Mayor threatens to sue DOE over nuke shipments

Erin Neff

Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2001 | 11:25 a.m.

Calling the agency's actions criminal, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman said Tuesday the city may sue the Energy Department to keep nuclear waste from coming to Yucca Mountain.

In his strongest show of opposition yet to the proposed high-level nuclear waste dump 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, Goodman said his tour of the mountain left him without answers he needs to protect the city's residents.

"The mission of this council is to protect the health and safety of our residents," Goodman said during his State of the City address Tuesday evening at City Hall.

"We owe our constituents the best thinking," he said, as he opened his remarks with the Yucca Mountain issue. He said it is now time to "think outside of the box."

"I have instructed our city attorney to evaluate the filing of a lawsuit whereby the city of Las Vegas would enjoin the Department of Energy from recommending Yucca Mountain as the nation's high-level waste dump," Goodman said.

The City Council is expected to ratify Goodman's call for a legal evaluation at an upcoming meeting.

After the speech, City Attorney Brad Jerbic said he will discuss the city's potential case with other governmental entities and legal representatives statewide before determining an exact cause of action.

"The mayor has identified the core of our charter as protecting citizens," Jerbic said. "The shipments of high-level nuclear waste obviously put that in jeopardy."

Although Jerbic declined to comment specifically on the city's possible actions, other attorneys suspect there are several ways a lawsuit could enjoin the DOE.

A 10th amendment suit could argue the state of Nevada's rights were abused by the federal government when Yucca was first identified as an interim storage facility.

Another possibility is examining potential criminal wrongdoing with respect to the way Yucca was selected, some say.

A team of investigators from the DOE's inspector general are expected in Las Vegas next month to probe whether federal laws were broken during the agency's site selection process.

The DOE is prohibited from taking sides in the process, but documents obtained by the Sun and published in a copyrighted story last month showed the agency might have been collaborating behind the scenes with the nuclear industry to promote Yucca Mountain with Congress.

A decision on a recommendation of the Yucca site has been put on hold until the investigation is completed.

When Goodman toured Yucca Mountain, shortly after taking office, he questioned how the volcanic make-up of the site and the earthquake fault running through it could allow Yucca to safely serve as a nuclear waste repository.

"The two representatives (of the DOE) could not tell us that it was safe," Goodman said.

Thus he believes, "It's conceivable that what's taking place could be comparable to a crime."

After the speech, Congresswoman Shelley Berkley, D-Nevada, said she was thrilled by Goodman's strong rhetoric.

"I am in full agreement with him," Berkley said.

"Anything we can do to stop or delay or draw attention to the storage of high-level waste at Yucca Mountain is important," Berkley said. "We both agree that this has criminal aspects that need to be explored."