At the center of the continuing litigation is how much the property and remaining equipment at Sequoyah Fuels are worth.
Sequoyah County Treasurer Martha Taylor said Sequoyah Fuels first protested the tax in 1995. Sequoyah Fuels continues to pay the ad valorem tax, but pays the tax "under protest" and the money is kept in a "protest" account, Taylor said.
The account now contains $1,524,211.50, Taylor said. Most of that tax would go to the Gore School District if the lawsuit was settled in favor of the county.
But Sequoyah Fuels' attorney, Rebecca Fowler of the law firm of Doerner, Saunders, Daniel and Anderson LLP of Tulsa, argues, "The primary issue is the effect the contamination has on the property."
Sequoyah Fuels processed uranium into yellow cake for future use in fuel rods for nuclear power reactors, but closed its doors after several incidents in the 1980s, including one accident in which a Vian man was killed and when it was found that groundwater in excavations at the plant contained contaminated water.
Sequoyah Fuels and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission are still working on a plan to decommission the plant. What to do with the contaminated materials has slowed the decommissioning. Sequoyah Fuels officials say the contaminated materials can be safely stored on site. Area residents say that the contaminated materials, if stored on site, will always be source of continuing contamination and may leach into groundwater.
In the meantime, the litigation over ad valorem taxes continues.
Greg Wilson, first assistant to County Tax Assessor Martha Graham, said Judge John Garrett ruled last year in the county's favor. However, Sequoyah Fuels has appealed that ruling to the State Supreme Court, which must still make a decision.
Also slowing the process is that the assistant district attorney who represented the county in the litigation, Jerry Moore of Tahlequah, has left the district attorney's office and is in private practice.
At a recent arbitration hearing, Sequoyah Fuels offered the county between 3 and 7 percent of the total owed, which the county turned down.
Fowler said Sequoyah Fuels will continue to argue against the ad valorem tax. She said the plant was assessed at a value of $23 million in 1995, but she is in the process of preparing a chart showing the declining value of the property due to the contamination. The chart will be presented to the State Supreme Court.
