in the underlying case.