Nevada requests delay in hearings on nuclear dump

Friday, Aug. 31, 2001 | 11:29 a.m.

The Department of Energy announced a new location for a public hearing on Yucca Mountain on Wednesday in Las Vegas. All meetings begin at 5 p.m. with an informal session, followed by testimony from 6 to 9 p.m.

North Las Vegas, DOE's National Nuclear Security Administration, Great Basin Room, 232 Energy Way, west of Losee Road.

Remote video teleconference sites:

Reno: Desert Research Institute.

Carson City: Nevada State Legislative Building, Room 1214.

Elko: Elko Convention and Visitors Authority.

Longstreet Inn and Casino, Amargosa Valley.

Bob Ruud Community Center, Pahrump.

Gov. Kenny Guinn and Nevada's congressional delegation turned the heat up on the Department of Energy today, asking Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham to delay hearings and extend a public comment period on the Yucca Mountain project.

But state officials doubted whether they could get a court order to stop a series of three hearings that start Wednesday. The DOE also had not responded today to a letter Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa sent on Monday, asking for a delay.

At issue for Nevada officials are the hearings, seen as the last step before DOE recommends Yucca Mountain as a national nuclear repository to the president. Guinn and other state officials believe the DOE is proceeding with public hearings before enough scientific evidence is available.

"There are several key pieces of scientific evidence that the public has not had the opportunity to consider, so public hearings at this point would be a sham," Guinn said, noting that the DOE has not released final environmental impact estimates.

Guinn, Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and John Ensign, R-Nev., with Reps. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., and Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., also asked Abraham to extend the public comment period 90 days. The DOE is ending public comment on Sept. 20.

By delaying the public comment period, the public hearings would be delayed, they said.

"The senator wants to ensure Nevadans can make sure their stories are heard, because transportation concerns are nationwide," Reid's spokesman Nathan Naylor said. Reid has reserved time to speak at the meeting by satellite from Capitol Hill.

The DOE changed the location of the first meeting scheduled for the Suncoast resort. The Suncoast canceled its contract to host the first of the three public hearings. Attorney Barry Lieberman said the resort could not accommodate the crowd expected to attend the hearing, which was scheduled at 5 p.m. Wednesday. The Suncoast's meeting rooms can seat up to 300 people, although the hearings could draw over 1,000 people, DOE and state officials said.

The DOE moved the hearing to its National Nuclear Security Administration on Losee Road in North Las Vegas as an alternative to the Suncoast, DOE spokesman Allen Benson said. The DOE's auditorium can seat 200 with room for another 200 people in a cafeteria.

The DOE's North Las Vegas complex is surrounded by a chain-link fence topped with barbed wire. Armed guards patrol the grounds. The location is not on a public transportation route.

Guinn had proposed that the DOE conduct the hearing at Cashman Center on Las Vegas Boulevard North.