Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Where I Stand — Classic Hank: Yucca dump could destroy state tourism

Note to readers:

Sun Publisher Hank Greenspun, wo died in 1989, was a prophetic, hard-hitting columnist who butted heads with world giants and demagogues and zealously defended the rights of the little guy.

Every week the Sun will run one of Hank's Where I Stand columns, recalling his finer moments as a chronicler of the late 20th century. We call this feature "Classic Hank."

TODAY: In the Aug. 24 editions of the Sun, former President Bill Clinton said the nation should consider alternative sites to Yucca Mountain for burying the nation's nuclear waste. In this Nov. 15, 1986, column, Hank said accepting a dump at Yucca Mountain on the promise it would bring jobs could mean the "total destruction" of our tourism industry.

Bombs away!

"Nevada cops alerted for deadly nuke truck!"

Las Vegas citizens were treated to a nuclear test blast that rocked the town Friday. The chandeliers in our place swung from one end of the ceiling to the other. The jacuzzi on the patio overflowed its banks for many minutes until the earth stopped vibrating.

The afternoon edition of the Sun carried the headline above and a story about a hot truck loaded with Iridium 192 that was stolen in California and presumed headed this way. The cargo was full of Iridium pellets...each one placed in a pocket for 30 seconds could be fatal.

Life today is just a series of threats and perils.

When we were kids the only perils we really faced were on Saturday afternoons when we sat in awestruck suspense at the nickel movie watching Pearl White in "The Perils of Pauline."

The gal was threatened every week by the most diabolical occurrences and we watched spellbound wondering whether she would get out alive. Somehow she always managed to survive in one piece.

There was another peril to be reckoned with when we were young. Our mothers often threatened us with severe punishment...when our fathers came home. In our house, the threat remained only words because Pop was too tired to chase us by the time he got home from work. The threats of punishment were usually administered with love.

That was about as much danger as our folks ever subjected us to in the old days.

Compare that to the evils we are inflicting on our children.

The atomic bomb tests at Mercury could be justified under the guise that we are experimenting for shields to guard against nuclear war. It's called Star Wars.

But there can be no justification for nuke waste trucks heading towards Las Vegas because this is the most deadly peril of them all. The low level dumpsite at Beatty has been in operation for years so like the old familiar roll of the earth from the nuclear testing, we should be inured to it. But this should not be and must never come to pass.

The big push is to place a high level nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain with the only justification being that it would provide jobs for many workers.

Beatty citizens supported the low level site because it provided for seven jobs in the town with little thought given to the children who played games on the radioactive-laden trucks parked in front of the town cafe waiting for the dumpsite to open in the morning.

Our files are full of pictures and documentation of the peril but the place is still open and the effort to place the high level site here has not abated.

The danger from storing nuclear waste in Nevada is not only to the lives of the present young and yet unborn, but it also poses a horrible threat to the economy of the state. The amount of jobs that might develop from dumping in Nevada cannot be compared to the loss of employment caused by the hurt to the tourist potential when pleasure seekers have to rub fenders with radioactive trucks jamming the highways.

The deadly nuke truck with Iridium was found late yesterday with the cargo missing. The fallout from such a story could have done more harm to the gaming industry than the gasoline shortage of some years back or even closing down the airport for a year.

The average pleasure seeker seems most reluctant to be placed in positions of peril. Travel to Europe is practically at a standstill because of terrorist activity throughout the continent.

Why should we permit the federal government to terrorize us with the pervasive threat of locating the dumpsite in Nevada? Without the fear of hazardous wastes being transported over our roads, we would have far better alternatives for a growing job market.

Thursday night was a total sellout of rooms and restaurants in town. We wound up at "State Street" and even with the usual VIP treatment Gianni Russo gives to locals, we still had to wait because of the Comdex patrons from all over the world who packed every restaurant in town.

The more conventions we book, the more hotels and rooms must be built. Building houses and industrial buildings could keep the work force humming for years to come and with the non-polluting industries that are being attracted here, the potential is as rewarding as the end of the rainbow.

Jobs at any price could mean no jobs at no price.

We have to make a choice because we can't have everything. Should it be clean, decent joyous living with prosperity for all? Or should we choose living on the abyss of cancer deaths, leukemia, allergies and even total destruction of our tourist industry?

One has to fight for the good things in life because the bad will be forced upon the complacent, apathetic and avaricious of our social order.

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