From Deseret News archives:
The end to a long struggle
Indeed, two decisions last week — one by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the other by the Bureau of Land Management — seem to put an end, at long last, to the notion that high-level nuclear waste will be stored indefinitely in Utah's west desert. We will feel better, however, when Private Fuel Storage, the consortium seeking to put the waste there, surrenders fully and unconditionally. That may not happen until it gives up its license to store waste.
At the moment, however, PFS has no lease to use Goshute tribal lands, and it has no viable way to transport the waste to those lands. That would seem to make the waste site impossible.
A lot of people deserve credit for this victory, which once seemed hopelessly out of grasp. Former Govs. Mike Leavitt and Olene Walker, as well as current Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., all were relentless in their opposition. So, too, has been the state's congressional delegation, both Republican and Democrat. A lot of creative thinking went into the fight. Areas near the site were declared protected wilderness. Special taxes on nuclear waste transport were considered. At one time, conservative Utahns even swallowed hard and welcomed the idea that Ralph Nader and his supporters would block the site with spirited protests.
None of these would have been as decisive or clean as the bureaucratic edicts handed down last week. The Bureau of Indian Affairs voided PFS's lease, noting correctly that the waste site, once established, might never relinquish its load to a permanent repository. The Bureau of Land Management said the wilderness designation voided any possible rail lines and that transfer stations for nuclear waste would not be in harmony with good federal lands management.
Utahns may indeed breathe a sigh of relief. They can't let up their guard, however. Too many people in other parts of the nation still would like to use Utah's fragile deserts to store hazardous wastes, and the federal government has yet to abandon its plans for a permanent repository in Nevada, which would require constant shipments through Utah.
They also should recognize that the Goshutes pursued this path in part because there are few other available options for making the tribe financially sound. The state would do well to explore ways to help its native cultures prosper.
