Environmental Justice Case Study: Accepting Money for Nuclear Waste in Skull Valley, Utah

Table of Contents

• Problem
• Background
• Key Actors
• Demographics
• Strategies
• Recommendations
• Contact People
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Problem

The Skull Valley Goshute Tribe signed an agreement to lease 820 acres of their reservation to a consortium of power companies called Private Fuel Storage. The land will be used as the site for a temporary storage facility for high level nuclear waste. The State of Utah, local ranchers, and certain members of the Goshute Indian Tribe oppose the introduction of a storage facility tot he reservation. Utah Governor Mike Leavitt contends that the state is already overburdened with nuclear waste, and the transportation of waste to the reservation would pose a threat to citizens. Some members of the tribe feel that the introduction of waste would be dangerous and would violate their traditional values. Opponents also fear that the temporary storage facility would end up becoming permanent. This fear results from the fact that the permanent site at Yucca Mountain, Nevada hasn't officially been confirmed and faces strong opposition. Members of the tribe who support the introduction of the facility feel that it would be a safe and economically beneficial endeavor. Supporters also contend the storage of nuclear waste is much safer than many toxic facilities and sites that already surround the reservation.

Background

Under a treaty signed in 1863, the Skull Valley Goshutes gained tribal sovereignty giving them complete control over economic development on the reservation. Since 1989,l they have been actively pursuing nuclear waste storage. The office of the Nuclear Waste Negotiator (NWN) was established by the federal government in 1990 in an effort to find a location for a Monitored Retrievable Storage (MRS) facility for spent nuclear waste. The MRS would be used for the temporary storage of nuclear waste until the permanent sight at Yucca Mountain is completed. The NWN sent requests to all 50 states, eight territories, and 535 recognized Indian tribes. A total of 16 governments were accepted by NWN for Phase I of the study, each group received $1000,000 for acceptance. Members of the Tribe used this money and other federal grants to fund a world-wide tour of storage facilities. They also met with nuclear power experts to broaden their knowledge of nuclear waste storage. The majority of the applicants discontinued their proposals by the time Phase II of the process began, leaving only the Skull Valley Goshute Tribe and the Mescalaro Apaches of New Mexico. Each tribe received $2000,000 for Phase II of the study.

In 1993 of NWN program was closed by the government. In 1995 the government proposed a plan to build a temporary site next to the proposed permanent site at Yucca Mountain, regardless of the opinion of local residents. This plan failed, and the nuclear utilities began to take it upon themselves to find places to store their waste. The Skull Valley Goshutes and the Mescalaro Apaches continued to seek the possibility of storing waste. A group of 35 nuclear power utilities banded together to pursue the storing of waste with the Mescalaro Apaches. After internal conflict and a falling out in the Mescalaro tribe in late 1994, some of the utilities looked to the Skull Valley Goshutes. On December 27, 1996 they signed a lease with a group of utilities known as Private Fuel Storage (PFS). The Skull Valley Goshutes agreed to store up to 4000 casks of spent nuclear fuel, on 820 acres of Goshute land, for up to 25 years with the option for a 25 year extension. In return they would receive about $250 million in compensation. PSF has submitted an application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in order to obtain the necessary license to build the facility. It is expected to take two to three years for the application to be approved.

Key Actors

The Skull Valley Goshute Tribe

Private Fuel Storage (PFS)

Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)

Leon Bear

Mike Leavitt

Merrill Cook

Utah Department of Environmental Quality

Dianne Nielson

Margene Bullcreek

Ohngo Gaudadeh Devia

The Confederated Tribe of Goshutes

Local Ranchers

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Demographics

The Skull Valley Reservation is located at the southern border of what is known as the Tooele County Hazardous Industries Zone, about forty miles southwest of Salt Lake City. This zone is home to the low-level waste dump, Envirocare. The Dugway Proving Ground was the sight of open air testing of chemical and biological weapons, and was the sight of an accident in the 1960s that killed 6,000 sheep on neighboring land. The military has been reluctant to disclose details of the accident, but they recently have begun a project to clean up the sight (Parker 1997). The area is also the sight of the Tooele Army Depot, which is home to 46% of U.S. chemical weapons awaiting incineration. Tooele County is home to Megacorp, the countrys third worst polluter, which releases 100 tons of chlorine into the air every day. Other polluters in the area include: The Laidlaw Grassy Mountain hazardous waste disposal sight and incinerator, and the Aptus hazardous waste incinerator.

Only 30 members of the tribe reside in a small village located on the reservation. The village consists of few homes and trailers, many of which are abandoned (Woolf 5 Oct. 1997)

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Strategies

Margene Bullcreek, the main tribal opponent, is currently fighting to keep the facility off the reservation. In June of 1997, she organized a 65 mile run from the Skull Valley reservation to Salt Lake to protest the storage facility. On August 16, 1997, a public forum concerning nuclear waste storage was held. Speakers included Fred Malar and Native American activist Grace Thorpe. Fred Malar has been active in the fight against a Northern States Power Plant in Prairie Island, Minnesota. The organization Ohngo Gaudadeh Devia filed a petition with the NRC to intervene in the sighting of the storage facility. This petition argued that the storage facility would violate their cultural values. On November, 24, 1997, Ohngo Gaudadeh Devia filed a contention with the NRC arguing that having a storage facility on the reservation would obstruct their peace. According to Margene Bullcreek, Ohngo Gaudadeh Devia is considering using arguments for environmental injustice to continue their fight against the PFS facility (1997).

Utah governor Mike Leavitt strongly opposes the storing of nuclear waste in Utah. He feels that the transport of waste through the state would put citizens in danger. He also feels that, since Utah doesn't produce or consume nuclear energy, they shouldn't have to store the waste derived from it. In the spring of 1997 Governor Leavitt developed a six step strategy to combat the facility at Skull Valley (Woolf 16 April 1997).