A federal court judge has refused to block a state court proceeding that activists hope could force the shutdown of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant.
The New England Coalition has gone to the Vermont Supreme Court seeking a court order to close Yankee because it’s operating without a valid state license to operate, called a certificate of public good.
Entergy, the company that owns the nuclear plant, then went to federal court to block the coalition’s legal maneuver.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Garvan Murtha refused to grant the injunction.
The judge ruled last year in favor of Entergy in a case that challenged two state laws that gave the Legislature oversight of the plant.
But Murtha ruled this week that the New England Coalition was not part of that case. And Murtha said Congress was reluctant to have federal courts interfere with actions in state court.