Environmental groups form anti-Yucca lobby

Tuesday, March 26, 2002 | 11:04 a.m.

Many of the nation's leading environmental groups are standing as one lobbying force to Congress urging lawmakers not to approve a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain.

A coalition of 16 environmental activist organizations sent letters today to U.S. senators outlining problems with the proposed dump reported by the General Accounting Office.

"The Yucca Mountain finding reneged on a promise President Bush made to the people of Nevada during the 2000 presidential campaign that no waste would come to Nevada unless the decision was based on 'sound science,"' the letter states.

The letter is signed by the presidents of American River; Defenders of Wildlife; Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund; Environmental Defense; Environmental Working Group; Friends of the Earth; Greenpeace; League of Conservation Voters; National Environmental Trust; National Wildlife Federation; Natural Resources Defense Council; Physicians for Social Responsibility; Public Interest Research Group; Scenic America; the Sierra Club; and The Wilderness Society.