Column: Nuclear fine for Utah but not for tribe

Monday, October 29, 2007  

" Nuclear waste somehow doesn't smell so bad when it's being dumped by two self-serving state legislators rather than an impoverished American Indian tribe.

Republican Reps. Aaron Tilton and Mike Noel want to build a nuclear power plant somewhere along the Green River.

And for some reason, all those Utah politicians who trotted out downwinders for show and tell, screeched about Divine Strake and promised to lie down on the tracks to block spent nuclear fuel rods have gone silent.

Lawrence Bear, leader of the Skull Valley Band of Goshutes, wonders why his tribe's nuclear waste dump wasn't good enough for the state, but Noel's and Tilton's nuclear reactors are okey-dokey. "Why are they doing it?" he asked.

State Director of Native American Affairs Forrest Cuch has an answer: hypocrisy.

How quickly Utahns' sensibilities change with race, money and a little time. "

Get the Story:
Rebecca Walsh: A nuclear double standard (The Salt Lake Tribune 10/28)

Interior Decision Documents:
Skull Valley Band Nuclear Waste Repository

Relevant Links:
Skull Valley Goshute Tribe - http://www.skullvalleygoshutes.org
Private Fuel Storage - http://www.privatefuelstorage.com

Related Stories:
Goshute Tribe questions state's new stance on nuclear (10/26)
Court puts off challenge to Goshute nuclear (06/27)
Utah tries to delay action on Goshute waste dump (5/3)
Skull Valley Goshute Tribe defends nuclear project (01/30)
Utah pays Skull Valley Goshute $844K in legal fees (11/15)
Skull Valley Goshute election results contested (11/06)
Slate of relatives elected by Skull Valley Goshutes (10/26)
BIA to oversee Skull Valley Goshute election (09/27)
Interior called Goshute chairman on cell phone (09/14)
Goshute chairman blasts Interior on waste deal (9/13)
Editorial: Interior, the imprudent trustee (9/11)