Chamber seeks unity in opposition to shipping nuke waste

Erin Neff

Monday, Nov. 19, 2001 | 9:47 a.m.

Last week's decision by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to back a nuclear waste repository in Nevada could lead local chambers of commerce to pull out of the group and encourage their counterparts nationwide to follow their lead.

Henderson Chamber of Commerce President Ron Meek met Friday with other chamber representatives and discussed the possibility that "we should all notify all the chambers about the transportation of waste through their areas."

Meek said the Henderson chamber had just renewed its membership and sent dues when he picked up the newspaper Friday to learn of the national group's decision.

"We're very, very disturbed about it," Meek said. "We're definitely part of what will probably be a group of chambers here that will withdraw" from the national group.

The Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce -- the third biggest in the nation -- has sent a letter to U.S. Chamber President Thomas Donohue to discuss its displeasure over the decision to back a repository at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

The group's board of directors will wait for a response before voting to withdraw membership, said Kami Dempsey, government affairs director for the Las Vegas Chamber.

Meek said he would like local chambers to encourage their counterparts outside Nevada to withdraw from the national group to widen the blow any loss of membership would cause the U.S. Chamber.

The U.S. Chamber's Donohue said Thursday that his group runs the risk of losing members over such tough decisions.

Boulder City Chamber of Commerce Director Beth Walker has plenty she would like to say about the chamber's decision but cannot issue any statements without first gauging the mood of the roughly 250 to 300 businesses that belong to her group.

"First I'll have to take things up with our membership," Walker said, who sounded unhappy about the decision.

The North Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce said it does not belong to the national chamber.

Meek and Las Vegas Restaurant Association President Van Heffner are trying to make the best of the decision by working to alter it.

Heffner said that for the time being he would remain a member of the U.S. Chamber's Alliance on Energy and Economic Growth to try to "work within the system to change it."

Meek believes building momentum against the decision by enlisting other chambers is the way to go -- a move similar to the tactics employed by Nevada's congressional delegation.

Sens. John Ensign, R-Nev., and Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Reps. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., and Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., have been highlighting the route that 77,000 tons of nuclear waste would likely travel through the nation. They hope to persuade officials along the route that transporting the material could be as dangerous as storing it.

"Nobody wants it in their back yard," Meek said. "We should ask if they want it in their back yard."