The Tri-City Industrial Development Council has joined Fluor Hanford in asking to intervene in the federal lawsuit attempting to overturn the Hanford cleanup initiative passed in the November election.

TRIDEC announced Tuesday that it filed a petition in federal court last week to join the Department of Energy's action that claims Initiative 297 violates the U.S. Constitution. Fluor filed a similar petition about two weeks ago.

Several I-297 supporters have asked to intervene on the side of the state, which is charged with defending the initiative. They include Heart of America Northwest; the Government Accountability Project; the Washington Public Interest Research Group; state Sen. Adam Kline, D-Seattle; state Rep. Toby Nixon, R-Kirkland; and Spokane Councilman Bob Apple.

Federal Judge Alan McDonald has yet to decide on any of the requests. He is expected to receive arguments for the Fluor petition on Jan. 17 and the TRIDEC petition on Jan. 24.

Petitioning to intervene in the litigation differs from filing a friend-of-the-court brief in that being granted intervention would make TRIDEC and the others actual parties in the case with the opportunity to participate in the litigation, said Fran Forgette, TRIDEC chairman.

A friend-of-the-court brief limits participation to just the brief, the Kennewick attorney said. His role in this case is limited to his position as TRIDEC chairman, he said.

DOE and the state have agreed to take no action on the initiative until spring. And DOE is not expected ship most types of radioactive waste to Hanford until a decision is made in the case.

Initiative supporters said their aim was to stop DOE from bringing more radioactive waste to Hanford until waste already there is cleaned up. Hanford is heavily contaminated from past production of plutonium for the nation's nuclear weapons program.

The federal government believes the initiative attempts to usurp federal powers for the state and puts the government, its contractors and their workers at risk of lawsuits if they move waste from one Hanford facility to another without permits that could take years to obtain.

Additionally, TRIDEC wants to argue the initiative "impairs existing contracts," which also violates the Constitution's contracts clause.

In a statement, TRIDEC stated it "believes I-297 significantly inhibits general operations and ongoing ... (cleanup) at Hanford," which results in "substantial harm to TRIDEC's members and the Tri-Cities communities."

That includes, the group maintains, economic effects on the 14,500 people employed at Hanford, who draw an annual payroll of about $1 billion.

"This makes up 20 percent of the total personal income generated in the two-county area," said Carl Adrian, TRIDEC president.

He said TRIDEC's board of directors voted to pursue the course of action at their Dec. 16 meeting. He said some members abstained from voting because of a conflict of interest in the matter.

TRIDEC is a nonprofit corporation and the umbrella for Tri-City economic development efforts. Its board represents numerous government, business and Hanford interests and the group counts 364 business and public agencies among its members.

Adrian said the group was one of the first to oppose the initiative.

"The reason TRIDEC is intervening is because we're the regional organization that is best situated to intervene on behalf of the Tri-Cities and our members," he said.

The initiative was approved in 37 of the state's 39 counties with about 70 percent of the vote. Only Benton and Franklin counties rejected the initiative.

Rebecca Sayre, Heart of America's Northwest field director, said her group expected TRIDEC's involvement. "Given their close ties to the Department of Energy, we're not surprised at all," she said.

She said the initiative protects the state's, and its residents', interest in cleanup at Hanford and maintains the jobs already there. She said TRIDEC is only "shooting themselves in the foot."

TRIDEC counters there is no provision under I-297 that protects businesses like Richland's IsoRay, which uses radioactive materials to produce new cancer treatment isotope seeds and needs to move those materials on and off the Hanford site.

Forgette said he is confident in the arguments TRIDEC, Fluor and the DOE could make to get the initiative overturned. For now, however, the group will await the outcome on their request to join the court fight.