State ballot filled with tight races

Monday, Nov. 2, 1998 | 11:20 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Gov. Bob Miller urged Nevadans on Friday to "avoid a civil war within our borders" and unite in the fight to keep nuclear waste out of the state.

He told a rally of about 80 people on the front steps of the State Capitol that citizens must "not be torn apart" by this issue and he urged legislators to join in funding the Nevada Nuclear Projects Office.

The anti-nuclear demonstration turned into a Democratic campaign rally with Sen. Harry Reid and Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa also speaking. Rose McKinney-James, the Democrat candidate for lieutenant governor, and Mary Sanada, the Democratic nominee for controller, were there.

The state nuclear waste office lost its federal funding because of charges by auditors it misspent part of the money. The legislative Interim Finance Committee has given it enough money to keep its doors open, but not enough to evaluate the Department of Energy studies of Yucca Mountain, the proposed nuclear waste site.

The state needs independent scientists and geologists to perform an unbiased study of what the federal agency is doing, Bob Fulkerson of the Progressive Alliance of Nevada said.

Miller said the Legislature must put aside its differences and finance the state agency.

The governor added that Rep. John Ensign, R-Nev., who is opposing Reid, may be against nuclear waste, but the Republican leadership in Congress wants to pass a bill for interim storage of radioactive materials in Nevada. And Miller doesn't think Ensign can stop the bill or gather the votes to sustain a veto promised by President Clinton.

He said Ensign's statement that he will be in the GOP majority and be able to persuade enough colleagues to vote against nuclear waste is a "hollow cry."

The rally was sponsored by Citizen Alert, Citizens Against Nuclear Waste in Nevada and the Progressive Leadership Alliance and it featured individuals dressed as nuclear stooges, industry lobbyists and traditional Halloween figures.