December 5, 2000
President Clinton
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.,
NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear President Clinton,
Our organizations represent more than a million people across the country who are actively interested in promoting sensible, sustainable energy policy and programs. In the past years, we have appreciated your position against the premature transport of high-level nuclear waste to an interim storage facility in Nevada. We are writing to bring to your attention our grave concerns with the current proposal by Private Fuel Storage (PFS) to open an interim storage facility in Utah. We urgently request that you issue an Executive Order to prevent the remote siting of a high-level nuclear waste storage facility by private industry.
Transporting high-level nuclear waste is inherently dangerous because it exposes people along transportation routes to the risk of radiation release in areas where emergency responders may not be equipped for a nuclear accident. The PFS interim storage facility would unnecessarily increase this risk by requiring waste to be transported more than once over long distances.
Despite the risk that the PFS project would impose to communities along transportation routes, the draft Environmental Impact Statement for the PFS proposal gives inadequate attention to transportation issues and no public hearings have been scheduled outside Utah. PFS refuses to specify which routes would be used to transport the waste, making it difficult for concerned citizens to discern how their communities would be impacted by this large-scale nuclear transportation scheme.
In addition, the draft Environmental Impact Statement for the PFS facility explicitly assumes that nuclear waste stored in Utah would eventually be moved to a permanent repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. This assumption, at a time when no final decision has been made about the proposed Yucca Mountain repository, puts undue pressure on and undermines the integrity of the Yucca Mountain site characterization and licensing processes.
In the context of proposed amendments to the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, Congress has contentiously debated the issue of remote-sited interim storage facilities for nuclear waste on several occasions. Yet, as a private industry initiative, PFS is not governed by the Nuclear Waste Policy Act. We object in the strongest terms to the precedent that the PFS proposal sets for granting private industry the authority to decide upon remote siting and policy for high-level waste storage.
Transporting high-level radioactive waste to a storage facility on the Skull Valley Goshute Reservation amounts to exporting U.S. nuclear waste to a sovereign nation - an action that should warrant specific presidential oversight. Furthermore, the Skull Valley Band of Goshutes General Council has never seen nor voted on the actual lease agreement. Shipping the waste to this minority community - a tribal reservation - would violate the President's Executive Order on Environmental Justice by disproportionately exposing tribal members to the health risks associated with radiation.
It is clearly unacceptable to allow PFS to proceed with this flawed proposal, which places the economic interests of the nuclear industry above democratic process and the legitimate safety concerns of citizens.
President Clinton, we have appreciated your strong statements in opposition to previous proposals to transport high-level radioactive waste unnecessarily to an interim storage facility. Last spring, we applauded your veto of Senate Bill 1287, which would have allowed for temporary "back-up" storage of nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Now, Private Fuel Storage would reverse these environmental victories without any opportunity for democratic intervention.
Therefore, we urge you to issue an Executive Order (1) prohibiting the Nuclear Regulatory Commission from considering private industry license applications for remote-sited interim nuclear waste storage facilities such as the PFS proposal; and (2) directing that federal government resources allocated to the Departments of Interior, Agriculture and Transportation not be used to support the design, construction or operation of the PFS facility.
We look forward to meeting with your staff to elaborate our concerns. Please contact Public Citizen at (202) 454-5130.
Sincerely,
|
National and International Organizations | |
| Wenonah Hauter, Director, Public
Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program |
Krista Leraas, Alliance for Sustainability, Minneapolis, MN |
| Francis Macy, Center for Safe Energy, Earth Island Institute, Berkeley, CA | Preston Truman, Downwinders, Lava Hot Springs, ID |
| Alice Slater, Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE), New York, NY | Barbara Wiedner, Grandmothers for Peace International, Elk Grove, CA |
| Damon Moglen, Greenpeace, Washington, DC | Winona LaDuke, Honor the Earth, St. Paul, MN |
| Don Lowburg, Independent Power Providers (IPP), North Fork, CA | David Adelman, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Washington, DC |
| Tom Clements, Nuclear Control Institute (NCI), Washington, DC | Michael Mariotte, Nuclear Information & Resource Service (NIRS), Washington, DC |
| John LaForge, Nukewatch U.S.A., Luck, WI | Gordon S. Clark, Peace Action, Washington, DC |
| Martin Butcher, Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), Washington, DC | Ellen Thomas, Proposition One Committee, Washington, DC |
| Linda Gunter, Safe Energy Communications Council, Washington, DC | Merlynn Rose, Shundahai Network, Pahrump, NV |
| Ann Mesnikoff, Sierra Club, Washington, DC | Daphne Wysham, Sustainable Energy and Economy Network, Washington, DC |
| Anna Aurilio, U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG), Washington, DC | Kimberly Robson, Women's Action for New Directions (WAND), Washington, DC |
| GA State Rep. Nan Grogan Orrock, Women's Legislative Lobby (WiLL), Washington, DC | |
|
Local and Sub-national Organizations | |
| Stephanie Brittle, Don't Waste Arizona, Phoenix, AZ | Susan Tansky, CA Alliance in Defense of Residential Environments (CADRE), Sherman Oaks, CA |
| Clem Wilkes, California Safe Food Coalition, Laytonville, CA | Amaera Bay Laurel, Chico Peace and Justice Center, Chico, CA |
| Bernice King, Citizens Along the Roads and Tracks (CART), Sacramento, CA | Egan O'Connor, Committee for Nuclear Responsibility, Inc., San Francisco, CA |
| Bill Magavern, Committee to Bridge the Gap, Sacramento, CA | Michael Welch, Redwood Alliance & REEI, Arcata, CA |
| Josie DeMuth, Center for Wholistic Health, Lakewood, CO | Tom Marshall, Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center, Boulder, CO |
| Sal Mangiagli, Citizens Awareness Network, CT Chapter, Haddam, CT | Nancy Burton, Connecticut Coalition Against Millstone, Mystic, CT |
| Peg Ryglisyn & Michael Albrizio, Connecticut Opposed to Waste, Broad Brook, CT | Peter & Mitzi Bowman, Don't Waste Connecticut, New Haven, CT |
| Judy Friedman, People's Action for Clean Energy (PACE), Canton, CT | Kristina Trotta, Earth Alert, Miami, FL |
| Bob Darby, Atlanta Food Not Bombs, Atlanta, GA | Glenn Carroll, Georgians Against Nuclear Energy (GANE), Atlanta, GA |
| Jane Magers, EarthCare, Des Moines, IA | Nancy Veit, Iowans for Nuclear Safety, Cherokee, IA |
| Doris Covalt, Des Moines Branch Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), Des Moines, IA | Gary Richardson, Snake River Alliance, Boise, ID |
| Dave Kraft, Nuclear Energy Information Service (NEIS), Evanston, IL | Grant Smith, Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana (CAC), Indianapolis, IN |
| John Blair, Valley Watch, Inc., Evansville, IN | Kristen Hamm, LSU Student Environmental Action Coaltion (SEAC), Baton Rouge, LA |
| Sandra Gavutis, C-10 Research and Education Foundation, Inc., Newburyport, MA | Debbie Katz, Citizens Action Network, Shelburne Falls, MA |
| Cindy Luppi, Clean Water Action Alliance of MA, Boston, MA | Mary Lampert, Massachussetts Citizens for Safe Energy, Boston, MA |
| Matthew Wilson, Toxics Action Center, Boston, MA | Keith Gunter, Citizens' Resistence at Fermi Two (CRAFT), Munroe, MI |
| Michael Keegan, Coalition for a Nuclear Free Great Lakes (CNFGL), Munroe, MI | Corrine Carey, Don't Waste Michigan (DWM), Grand Rapids, MI |
| George Crocker, North American Water Office, Lake Elmo, MN | Bruce Drew, Prairie Island Coalition, Minneapolis, MN |
| Bob Kochtitzky, Mississippi 2020 Network, Inc., Jacksonville, MS | Mary Olson, Nuclear Information & Resource Service Southeast (NIRS Southeast), Asheville, NC |
| Maria Santelli, Citizens for Alternatives to Radioactive Dumping (CARD), Albuquerque, NM | Jay Coghlan, Nuclear Watch of New Mexico, Santa Fe, NM |
| Tom Myers, Great Basin Mine Watch, Reno, NV | Sally Light, Nevada Desert Experience, Las Vegas, NV |
| Judy Treichel, Nevada Nuclear Waste Taskforce, Las Vegas, NV | Susan Griffin, Chenango North Energy Awarenes Group, South Plymouth, NY |
| Gary Michael, Citizens Against Radioactive Dumping (CARD), Cinncinatus, NY | Carol Mongerson, Coalition on West Valley Nuclear Wastes, Concord, NY |
| Linda Ochs, Finger Lakes Citizens for the Environment, Waterloo, NY | Susan Gateley, Lakeshore Environmental Action, Wolcott, NY |
| Bill Smirnow, Nuclear Free New York, Huntington, NY | Margaret Flanagan, Pax Christi Metro New York, New York, NY |
| Pamela Slater, Standing for Truth About Radiation (STAR Foundation), Scarsdale, NY | John Furman, Utica Citizens in Action, Utica, NY |
| Marilyn Elie, Weschester Citizens Awareness Network, Weschester, NY | Chris Trepal, Earth Day Coalition, Cleveland, OH |
| Sarah Ogdahl & Shari Wier, Ohio Citizen Action, Cleveland, OH | Terry Lodge, Toledo Coalition for Safe Energy, Toledo, OH |
| Seane Wise, UE Local 791, Lorain, OH | Rebecca Jim, Local Environmental Action Demanded Agency (LEAD), Vinita, OK |
| Earl Hatley, Oklahoma Toxics Campaign Fund, Inc., Vinita, OK | Chuck Johnson, Center for Energy Research, Portland, OR |
| Mike Ewall, Pennsylvania Environmental Network (PEN), Philadelphia, PA | Mike Cormier, El Paso Solar Energy Association, El Paso, TX |
| Ann Sward Hansen, Citizens Against Radioactive Waste in Utah, Highland, UT | Winston Weeks, Citizens Education Project, Salt Lake City, UT |
| Jason Groenewold, Families Against Incinerator Risk (FAIR), Salt Lake City, UT | Dan Kent, Friends of the Abajos, Moab, UT |
| Margene Bullcreek, Ohngo Gaudandah Devia Awareness (OGDA), Skull Valley Band of Goshutes | Elsie Lazar, Women Concerned/Utahns United, Salt Lake City, UT |
| Derrik Jordan, Vermont Citizens Awareness Network, East Dummerston, VT | David Blecker, Earth Energy Systems, Ltd., WI |
| Angie Young, Rocky Mountain Activist Network, Laramie, WY | |
cc. Ms. Linda Lance, White House Center for Environmental Quality
Mr. Scott Beale, White House Department of Intergovernmental Affairs
Mr. Matt Bennett, White House Department of Intergovernmental Affairs
Gov. Mike Leavitt, State of Utah
Hon. Robert Bennett, U.S. Senate
Hon. Orrin Hatch, U.S. Senate
Hon. Christopher Cannon, U.S. House of Representatives
Hon. Merrill Cook, U.S. House of Representatives
Hon. James Hansen, U.S. House of Representatives
Hon. James Mattheson, U.S. Congressman-elect
Gov. Kenny Guinn, State of Nevada
Hon. Richard Bryan, U.S. Senate
Hon. John Ensign, U.S. Senator-elect
Hon. Harry Reid, U.S. Senate
Hon. Shelley Berkley, U.S. House of Representatives
Hon. James Gibbons, U.S. House of Representatives
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