And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Source: <A HREF="http://www.desnews.com/cgi-bin/libstory_reg?dn999903050056"> http://www.desnews.com/cgi-bin/libstory_reg?dn999903050056 ======================================================== March 4, 1999 Leavitt gets new tools to build Goshute 'moat' By Jerry Spangler Deseret News staff writer In his state of the state address, Gov. Mike Leavitt promised to build a metaphorical moat around Goshute tribal lands in Tooele County to prevent the shipment of high-level nuclear waste to a proposed temporary dump there. Utah lawmakers gave Leavitt two new tools to begin excavating the moat. Under the provisions of one bill, the state will confiscate dirt roads, now claimed by Tooele County, around the reservation to potentially block shipment by Private Fuel Storage of spent nuclear fuel rods on or across those roads. The other bill removes limited liability legal protections for any company involved in the shipment or storage of nuclear waste. That could make the officials in PFS, as well as officers and shareholders in the utility companies that comprise the company, personally liable for any damages from accidents. "We are very concerned that the bills were not debated to any degree, and there are some serious anti-trust and interstate commerce issues," said Scott Northard, project manager for PFS, adding the company intends to continue its federal licensing application. PFS, a consortium of nuclear power utilities, will challenge the new laws in court. "The only ones who will benefit from this are the attorneys, and that's not what we want," Northard said. However, the biggest bulldozer of a tool against PFS came courtesy of the federal government, which is proposing a new policy that calls for nuclear waste to be left where it is -- at 77 different sites around the country -- until a permanent storage facility is completed, presumably at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. That policy would acknowledge what Leavitt has been saying for years, that it doesn't make sense to move the waste once to a temporary storage facility and then again to a permanent one. "The word from Washington gave us a lot of encouragement, but it does not mean we can let down our guard," said Senate Majority Whip Leonard Blackham, R-Moroni. Although a majority of lawmakers supported Leavitt's strategy to block the shipments of spent nuclear fuel rods, many expressed concern about how the Leavitt administration is treating the desert-bound Goshutes. "This bill is directed at a small band of Goshute Indians," said Rep. Eli Anderson, D-Tremonton. "There was no negotiations (with the Indians). We've done this in a very heavy-handed manner." Anderson noted the roads are nothing more than dirt trials. Worse still, this bill says no improvements can be made to the current roads. "What if there is other (non-nuclear storage) growth out there, and we need better roads?" Added Rep. Patrice Arent, D-Cottonwood Heights, "We all know this bill isn't about roads. It's about the railroad crossings (being put under) state control, to stop high-level nuclear wasted coming to a railroad spur." On a somewhat related matter, Rep. Mel Brown, R-Midvale, tried -- but failed -- to borrow a page from Leavitt's legal moat strategy. He wanted to require Utah uranium mills to comply with state groundwater protection laws. Uranium mills are regulated by the federal government and are beyond the regulatory hand of state government. However, groundwater is regulated by the state, and that could give the state greater authority over uranium mills. The Leavitt administration has been trying to block a uranium mill in San Juan County from recycling tens of thousands of tons of mill tailings from a New York cleanup site. The state argues the mill is not really recycling but is storing low-level radioactive waste. "The bill is clearly targeted at White Mesa, a company that is already permitted by the federal government," Blackham said. "To impose a new requirement after the fact, it may be legal but it isn't right." The bill died quietly in the Senate. ====================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Did you know that we have over 85,000 e-mail communities at Onelist? http://www.onelist.com Come visit our new web site and explore a new interest ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DOEWatch List --- Subscribe online: http://www.onelist.com/subscribe.cgi/doewatch Quote from Truman's diary July 25, 1945: "We have discovered the most terrible bomb in the history of the world. It may be the fire destruction prophesized in the Euphrates Valley Era, after Noah and his fabulous Ark. Anyway we think we have found the way to cause the disintegration of the atom." 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