Business group wants to deal over Yucca

Suzanne Struglinski

Wednesday, Dec. 29, 2004 | 11:30 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- A new coalition of Nevada business, union and local government leaders plans to pushing for Nevadans to capitalize on the government's plan to store highly radioactive waste at Yucca Mountain.

The 16-member group wants the state to start negotiating options for tax benefits, research grants, new highways, educational opportunities or other benefits as long as the Energy Department still plans to store 77,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

"I think there was a definite time period when we shouldn't have been in those negotiations, but I think that time has passed," said Monte Miller, chief executive of KeyState Corporate Management in Las Vegas and a co-founder of the group, which calls itself "For A Better Nevada."

Gov. Kenny Guinn, Attorney General Brian Sandoval and Nevada's congressional delegation have a united opposition to the planned repository and have said negotiating for benefits is not an option.

The state won one of several legal challenges against the department earlier this year and plans on raising more objections if the Nuclear Regulatory Commission ever reviews a license application.

Members of the new group say the coalition is neither for or against the proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca. They say the group is simply "focused on capturing any and all economic opportunities and benefits possible for Nevada," according to a press release issued Tuesday announcing the group's creation.

Other Las Vegas members of the group include: auto dealer and casino owner Jim Marsh; Ed Burke, secretary and treasurer of Teamsters Local 631; John Gibson, chief executive of American Pacific Corp.; Terry Graves, president of the Henderson Development Association, real estate developer Jack Libby and Troy Wade, chairman of Nevada Alliance for Defense.

Other Southern Nevadans on the group's founding committee are Candice Trummell, chairwoman of the Nye County Commission and Spencer Hafen, chairman of the Lincoln County Commission, according to Tuesday's announcement. Vaughn Higbee, former Superintendent of schools in Lincoln County is also participating in the coalition.

Northern Nevada members of the group include several Reno residents -- Margaret Cavin, owner of J & J Mechnancial, Rod Cooper, regional manager of Granite Construction Company, Norman Dianda, president of Q&D Construction, and businessmen T.J. Day and Ranson Webster.

Caliente Mayor Kevin Phillips, Bill Nisbet of Chilton Engineering in Elko, Ben Viljoen, chairman of the Esmeralda County Commission and Paul Willis of the Pahrump Town Board are also listed as members of the group.

The idea for a group focused on the economics benefits of Yucca started in 2003 during the Legislature's debates on increasing taxes, said Chris Barrett, a casinos and concrete company lobbyist with IW Strategies in Reno. Barrett is coordinating the group.

Barrett said that as he watched the Legislature create new taxes he thought there should be some benefit to the state for having the proposed repository to lessen the tax burdens on Nevadans. But, he said, he was soon surprised to learn, mainly from the nuclear industry lobbyists, that no one has ever asked for benefits and there is nothing even on the table.

"Look at what they do in Alaska," Barrett said. "Residents get a stipend for oil, why can't we get something like that. Let's look at some alternatives here."

After tour of the Yucca site in November, members of the group decided the waste storage in Nevada is inevitable and wanted to organize their efforts.

"They're not just going to walk away from this," Barrett said, referring to the Energy Department and all the work and money spent so far on the site.

Barrett said the group wants to maximize jobs for residents, get contracts in Nevada to provide goods and services, get payments equal to taxes to local government, more public land transfers, assistance in getting water and develop research opportunities in the state, among a list of other ideas.

"Who else can better take care of Nevada than Nevadans themselves?," Barrett asked.

The group does not have a budget and is mainly relying on members to volunteer their time and make phone calls to other leaders in the state, Barrett said. The group has not taken any money from the Nuclear Energy Institute and would not accept any, he said.

Mitch Singer, an NEI spokesman, said the new group is an independent organization. Trying to get economic benefits is not a new idea, but this is the first gtime a roup has formed to advocate for it.

Former Gov. Bob List, who works with the Nuclear Energy Institute, the industry's advocacy group that strongly supports the Yucca project, has called for economic benefits in the past and will continue to do so. He said he was aware the group was forming, and although he is not working with them specifically, it will help having people supporting he same cause.

"I certainly think it will be a little less lonely out there," List said. "I think it's a big step. We'd be foolish to let the opportunity pass us up."

But Nevada lawmakers say there is nothing to negotiate. "The law does not provide for any payment to the state and the federal government has no incentive to provide any in the future," said Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev.

"I believe that as Nevada's economy continues to grow and diversify, many better job and economic opportunities will exist for our residents than working at a deadly nuclear waste dump." Lawmakers and state officials have said deals made with the Energy Department could get broken in the future, similar to the budget cuts of a watchdog group for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico.

The state had a deal with the department to fund the group but budget cuts forced it to close this year.

"I continue to believe that we need to prevent Yucca Mountain and I do not agree with attempts to negotiate with the federal government because there are no benefits the state could possibly reap from the site," Gibbons said.

David Cherry, the spokesman for Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., said her position on Yucca and the new group is simple.

"This is not the first group to try and sell people in Las Vegas and other Nevada communities on the idea that Yucca Mountain is good for business, and it probably will not be the last," Cherry said.

"What they all fail to mention, however, is that there are no financial benefits to be had and that the cost of a major disaster involving nuclear waste would be catastrophic."

Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., said he appreciates business leaders looking out for the state's interest, but he will oppose any effort to open the proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, said spokesman Adam Mayberry.

"The storage and transportation of 77,000 tons of the most deadly substance known to man in southern Nevada will endanger the health and safety of many citizens far outweighing any economic benefit," he said.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., released results from a poll earlier this month that showed 70 percent of the state opposes the proposed high-level nuclear waste repository and that 57 percent said Nevada officials should continue fighting it.

The poll also found 38 percent said Yucca "is inevitable and nothing can be done about it" -- down 5 percentage points from a January 2002 poll.

But Reid said on a November episode of the "Face to Face With Jon Ralston" cable television show that there are limits as to what can be done legislatively. He said he could slow it down but not stop it; it would be up to the courts to do so.

Reid's comments convinced Miller it was time to do something. "When Reid gets on television and says there is nothing else Congress can do, I think it is time to get in the trenches with these guys," Miller said.

Miller said he plans to talk to elected officials he knows to start talking about a negotiation option.

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