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After a six-year legal war over safety at a nuclear waste dump, South Carolina environmentalists hope a pending court decision will force stricter disposal practices for the Barnwell County site. The S.C. Court of Appeals, which heard the case last fall, is expected to render a decision early next year on the Sierra Club's challenge to the site's operating permit. The landfill closed to the nation in 2008, but remains open to bury low-level nuclear waste for South Carolina and two other states. If the appeals court sides with the Sierra Club, it could force Chem-Nuclear to improve the way it buries garbage, which would better prevent leaks of radioactive material into groundwater, club lawyer Jimmy Chandler said. For years, landfill operators have allowed rainwater to fall on open trenches lined with clay, instead of plastic. Burial vaults also have holes in them, allowing water to escape.

After a six-year legal war over safety at a nuclear waste dump, South Carolina environmentalists hope a pending court decision will force stricter disposal practices for the Barnwell County site. The S.C. Court of Appeals, which heard the case last fall, is expected to render a decision early next year on the Sierra Club's challenge to the site's operating permit. The landfill closed to the nation in 2008, but remains open to bury low-level nuclear waste for South Carolina and two other states. If the appeals court sides with the Sierra Club, it could force Chem-Nuclear to improve the way it buries garbage, which would better prevent leaks of radioactive material into groundwater, club lawyer Jimmy Chandler said. For years, landfill operators have allowed rainwater to fall on open trenches lined with clay, instead of plastic. Burial vaults also have holes in them, allowing water to escape.

VERNON - Entergy Nuclear will begin storing its low-level radioactive waste on-site, after its long-time disposal site in South Carolina closes next month. Entergy Nuclear is not alone in the disposal problem, as the Chem-Nuclear LLC site in Barnwell, S.C., takes radioactive waste from 36 states.