Hunt letter urges Bush to re-evaluate dump stance

Kirsten Searer

Wednesday, March 23, 2005 | 11:25 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt sent a letter to President Bush reminding him that she was a strong supporter of his in the last election and urging him to "re-evaluate the evidence used to make decisions regarding the Yucca Mountain project."

Hunt, who has said she is looking at a bid for governor in 2006, said she was disturbed by recent revelations that Department of Energy employees might have falsified documents regarding testing of the site.

Several major officials have responded publicly to news of the falsified documents, but this is the first letter addressed to Bush from a Republican or a top Nevada official.

In her letter dated Tuesday, Hunt reminded the president that she introduced him and First Lady Laura Bush at several events last fall in Nevada, which was considered one of the nation's electoral battleground states.

Bush had promised Nevadans when he was running for president in 2000 that he would use "sound science" to make his decision on Yucca Mountain.

Hunt said she thinks Bush has done his best to deal with the Yucca Mountain site, which originated in the early 1980s. But she said she hopes he sees the faults in the project especially now that it appears that some testing at the site was falsified.

"The president inherited this whole plan and process that goes back to 1982," she said. "I'm sure he was dealing with it in the most responsible way he saw fit."

She said she would rather spend the money that the government has allotted for Yucca Mountain and store nuclear waste safely at the power sites where it is generated.

And, she said, she would support a "world class" research facility at the Nevada Test Site that would look into better ways to store nuclear waste.

Greg Bortolin, spokesman for Gov. Kenny Guinn, said Guinn plans to send out an electronic message today pointing to the problems with the testing conducted by the Department of Energy.

"We're just going to point out that this is yet another reason to hold the federal government accountable on Yucca Mountain," Bortolin said.

But, Bortolin said, Guinn has no immediate plans to write the president directly. He said Bush is well aware of Guinn's objections to the site.

"We'll continue to oppose the project," he said.

Nevada's GOP members of Congress are not planning to write the White House directly, but their spokespeople noted they have sought answers and probes from other administration agencies.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., requested investigations from the U.S. Attorney General's Office and the FBI, and Reid and Ensign staffers are in communication with U.S. Geological Survey staffers to learn more about the alleged document falsifications.

Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., sent a letter to Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman requesting an independent investigation.

"If the lieutenant governor's letter helps us, that's great," Ensign spokesman Jack Finn said. "More power to her."

Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., who is considering a run for governor, called on the Energy Department to shut down the Yucca project pending investigations.

"The president knows how the delegation feels, Republicans and Democrats alike," said Adam Mayberry, spokesman for Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev.