The hearing, which begins at 9:30 a.m. EDT, will be held in the Monroe County Courthouse’s Board Meeting Room, 125 E. Second St. in Monroe. If necessary, the board will continue the hearing through Friday, Nov. 1. Members of the public and media are welcome to observe the evidentiary hearing, but participation in the hearing will be limited to the parties and their lawyers and witnesses. Those planning to attend the evidentiary hearing should arrive at least 15 minutes early to allow time for security screening, including searches of hand-carried items such as briefcases or backpacks. No signs will be permitted in the courtroom.
The board will also take comments from interested members of the public, known as limited appearance statements, on Tuesday, Oct. 29, from 1-3 p.m. and from 7-8:30 p.m. in the Meyer Theater at the Monroe County Community College’s La-Z-Boy Center, 1555 S. Raisinville Road in Monroe. These statements are not testimony or evidence, but they nonetheless may aid the board and/or the parties in considering the issues in the hearing. Speakers will be allotted approximately five minutes each for their statements, and the board reserves the right to end the comment sessions early if all those present have had the opportunity to speak.
This hearing involves Detroit Edison’s application to build an Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor at the Fermi site.
Several environmental groups, including Beyond Nuclear, Citizens for Alternatives to Chemical Contamination, Citizens Environmental, Alliance of Southwestern Ontario, Don’t Waste Michigan and the Sierra Club, filed a legal challenge opposing the application.
The groups argue that the environmental review of the proposed reactor fails to adequately analyze and discuss impacts on the eastern fox snake at the site. The groups also argue that quality assurance concerns regarding safety analysis work by Detroit Edison and its contractor prevent the NRC from issuing a license for the proposed reactor. The hearing will examine these two arguments.
