Columnist Jeff German: Comrade in battle welcome

Saturday, Jan. 6, 2001 | 2:51 a.m.

Jeff German is the Sun's senior investigative reporter. He can be reached at (702) 259-4067 or by e-mail at german@lasvegassun.com

The fatalists will tell you that Stephen Cloobeck's grassroots campaign against making Nevada the nation's nuclear waste dumping ground comes too late.

It comes at a time when the Department of Energy is just months away from recommending Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, as the site of the country's only high-level nuclear waste storage facility.

Those who believe the repository is inevitable wonder why Cloobeck, or someone like him, didn't surface 18 years ago, when the battle for the health and safety of Nevadans was getting under way.

But those who believe in fighting the DOE and its high-powered nuclear industry allies to the end -- people like Gov. Kenny Guinn, Sen. Harry Reid and the rest of Nevada's congressional delegation -- are applauding Cloobeck's efforts.

Cloobeck is not a hero. Some might even call him an opportunist trying to grab hold of an emotional issue to further his political aspirations.

But as president of Diamond Resorts International, a company that runs time-sharing condominium projects on the Strip, Cloobeck also is a businessman with a big stake in this community.

He understands what our elected officials have been saying for years -- that if the dump is built at Yucca Mountain, Las Vegas can kiss goodbye its thriving tourism industry.

All it takes is one nuclear waste accident along the route to Yucca Mountain, which travels through the heart of Las Vegas, to cause millions of tourists to spend their summer vacations in Atlantic City or Orlando instead of the City of Glitz.

Studies done by the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects, the state's Yucca Mountain watchdog, have found that the economy in Las Vegas could be expected to decline by as much as 20 percent (several billion dollars) in the event of an accident.

Up to one-fourth of the city's booming convention business would be lost, and property values of homes and businesses would plummet.

An accident also would discourage businesses from locating here and dramatically slow down economic development.

These ominous predictions were presented to the Nevada Resort Association, the casino industry's political arm, about a decade ago, prompting the organization to pass a resolution opposing Yucca Mountain.

But since then the industry has kept a low profile on the issue, rarely entering the fray. Its ally in the business community, the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, hasn't even had the courage to go on record opposing the dump.

Those in the trenches of the Yucca Mountain conflict find it incredible that the very people who have the most to lose with the creation of a nuclear repository have lacked the foresight to maintain a strong presence in the opposition.

Cloobeck hopes to change some attitudes.

He has arranged a meeting this week of high-powered business executives and other community leaders to map out battle plans against the DOE and the nuclear industry.

The timing of the meeting, which starts at 1 p.m. Thursday at the Clark County Commission chambers, couldn't be better.

The DOE and its chief Yucca Mountain contractor have found themselves on the hot seat in recent weeks over allegations of bias in the site selection process. Federal law prohibits the DOE from taking sides.

A team of investigators from the DOE's inspector general's office is expected in Las Vegas the first week of February to begin probing some of the reported shady Yucca Mountain dealings, first exposed in this newspaper last month.

Reid believes the inspector general's investigation ultimately will wind up in the hands of the Justice Department for criminal prosecution.

He sees the investigation as an example of why it's never too late to enter a fight so important to the health and safety of Nevadans.