State moves on in Yucca fight

Erin Neff

Friday, Feb. 8, 2002 | 11:10 a.m.

Now that President Bush has heard Nevada's personal appeal against a Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, state leaders are preparing for the fight.

In a 25-minute Oval Office meeting Thursday between President Bush and his key advisers and Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn and Sens. Harry Reid and John Ensign, the politicians noted the final decision on the repository may be made by a judge.

"We all understood that someday the issue may have to be settled in an impartial arena," Guinn said.

Nevada has been preparing for this for years, long before Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said he would recommend Yucca Mountain as the nation's nuclear waste dump.

Abraham is expected to make his formal recommendation as soon as this weekend, and White House sources, speaking before the meeting, said the president is expected to act quickly to approve it.

After Thursday's meeting, Nevada's governor and senators said the state will pursue its legal options even as they hold out hope Bush won't approve the recommendation.

This weekend will be a frantic one as the state's lawyers prepare emergency lawsuits, political leaders count support and everyone eyes the White House hoping no news is good news.

But already, the opposition is well under way:

Along the way, state leaders plan to make the process difficult for the Energy Department at every step of the way. Officials said they will cut off water at the site starting April 10.

Robert Loux, executive director of the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects, said the Energy Department needed water as part of its site study and said since Abraham made his recommendation know, it doesn't need to study it anymore.

The Energy Department "can't have it both ways" under the law, Loux said.

It needs "to proceed with the studies (it has) in hand," Loux said. "If more work is needed, then the recommendation must be premature.

"The DOE wants to run this like a continuing road show. They want to say, 'We're making a decision, but we want to bolster the science.' "

Officials don't know what the Energy Department will do, but it's expected to be yet another skirmish in the bigger fight.

Politically, Guinn, a Republican, would have the first move in the event Bush approves the Yucca Mountain project. And although he vows to veto the dump, he isn't exposing his entire hand.

"It's part of our strategy," he said. "It could be right away, or it could be better to wait until the last day."

The state has 60 days to lodge an official objection, either in the form of the governor's veto, or a legislative vote.

House sources have said lawmakers are eager to vote on the Nevada objection to propel the project forward. The House is expected to overrule the objection.

A Senate vote could be closer, but both Nevada senators have said it is unlikely they have 51 votes. Reid, the majority whip who is responsible for corralling Democratic votes, this week declined to say how many senators would vote with him and Ensign, a Republican. He has said Nevada has a 40 percent chance of stopping Yucca.

Paralleling the state's political response will be its continued litigation.

Marta Adams, senior deputy attorney general who oversees the State Agency for Nuclear Projects' cases, said she expects the president to "turn it around very quickly."

As a result, she said, the state must be ready with additional legal challenges.

Unlike Guinn -- who has 60 days to veto the president's decision -- and Congress -- which has 90 days to override the veto -- there are no time constraints on Nevada's legal challenges. In fact, part of the state's unspoken strategy is to tie up the issue as long as possible in court.

"We'll take this as far as we can go," Guinn said Wednesday. "To protect the health and safety of the people of Nevada, we are going to veto if the president recommends Yucca Mountain, and go to court, if necessary."

Guinn said the state would fight the battle to the U.S. Supreme Court if needed, using money collected in the state's $5.2 million legal fund.

Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa said she applauds Guinn for creating the Nevada Protection Fund, but she worries how useful it will be.

"I flinched when I saw the proposed DOE budget," Del Papa said Thursday. "Talk about David and Goliath."

Neither Del Papa nor Adams would put a price tag on Nevada's litigation, which is proceeding on three fronts, and which will expand either with Abraham's recommendation or the president's decision.

Two suits -- one kicked back from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and one in District Court in Tonopah -- seek to block Yucca Mountain because of decisions related to water use at the site.

The state is also pursuing a suit in the Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington about the radiation standard used and the state's ability to protect the health, safety and welfare of residents as a result.

The third legal front, which is also before the Washington court, challenges the siting guidelines the Energy Department used.

If none of Nevada's legal challenges work, and Congress overrides Guinn's veto, the state could still fight the licensing of the repository with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

That's where the litigation will get very expensive, Loux said.

The last nuclear plant challenge had combined legal costs of $100 million, he said.

On the political side, all of the leaders are trying to muster public support against the repository.

Clark County Commission Chairman Dario Herrera and Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman called a press conference this morning to urge people to contact the White House to encourage the president to reject the project.

On Thursday, Herrera sent to Abraham a letter and the county's new impact study, and Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev. sent a letter to Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta urging him to consider what effect transporting thousands of shipments of nuclear waste would have on the nation in light of the Sept. 11 terrorism attacks.

Herrera said Abraham has been consistently ineffective in his responsibility to study the Yucca site, but local officials refuse to give up the fight.

"It's our duty as elected leaders to continue to give him information he needs to consider the interests of Nevadans," said Herrera, a candidate in Nevada's 3rd Congressional District. "It's absolutely critical for the secretary to realize that his decision will have an immediate and drastic impact on Southern Nevada."

Sun reporters Benjamin Grove, Adrienne Packer and Diana Sahagun contributed to this story.