FROM THE ARCHIVE
URL: https://www.indianz.com/News/archive/002185.asp

Tiny Utah tribe divided over nuclear waste dump
Wednesday, May 12, 2004

Nearly everyone in the 120-member Skull Valley Goshute Tribe of Utah is related. That probably explains why tensions run high whenever the issue of nuclear waste is brought up.

Chairman Leon Bear, who is under federal indictment for stealing from the tribe, signed a lease to store up to 44,000 tons of radioactive waste on the reservation. He says the tribe has no other economic development opportunities.

Margene Bullcreek is a leading critic of Bear and the proposed dump. She tried to get Bear ousted but the Bureau of Indian Affairs didn't recognize the results of a recall election.

Tribal council meetings are described in the local press a "shouting matches." "We're all family here," Blackbear tells The Minneapolis City Pages.

The state opposes the tribe's plan and has tried numerous ways to thwart it. So far, the state's legal challenges have failed.

Get the Story:
Nuke 'Em! (The Minneapolis City Pages 5/12)

Relevant Links:
Skull Valley Goshute Tribe - http://www.skullvalleygoshutes.org

Related Stories:
Court won't invalidate lease for Goshute nuclear dump (03/08)
Court won't halt Skull Valley nuclear waste dump (2/25)
Goshute members want NRC to review leader's actions (02/10)
Utah spent $3.8M fighting Goshute waste dump (01/29)
Goshute Tribe seeks to bar IRS enforcement (01/23)
Goshute chairman enters plea in fraud, theft case (01/21)
Goshute faction pleads innocent to bank fraud (01/12)
Goshute chairman calls theft charges 'utterly false' (1/8)
Utah tribal chairman indicted for theft, fraud (12/19)
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Opponent to tribe's waste plans headed to D.C. (08/12)
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Goshute members accuse tribe of persecution (07/11)
Panel considers Goshute nuclear waste plan (05/30)
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