Ward Valley Proposed Radioactive Waste Site, California

For many years, this undeveloped stretch of desert was a site of contention, when it was selected in 1983 as a potential radioactive waste dump. Waste destined for the site would have included radioactive parts from nuclear power plants, the irradiated carcasses of research animals, and various other medical and biological wastes contaminated by radiation. U. S. Ecology, the company that worked to develop the dump, has operated similar facilities in Nevada. In 1999, a federal judge ruled that the U.S. Department of the Interior was not obligated to transfer the land to the state of California, effectively halting the project. In 2002, the California State Assembly passed Assembly Bill 221, which officially cancelled the project due to concerns over environmental safety.