Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2003 | 11:20 a.m.
CARSON CITY -- A second try is being drafted of a proposed agreement for three rural counties and a city to join in a study over preferred routes for transportation of nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain.
Nye, Esmeralda and Lincoln counties and the city of Caliente had initially agreed to seek $2.9 million in federal funds to do their own study rather than join with the state on which routes may be used for hauling the waste if the dump is ever built in Southern Nevada.
Nye County Commission Chairman Henry "Butch" Neth said today that his commission had rejected the initial agreement but he has directed his staff to draw a new pact. One objection, he said, was that Caliente would have had a vote and that would have given Lincoln County two votes.
Neth said over the years Lincoln and Esmeralda counties have been pro-Yucca Mountain, but Nye County, where Yucca Mountain is located, has adopted a neutral stance. Yucca Mountain is 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
Neth said he wants any study to look at the routes but not to select any preferred transportation line. But if nuclear waste does come to Nevada, the local governments have to be prepared to protect their citizens. That's why he favors a study but not to make any recommendation.
Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the action by the rural counties to even consider such an alliance flies in the face of the state's legal efforts to keep nuclear waste out of Nevada -- waste that pose as much of a threat to rural Nevada as it does to urban Clark County communities.
"As far as I'm concerned, the health and safety of rural Nevadans is as important as those living in Las Vegas," Reid said. "Transporting this waste isn't safe, and storing the waste in Yucca Mountain isn't safe.
"There are some who seem to forget that or think that making a deal is worth the risk. I don't agree," he said. "Nuclear waste is one of the most dangerous substances we know of, and I'm not willing to put a pricetag on Nevadans' safety."
Lincoln County in the past has supported Yucca Mountain. It has proposed that a temporary dump be located there and that a way station be sited in the county for unloading railroad cars with nuclear waste unto trucks destined for Yucca Mountain.
Bob Loux, director of the Nevada Office for Nuclear Projects, said the agreement could "cut the state and Clark County out of this whole transportation planning process."
Loux said the U.S. Energy Department induced the counties to form the agreement. At a meeting in Amargosa Valley, Loux said, Margaret Chu, director of the civilian office for nuclear waste in the Department of Energy, urged the counties to form a regional transportation pact.
Loux said Chu promised $2.9 million in transportation and economic development money if the agreement was reached. Loux said Chu wanted the counties to make recommendations.
DOE spokesman Allen Benson said the agency has put in place an agreement with Nye County for $100,000 for preliminary transportation work, but that is all so far.
The five-year agreement can be worth up to $2.9 million, Benson said, but it was important to point out that no money was definite at this point beyond the $100,000.
Neth said he doesn't want his county or the proposed agency to designate any preferred route. He said Nye County wants to remain neutral in this controversy and wants to make sure its citizens are protected.
Lea Alfano, administrative coordinator for the Lincoln County Nuclear Oversight Program, said her office is going about the process accepting that "Yucca is a done deal" according to Congress and President Bush.
She said if shipments of nuclear waste will not come close to Las Vegas, they will have to get to Yucca Mountain somehow.
"As an affected unit, Clark County still has a say in the issue. We don't feel this is cutting anyone out," she said. "Our goal is that if this is going to happen, we have to work to minimize the risks and maximize the benefits" for Lincoln County.
Alfano said there is "a great spirit of cooperation" between Esmeralda, Lincoln and Nye counties, despite the apparent glitch of Lincoln getting two votes with the county seat at Pioche and the city of Caliente.
Attempts to reach Caliente Mayor Kevin Phillips at Caliente City Hall and at his True Value store were not successful. Attempts to reach Esmeralda County Commission Chairman Ben Viljoen also were not successful.
Loux said the Energy Department is "crying on Capitol Hill" they don't have enough money to proceed with work at Yucca Mountain. "Yet they have enough money to buy off these counties," he said.
Benson said The money comes out of DOE's 2003 budget and are in addition to the $1.2 million Nye County receives in oversight funds.
Neth said he expected the Nye County staff to have a new proposed cooperative agreement ready for action by his county commission in a few weeks.
Loux said nine counties in Nevada already get federal money for oversight of the Yucca Mountain project. He said a federal grant to the three counties would discriminate against the other six counties.
archive
