Yucca measures controversial

Friday, March 16, 2001 | 11:24 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- State legislators say their opposition to a proposed high-level nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain has not weakened despite introduction of resolutions urging Congress to find routes that avoid Las Vegas.

There has been speculation these resolutions could indicate an implied consent that Nevada is willing to accept the radioactive materials from across the nation.

Sen. Ray Shaffer, D-North Las Vegas, introduced Senate Joint Resolution 10 Thursday, urging Congress to make sure that any nuclear waste being shipped to Yucca Mountain must not come within 10 miles of any city or town. And the resolution said this "must not be construed in such a manner as to indicate that the Nevada Legislature or the state of Nevada explicitly or impliedly consents to the location of a repository ..."

Sen. Jon Porter, R-Henderson, sponsored Senate Joint Resolution 11 that urges Congress to require a study on the environmental, economic and safety effects of transporting nuclear waste through Southern Nevada.

"This is not implied consent," Porter said about his resolution. "I believe that by identifying the hazards and consequences specific to the transportation of those materials, we can finally force Washington, D.C., to consider alternative storage solutions to the nation's nuclear waste problem other than Yucca Mountain."

Both these resolutions sparked immediate controversy.

Under the standing rules, they were supposed to be referred to the Natural Resources Committee but instead were sent to the Transportation Committee headed by Sen. Bill O'Donnell, R-Las Vegas, because the resolutions deal with transportation, he said. But Sen. Mark James, R-Las Vegas, objected, saying these were environmental issues that should be sent to natural resources.

After the session, James said any anti-nuclear waste legislation sent to O'Donnell's committee is buried. O'Donnell said, "I will have to talk to him (James) about that."

O'Donnell was the main sponsor of a resolution on Feb. 21 that urges the Energy Department to locate an alternate train route to Yucca Mountain "in the event that the U.S. Congress declares Yucca Mountain to be a suitable site for a high-level radioactive waste repository."

He said his opposition to the nuclear dump still stands. But he said the Congress has already designated Yucca Mountain as the only site to be studied. "We need a railroad to take this stuff out of the city. We can't afford it going through the Spaghetti Bowl.

"It's either do this or nothing," O'Donnell said.

Sen. Mike Schneider, D-Las Vegas, a co-sponsor of O'Donnell's resolution, Senate Joint Resolution 4, said, "We're not caving in."

Schneider and others who co-sponsored SJR4 noted they signed a resolution that expresses Nevada's disapproval of the selection of Yucca Mountain.

The resolution was a "What if?" situation, Schneider said, adding that "We should be looking at alternatives. We're playing defense as hard as we can, but we have to plan our next move."

"We need to start looking at other things," he said, complaining that low-level nuclear waste has been trucked through Las Vegas in recent months.

Schneider also said he wants to ban low-level shipments.

Also signing the O'Donnell resolution was Assemblywoman Vonne Chowning, D-North Las Vegas. Asked if her resolve against nuclear waste has slipped, she replied, "Hell, no."

Chowning, chairwoman of the Assembly Transportation Committee, said one shipment of low level waste came over Boulder Dam and others went through the Spaghetti Bowl.

"I was so appalled," she said.

Assemblyman Bob Beers, R-Las Vegas, who also signed O'Donnell's resolution, said, "If it is coming, if they put it there (Yucca Mountain), we don't want it coming through Las Vegas.

"I envision a road from the corner of Interstate 15 and the Utah State line across the Test Site and as far from any populated areas as possible." I prefer it doesn't come, but the prospect of it coming and it coming through Las Vegas really frightens me."

Assemblyman David Parks, D-Las Vegas, said, "I don't recall signing it," referring to O'Donnell's resolution. "Whatever was represented to me was not that we were giving into the federal government."

Assemblyman Tom Collins, D-North Las Vegas, said, "I was told it was to not allow trucks to go through Las Vegas, and it is the resolution. It was my intent not to allow any shipment through Las Vegas. I see this as protecting the Las Vegas Valley."