The Supreme Court on Wednesday did not clearly indicate whether it planned to restore a federal license for a planned private nuclear waste storage facility in Texas’ Permian Basin.
Some of the court’s conservative justices signaled clear concerns about the risks of the planned Interim Storage Partners facility during nearly two hours of oral arguments, even as its more liberal members questioned whether the opponents of the license had grounds to sue.
Chief Justice John Roberts did not indicate where he would rule on the case, and Justice Amy Coney Barrett did not ask any questions during the oral arguments.
The opponents of the facility’s license “have to be very pleased with how the argument went, but I don’t think there is a clear winner, just based on the tone of the questioning,” said Jason LaFond, counsel at the firm Scott Douglass & McConnico. He wrote an amicus brief on behalf of Texas lawmakers, but spoke to POLITICO’s E&E News in his personal capacity.
