Write BLM, Hatch urges

WASHINGTON — Sen. Orrin Hatch said Friday he wants every Utahn to "sit down and write a personal letter" to the Bureau of Land Management, telling the agency whether it should grant Private Fuel Storage the ability to move nuclear waste across public land.

And the Utah Republican is confident those views submitted during a 90-day public comment period will ultimately convince BLM that the public is against giving PFS permission to build a rail line for its proposed nuclear waste storage site at the Skull Valley Goshute Indian reservation.

"I am confident the administration will make the right decision," Hatch said. "BLM is putting the issue back in the hands of the people."

The announcement of a public comment period concluded a week of developments over the controversial proposal by a consortium of nuclear power utilities to store some 44,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel rods on Goshute land in Tooele County. The state, which has long opposed PFS's plans, was denied a request to hear its case by the U.S. Supreme Court. At the same time, the consortium lost support among its own members.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs cannot give final approval to PFS's lease without the BLM's right-of-way approval, which could ruin PFS's chances of moving waste through Utah to the proposed Tooele County storage site.

Because the BLM does not have to hold a public comment period on the right-of-way question, Hatch said its announcement to seek public input is good news for the state. The BLM will publish a notice in the Federal Register with details on the public comment period. An exact start date was not available Friday.

Hatch sent a letter to Interior Secretary Gale Norton on Thursday requesting a "fresh consideration" on the right-of-way.

He highlighted Thursday's news that the consortium is losing the support of its largest members — Southern Company announced it would pull its financial support, and Xcel Energy is putting its investment in the project on hold. In addition, the senator noted that the Energy Department has made clear PFS is not part of its nuclear waste plan and no new consideration has been give to the PFS plan since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

"I fail to see how the public's interest can be served as long as the PFS site is associated with increased risks of accidents and potential terrorist attack," Hatch wrote.

PFS filed the right-of-way applications in 1998 and the environmental impact statement was finished in 2001, according to a letter BLM Deputy Director James M. Hughes sent Hatch Friday.