The BIA said the conditional approval does not bind the secretary to approve it now, and it did not find approving the lease to be in the government's best interest. The BIA also noted the "years-long" delay in the construction of the permanent federal nuclear-waste storage site gives "no firm basis" to determine when the nuclear waste would leave the tribal land, among other reasons. "As I said all along, administrative avenues through the federal agencies offered a clear shot at stopping high-level radioactive-waste storage from coming to Utah," said Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah. "I am so glad that thousands of Utahns contacted BLM about the environmental problems with the right-of-way application across public lands and that now we can celebrate the demise of this dangerous disposal scheme."

Margene Bullcreek, among those who have long opposed the plan which has divided the tribe's Skull Valley band, expressed relief after hearing the news from her attorney.

"I am ecstatic about it," she said. "That's something that wasn't good for our tribe. It wasn't good for our future generation because of the poison that it holds. Hopefully, we can get back to our healing process from all the hurt and separation it has caused our relatives."

Vanessa Pierce, director of the Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah said this was great news but said the state is still vulnerable because the nuclear industry wants to get waste off their own sites and into other states.

"In essence, PFS has a license, but with both the BLM and BIA rulings, it has no car, and has been told to stay off the road," Pierce said.

---

E-mail: suzanne@desnews.com