Waupaca County board opposes nuclear waste exploration, repeals local ordinance

The Waupaca County Board of Supervisors on July 20 unanimously adopted a resolution opposing any exploration for a long-term nuclear waste repository in Waupaca County and voted to repeal the county's Nuclear Waste Exploration Ordinance.

Supervisor Fred Zaug moved the resolution opposing exploration and Supervisor Patricia Craig seconded; the motion carried 27-0. The resolution directs the county's Solid Waste Management Board to take a leadership role on community education and outreach before any public hearing on nuclear repository siting and to be actively involved in future hearings.

The resolution text cites a 1983 statewide referendum in which the resolution states 89% of Wisconsinites opposed having a repository in the state, notes the U.S. Department of Energy identified Yucca Mountain, Nev., historically as a potential site, and records that in 2008 the Wolf River Batholith was listed by DOE as the next alternative site covering roughly a 1,000-square-mile formation that includes Waupaca County. The resolution also notes that, the board was informed, a 2015 state law change had the effect of lifting Wisconsin's 1983 moratorium on repository development.

Separately on the same agenda the board repealed Chapter 18 of the Waupaca County Code of Ordinances, the county's Nuclear Waste Exploration Ordinance. Supervisor Zaug moved the repeal and Supervisor Sue Golding seconded; the motion carried 27-0. The repeal was recommended for introduction by the Solid Waste Management Board and the Legislative, Judicial, Ethics, Safety & Security Committee and is effective upon enactment under the cited statutory provision.

The board made no further findings on siting authority or future state- or federal-level processes in the meeting record; the resolution and repeal instruct local bodies to prepare and participate in any required public hearings and outreach should exploration be proposed.