Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2001 | 11:34 a.m.
Awareness group
A communitywide campaign against a high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain has established a phone line and e-mail access.
Stephen Cloobeck, a casino executive, is leading efforts to create a nonprofit organization to raise millions of dollars to warn the nation about the dangers of shipping nuclear waste 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas if a Yucca Mountain repository opens.
Cloobeck, president and CEO of Diamond Resorts International, said his group is concerned that a Yucca repository could lead to a drop in visitors.
The group can be reached at (702) 261-1034 or by e-mail at [email protected].
Gov. Kenny Guinn said today he hopes his pledge to set aside $5 million to fight nuclear waste storage in Nevada will rally the business community and local governments into matching those funds.
The governor told the Sun he would like to set up a fund of $10 million or more for an unprecedented media blitz to drum up anti-dump support in other states.
"I would hope that we could at least double the $5 million," Guinn said in a telephone interview from Carson City. "We all need to come together and get the word out about the dangers of transporting nuclear waste through other cities."
Bob Loux, executive director of the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects, said the governor's decision to use taxpayer money in the fight should encourage others in the private sector to make donations.
"We know that $5 million isn't going to be adequate for a nationwide advertising campaign," Loux said. "We want to see if we can get some more contributions in there."
Guinn stressed in his State of the State address Monday night that a united campaign was crucial to the fight.
"Although much has been done individually throughout our state by citizens and communities, I believe we will succeed only by uniting our efforts," Guinn said. "We will expose the unprincipled tactics used by the (nuclear) industry in their attempt to force us to accept this deadly waste."
A large part of the fund-raising task is likely to fall on the shoulders of Strip executive Stephen Cloobeck, who recently launched a grassroots effort to fight the industry's push to make nearby Yucca Mountain the site of the nation's high-level nuclear waste repository.
Cloobeck's campaign took shape following a Dec. 1 Sun story that disclosed documents showing possible bias on the part of the Department of Energy and its chief Yucca Mountain contractor in the site selection process.
The story also has resulted in an investigation by the DOE's inspector general, who has dispatched a team of agents to Las Vegas.
Cloobeck, president and chief executive of Diamond Resorts International, said this morning he was confident he would be able to collect another $5 million for Guinn's anti-dump fund.
"I think we're going to do a helluva job," he said. "People are getting ready to step up to the plate."
County Commission Chairman Dario Herrera, who attended Guinn's address in Carson City, said he will work to obtain a financial commitment from county.
"I don't think there's any scenario possible that the county will back down from the governor's challenge," Herrera said. "We believe we're up to the task, and I'll be talking to my staff and colleagues about it."
Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, who also was on hand for the governor's speech, said the city's contribution to the fight will be using its resources to sue the DOE over the selection process, which has singled out Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of the city.
"We're going to be providing legal work, and that's going to be the most significant contribution," Goodman said.
The mayor said an agenda item discussing the suit is being placed on the City Council's Jan. 31 meeting.
Guinn's desire to unleash the anti-dump advertising campaign comes, as the business community appears ready to play a serious role in the fight, which is expected to escalate soon when the DOE decides whether Yucca Mountain is safe to store the deadly waste.
The Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, after two decades of silence, plans to debate a resolution opposing Yucca Mountain at its Jan. 31 board meeting. And the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, which also has never taken a position on the dump, has scheduled a similar discussion at its Feb. 13 board meeting.
Former Gov. Bob Miller, meanwhile, applauded Guinn for pledging $5 million toward the public relations battle.
"I thought it was a clever idea to educate states about our opposition to nuclear waste and the dangers that transporting nuclear waste poses," said Miller, who led the fight against the dump during his 10 years in office. "We need all the help we can get."
But Miller, reappointed last week to a key DOE advisory panel, said he remained deeply concerned that Nevada's opposition won't be supported by the new Bush administration. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, a proponent of Yucca Mountain as a senator, has publicly indicated he wants to speed up the process of storing nuclear waste.
State Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, shared Miller's concern.
She praised Guinn for setting aside the $5 million, but said he didn't go far enough in voicing his opposition.
The governor, Titus said, should have sent a message to President Bush that Nevada is against storing nuclear waste here on an interim basis, an option Congress is considering.
"He should have called on the president not to agree to temporary storage," she said. "The governor needs to accept some reponsibility for us having Abraham in there. He (Guinn) was Bush's campaign chairman in the state. Has he no say over the president on this issue?"
Titus and Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, plan to introduce a joint resolution at the Legislature next month, voicing opposition to a temporary storage site and condemning the DOE for its alleged bias in pursuing a permanent dump at Yucca Mountain.
Guinn said he remains firmly convinced that Bush will not single out Nevada for temporary storage if science finds fault with it.
During his address, Guinn said Nevada has acquired as strong ally in the fight against Yucca Mountain.
He said Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt, a fellow Republican, has pledged $1 million in his budget toward the battle to keep the nuclear waste from being shipped to the West.
"We will leave no fight abandoned, and we will prevail," Guinn said.
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