Goodman takes anti-Yucca drive to D.C.

Diana Sahagun

Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2002 | 10:56 a.m.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman will be playing to a new audience this week when he pitches his anti-Yucca Mountain message to more than 100 mayors representing cities along proposed transportation routes for 77,000 tons of high-level nuclear waste.

Goodman made little headway in convincing government officials, including Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, to scrap the plan for Yucca Mountain.

And now, as Abraham stands ready to recommend Yucca to President Bush, Goodman will spend a week in Washington -- site of the U.S. Conference of Mayors -- to lobby 109 mayors whose cities could be affected should the repository be built 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

More than 300 mayors are meeting in Washington and New York to discuss homeland security and issues involving economic security.

Goodman during an hour-long presentation at the Capital Hilton on Wednesday will tell mayors that property values will plummet and millions will have to be set aside to train emergency workers in preparation for a potential radioactive spill.

The ramifications surrounding a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain aren't limited to Nevada, Goodman says.

"When they hear this, they'll realize it will hurt them directly, in the pocket-books," Goodman said Monday, before boarding a plane to Washington.

Assistant City Manager Betsy Fretwell said Goodman will include in his presentation a recent independent study outlining the financial investment cities must commit to should a plan for a repository proceed.

"Many of these other mayors haven't heard the message, that there's more to this than just big trucks," she said. "Hopefully, we'll make some good connections there and have a stronger base across the country in helping our delegation."

Although Goodman will be surrounded by hundreds of mayors, he said he's confident he carries enough clout to convince mayors to join Nevada in fighting the dump.

"I am known amongst the mayors," Goodman said. "I'm the most popular mayor there because when I go back everyone wants to come to Las Vegas."

On Thursday Goodman and some of his counterparts plan to meet with Bush at a White House breakfast. Goodman said he wants to speak with Bush in private about the Yucca issue. He also has promised to refrain from additional personal attacks, such as those he recently directed toward Abraham and former White House Chief of Staff John Sununu, who is lobbying for the Yucca repository.

"I'm not going to call Sununu a jerk and Abraham a fathead," Goodman said. "I will tell (the president) that this is a very serious issue and he has to be circumspect about the decision."

Goodman also plans to invite the mayors to Las Vegas for a conference on the proposed dump. The conference, he said, will deal in "real science," not politics.

Fretwell said city officials are speaking with Gov. Kenny Guinn in regard to playing host to such a seminar this spring. Timing is critical, she said, because it is yet unclear as to when the president will act on Abraham's recommendation.