Demo slams Bishop's waste dealings

The language allowing the new radioactive waste, which is 25 times hotter than allowed under the current Utah government permit, "was inserted in a conference committee. No public hearings. We can't vote to take out the language, we can only vote up or down the huge energy bill," Matheson said.

Meanwhile, a St. George Republican state lawmaker says he will introduce a bill in the 2004 Legislature to require Envirocare to get a state permit for the new waste. Envirocare plans to take uranium mill tailings from a Department of Energy cleanup site in Fernald, Ohio. That waste, which sits in silos, contains radium that is much more radioactive than the waste Envirocare now accepts under state and federal licenses.

Under Utah law, the Fernald waste would be considered Class C waste. The Legislature has already placed a moratorium on that kind of waste pending the outcome of a two-year task force study.

Bishop's provision would reclassify the Fernald waste as "commercial," and that would allow private companies like Envirocare to bid on it. The federal government is poised to transfer control of uranium waste to Utah, which could happen as soon as March. And so Rep. Steve Urquhart's bill, if passed by the Legislature, could either delay or kill the Fernald move.

Depending on how the final conference report is worded, Matheson said he may well vote for it, even though he opposes Bishop's language. "But this is not the way" to conduct good government policy, he said.

"I've sent a letter to the Senate and House conferees, asking them to take out that language. That's about all I can do, however," he said. Matheson said to his knowledge, he has never taken a campaign contribution from Envirocare, nor its owner, Khosrow Semnani, which collectively have contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to Utah politicians over the years.

Would it have been wiser for Bishop — knowing he used to be paid lobbyist for Envirocare — to come to Matheson or Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, and ask them to help out Envirocare and the eastern radioactive waste site?

"All I can say is he never came to me," said Matheson. "Apparently he drafted the language in July, but I learned about the issue in September when the conference report became public and a local newspaper wrote about it. I didn't know until then."

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E-MAIL: bbjr@desnews.com

Contributing: Donna Kemp Spangler