Hearings Demanded on Yucca Waste Transport

PROGRESSIVE LEADERSHIP ALLIANCE OF NEVADA * SIERRA CLUB * FRIENDS OF THE EARTH

CONTACT:
Launce Rake, PLAN Communications Director, (702) 791-1965
Nick Berning, Friends of the Earth, (202) 222-0748
Oliver Bernstein, Sierra Club (Spanish speaker), (512) 289-8618

WEBSITE: http://dontdumponnevada.org

Friends of the Earth, the largest grassroots network of environmental groups in the world, is working with the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada and the Sierra Club to launch a coordinated media campaign this week warning that transporting dangerous nuclear waste to the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump is a recipe for disaster.

The hollowed-out Yucca Mountain, just 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, would be the dumpsite for at least 77,000 tons of toxic highly radioactive waste under a decades-old proposal championed by the U.S. Department of Energy and the nuclear industry. Millions of Nevadans – and millions in 39 states coast-to-coast – live in close proximity to planned transportation routes of the material.

Friends of the Earth, the Sierra Club and the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada have produced print and radio advertisements in English and Spanish warning that highly toxic radioactive waste does not belong on our railroads and highways. The groups are urging the Surface Transportation Board, a federal agency working with the U.S. Department of Energy to develop routes for the radioactive waste to reach Yucca Mountain, to schedule open hearings so the public can gauge the threat posed by the shipments.

Earlier this month Charles Nottingham, chairman of the Surface Transportation Board, told Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada that he supported public hearings on the issue.

“Not just those of us in Nevada, but millions coast-to-coast, would be along the transportation routes carrying this dangerous cargo,” said Launce Rake, PLAN spokesman. “Americans should have the opportunity to speak out against this misguided proposal.”

“Nevadans don’t deserve to be dumped on,” said Erich Pica of Friends of the Earth. “The Surface Transportation Board can keep this dangerous waste from traveling through Nevada, and that’s what we’re calling on them to do.”