Hodges appeal to stop shipments denied; court speeds up case

COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA - South Carolina Governor Jim Hodges&#39; last-minute appeal to stop plutonium shipments from entering South Carolina was denied Thursday by the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, a court order shows. <br> <br> The appellate court denied Hodges&#39; motion for a preliminary injunction to stop the Energy Department&#39;s plutonium shipments from the Rocky Flats facility in Colorado to the Savannah River Site in Aiken, South Carolina. DOE said the shipments could begin as early as Saturday. <br> <br> Even though the first shipments could move forward this week, the governor&#39;s lawyer, William Want, said he was pleased the court recognized the importance of the case by speeding up the process. <br> <br> Briefs were to be completed by July fifth and oral arguments were set for July tenth in Abingdon, Virginia, where Judges Robert King, Emory Widener and Paul Niemeyer were set to hear the case, according to a court order. <br> <br> Hodges has appealed U.S. District Court Judge Cameron Currie&#39;s ruling that the governor didn&#39;t present enough evidence the federal shipments or long-term storage at SRS would harm the public. <br> <br> Following Currie&#39;s ruling, the Energy Department filed a motion to declare the Hodges&#39; physical blockades illegal. After the governor declared a state of emergency and sent officers to the state&#39;s borders, the court said his blockades were illegal. <br> <br> Hodges said the blockades were over.