EnergySolutions Appeals to Utah Legislature

None by KCPW

(KCPW News) Environmental groups are in an uproar over the latest nuclear waste-related bill at the Utah Legislature.

Radioactive disposal company EnergySolutions is appealing to Utah lawmakers for more freedom in shifting waste around its Tooele County dump. The company currently needs approval from the Governor, Legislature and State Radiation Control Board to make changes to the one-mile-square plot already approved for waste storage.

But a measure which passed the Senate Natural Resources Committee unanimously today will let EnergySolutions make changes at the site - including stacking waste higher - after gaining approval only from state regulators.

They will still have to hold a public comment period, but the Healthy Environmental Alliance of Utah says elected officials represent the public interest more than a board of regulators.

The Utah Attorney General and the Tooele County Commission support the measure. Governor Jon Huntsman Junior - an outspoken opponent of nuclear waste storage in Utah - says he will withhold judgment until the measure passes the Legislature.

Email to a friendPosted in KCPW Newsroom, Legislative Coverage, and 2007 Legislative Coverage. Copyright 2008 KCPW