SALZGITTER, Germany, March 9 (UPI) -- A German court rejected four lawsuits protesting a planned storage facility for nuclear waste in Lower Saxony, ending a fierce campaign to block the project.
Lower Saxony's environment authorities in 2002 gave the green light to convert a former iron ore mine in the town of Salzgitter into a permanent storage facility for low- and medium-level nuclear waste. Immediately after the decision, the city of Salzgitter, two neighboring communities and two private citizens filed lawsuits against the planned project.
On Wednesday, a court in Lueneburg rejected the suits, arguing the radiation levels would be far below harmful levels, adding there was no chance to appeal.
After the court's decision was announced, the federal environment minister said he was positive the plant will be built.
The underground storage facility could be completed within five years and would store waste from all over Germany in galleries sunk as deep as 4,260 feet below the surface, according to Deutsche Welle Online.
The project was launched during the chancellery of Helmut Kohl, when the current Chancellor Angela Merkel was environment minister.
Several environment and citizens' groups protested against the project for years.
