Gibbons lets Yucca Mountain project use state's water for another month - News

PRINT THIS Popular

Jul. 18, 2007
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Gibbons lets Yucca Mountain project use state's water for another month

By KEITH ROGERS
REVIEW-JOURNAL

More about Yucca Mountain

A decision by the state engineer, with the backing of Gov. Jim Gibbons, to let the U.S. Department of Energy use the state's water for another month to explore the planned Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site amounts to surrendering in Nevada's decades-long fight against the project, Sen. Harry Reid said Tuesday.

"They have capitulated to the people who want to put nuclear waste in Nevada," Reid, D-Nev., said by telephone from Washington, D.C.

Most Popular Stories

Three suspects arrested in shooting death of police officer

FATAL SHOOTING: Police again mourn comrade

NORM: Biden finds rank has its privileges

NORM: Walton: Coach deserved a punch

Two of three suspects in slaying of officer could face death penalty

DEADLY HOME INVASION: Police suspect link to family

Station Casinos posts $455 million third-quarter loss

Las Vegas police shoot at man fleeing after traffic stop

NORM: 'Girls Gone Wild' creator feels heat

UNLV sacks football coach Sanford

"This is capitulating to the Department of Energy and the proponents of nuclear waste in Nevada. I am terribly disappointed," Reid, the Senate majority leader, said. "This is a bad day for Nevada."

A letter from State Engineer Tracy Taylor dated Monday gives the Department of Energy another 30 days to use Nevada's water for drilling bore holes near the mountain.

That is enough time for DOE scientists to collect samples for data needed for a license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build a repository and surface facilities for handling and cooling spent nuclear fuel assemblies before entombing them in the mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Yucca Mountain Project officials intend to submit a license application to the commission by June 2008, triggering a review process that will last a few years.

Taylor had issued a cease-and-desist order to the Energy Department on June 1 and then lifted it June 12 while he reviewed information from the federal agency.

Since then, he has allowed DOE to use water from two wells near Yucca Mountain to cool and lubricate drill bits and collect core samples from mud. Such use of the water is not allowed under a court-approved agreement that stipulates DOE is only supposed to use the state's water for flushing toilets, fire suppression and dust control.

Taylor was on vacation Tuesday and unavailable for comment.

In a statement, Reid said Taylor's decision "is the biggest gift the DOE has received since I've been in Washington, and I am shocked that it was delivered by the administration of a former Nevada congressman," who is the state's Republican governor.

"The letter ... lays out every reason the DOE should cease and desist. Yet, at the same time, the state gave the DOE the green light to move forward on this project, while the entire Nevada congressional delegation continues to fight to prevent Nevada from becoming the nation's nuclear dumping ground," Reid said in the statement.

Gibbons was surprised by Reid's comments and told the Review-Journal, "No one has a stronger record of opposing Yucca Mountain than I do as a congressman and now as governor. We all have worked to stop this project."

Asked why he backs Taylor's decision to offer DOE a chance to continue using Nevada's water for 30 more days, Gibbons said, "If the state engineer felt he should legally turn it off today, I would support that 100 percent."

The sternly worded letter from Taylor to Scott Wade, acting director of the Yucca Mountain Site Operations Office, says, "DOE's actions in proceeding with its bore hole drilling project without a permit or agreement appear to have been deliberate. ... Because site characterization ended in 2002, the DOE has no authority to continue with site investigation.

"For these reasons .... I find that the DOE's use of water for the bore hole drilling project is not in the public interest," Taylor wrote.

Nevertheless, Taylor agreed to let DOE continue using the state's water for that purpose for 30 days, citing DOE's potential "waste of significant financial resources" for completing the first two phases of the drilling program.

He noted that Gibbons has signed into law a bill that in January 2009 will allow for a $10,000-per-day penalty for each violation of the state's water law.

The letter gives Wade until Friday to respond.

Allen Benson, a Department of Energy spokesman for the Yucca Mountain Project in Las Vegas, wouldn't comment on the state engineer's letter, citing potential litigation.

Late Tuesday, Gibbons released a statement saying DOE's "unauthorized use of water for drilling" is more evidence that the agency is rushing to complete the project.

"This is yet another red flag that raises concerns about the ongoing efforts at Yucca Mountain and the DOE's desire to expedite a project that has been deemed 'broken' by Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman himself," Gibbons said.

Gibbons acknowledged that he is considering replacements for members of the Nuclear Projects Commission, whose terms are expiring.

He has replaced long-time Yucca Mountain opponent Michon Mackedon with Nye County Commissioner Joni Eastley, who represents an area where there has been some support for the project.

"We've got a number of people we're reviewing," Gibbons said, declining to name his candidates.

"We plan to fill those positions with people who feel the way the state of Nevada feels, that Yucca Mountain is bad for the state and bad for the country," he said.

The state's water rights have been a key weapon in legal battles to prevent the federal effort to license and build a repository at Yucca Mountain.

In 2000, then-State Engineer Michael Turnipseed denied the department permanent rights to 140 million gallons per year of groundwater, saying it was not in the state's interest to allow the government to build and operate a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain.

In December 2002, the state and DOE entered into an agreement approved by U.S. District Judge Roger Hunt that allowed DOE to use a limited amount of water for showers, restroom facilities, dust suppression and emergencies such as fires.

In 2003, DOE again sought permits for 140 million gallons per year.

Turnipseed's successor, Hugh Ricci, denied that request on the same grounds.

In the meantime, DOE had stockpiled more than 1 million gallons of nonpotable water.

Hunt later put a stay on the permanent water use case pending resolution of the federal EPA radiation safety standard and other potential litigation and legislative matters.

In April 2005, Hunt wrote in court papers that "it is not necessarily a foregone conclusion" that the project would ultimately be approved and licensed.

"If it is not, the (basis) for the water permits would no longer exist."

That same year, with Hunt's approval, state and federal attorneys agreed the Department of Energy could continue using the state's water for safety and sanitary purposes but not for scientific investigations of the site or to build a repository.

Share & Save

Leave Your Comment	9 Reader Comments
Terms & Conditions The following comments are provided by readers and are the sole responsiblity of the authors. The reviewjournal.com does not review comments before publication nor guarantee their accuracy. By publishing a comment here you agree to abide by the comment policy. If you see a comment that violates the policy, please notify the web editor. Some comments may not display immediately due to an automatic filter. These comments will be reviewed within 48 hours. Please do not submit a comment more than once.
Please enter your name Name: Please enter your email Email: Please enter a comment COMMENTS : (word count limit is 300) You have reached the maximum number of words allowed Current Word Count: Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background. Big Boss wrote on July 19, 2007 02:14 PM: The main thing that disturbs me about this is not that Yucca Mountain is about to become licensed, but that we let the DOE basically steal all the water they want while calling use for 'sanitary reasons" such as toilets and showers. I'm not against sharing water...but not when we residents are being told to tighten out water useage because of low water levels in our lakes and a lack of rainwater to help compensate. If water is such a problem out here why are we allowing the DOE to use it for whatever they want and not hold them accountable? Gibbons signed in a Jan. 2009 law? Well what does that do now? Thats just means they (DOE) can steal as much as they want as long as they keep getting the nod from our elected officials and their sanctioned employees....and what is $10,000 a day to a department that has spent 100's of millions since the 80's on this project? Thats like saying I'll charge the US goverment 10,000 a day until they pay off the national debt. Up against what our local and federal governments spend monthly if not annually, 10,000 a day doesn't even scratch the surface. apdp wrote on July 18, 2007 08:00 PM: What state in union does not have an interstate connecting the state capitol with their largest city? Nevada of course. Your hero Reid has done such a crappy job getting federal highway funds that now LV is in trouble with traffic. Reid got his though, land deals, pats on the back, favoritism, Reid's family is set for generations to come as we poor saps pay $200 plus a month to keep our residences cool. Wake up people, make Nevada the nuclear capitol of the world and reap the benefits. Look what Alaskans get for the pipeline. Reid has been acting like he is against Yucca Mtn, but in reality it is cheap political fodder for him. He does nothing but gripe, keeps him in the headlines and masks his impotence as a senator. Approval rating for the senate is 24% right now. Good job dingy harry. Keep your head in the sand. Push away high tech jobs and we will all work for the casinos eventually. Nevada should embrace Yucca Mtn and reap the award of a high tech nuclear industry. And by the way, you are on a power grid in Las Vegas that has Nuclear power as one of its components, so you too are using Nuclear power. apdp wrote on July 18, 2007 07:58 PM: What state in union does not have an interstate connecting the state capitol with their largest city? Nevada of course. Your hero Reid has done such a crappy job getting federal highway funds that now LV is in trouble with traffic. Reid got his though, land deals, pats on the back, favoritism, Reid's family is set for generations to come as we poor saps pay $200 plus a month to keep our residences cool. Wake up people, make Nevada the nuclear capitol of the world and reap the benefits. Look what Alaskans get for the pipeline. Reid has been acting like he is against Yucca Mtn, but in reality it is cheap political fodder for him. He does nothing but gripe, keeps him in the headlines and masks his impotence as a senator. Approval rating for the senate is 24% right now. Good job dingy harry. Keep your head in the sand. Push away high tech jobs and we will all work for the casinos eventually. Nevada should embrace Yucca Mtn and reap the award of a high tech nuclear industry. And by the way, you are on a power grid in Las Vegas that has Nuclear power as one of its components, so you too are using Nuclear power. Roger wrote on July 18, 2007 11:45 AM: Gibbons has no doubt been bought by the DOE. The fact that he would appoint that criminal, Joni Eastly, is proof enough that Gibbons would poison his own state. Eastly threatened the life of a Pahrump resident who wanted her recalled. Gibbons is also a sex offender and should be in prison, NOT in the Governor's seat.., Fred D. wrote on July 18, 2007 11:10 AM: Read the letter from the State to the DOE, posted on the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects website. How that could be interpreted as Gibbons "letting" DOE do anything is beyond me. Seems like Reid is twisting this for political purposes. RANDY wrote on July 18, 2007 10:57 AM: I'M NOT SURE WHAT THE WHOLE DUST UP IS ALL ABOUT. THIS PROJECT HAS BEEN IN THE PLANNING STAGES FOR 25 YEARS. THE DOE HAS SPENT 100'S OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS ON THAT HOLE IN THE GROUND. DOES ANYONE REALLY BELIEVE THAT THE PRESIDENT HAD ANYTHING TO DO WITH THIS? THEY HAVE BEEN DRILLING AND SAMPLING SINCE THE MID 1980'S. ALL OF THE LEADERSHIP HAS BEEN JOHNNY COME LATELY. SENATOR REID HAS BEEN THE ACCEPT ION. HE HAS BEEN AROUND AS LONG AS THIS PROJECT.LET'S NOT GET CRAZY OVER A LITTLE WATER. now wrote on July 18, 2007 10:20 AM: well,bush is for yucca and so is gibbons,let's have a recall Melissa wrote on July 18, 2007 09:44 AM: I vote for a recall on Gibbons! Of all the issues in Nevada he gets this one wrong! So he welcomes the nuclear waste AND works with the Coal producing states to bring us more dirty coal plants? Gibbons is obviously backwards when it comes to Nevada and Nevada's energy future! Recall! Peter wrote on July 18, 2007 03:58 AM: What is he thinking? If the project is doing poorly, why is Gibbons helping them out by allowing them to use our precious water resources? This shows a lack of leadership and a willingness to allow the Feds to build a nuclear storage site in Nevada rather than opposing the site at every turn.