Decade
of Resistance 
shundahai@shundahai.org
Shundahai Network
Dedicated to Breaking
the Nuclear Chain
Shundahai is a Newe (Western Shoshone) word meaning "Peace and Harmony with all Creation"
May 15, 2006
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BLM Swamped With Comments on N-Waste
The Bureau of Land Management's Salt Lake City office was bombarded by e-mails from organizations and individuals Monday in regard to Private Fuel Storage's quest to run a rail line through public land to its proposed nuclear waste storage facility in Skull Valley. The company also plans to build an intermodal transfer station near the Timpie area on Interstate 80. The deadline for comments from the public ended Monday at 5 p.m. Pam Schuller said the BLM office was still counting responses on Tuesday. She estimates there will be more than 6,000 comments. On Friday morning the number of comments had reached 4,300. "Each comment must be reviewed and processed individually. In some cases, one-lone substantive comment may take one day to a week to accurately assess, research and/or review," Schuller wrote in a press release to media. "While the typical time to process public comments can take anywhere from 60 to 90 days, we cannot give an accurate assessment on how long it will take to process all the comments received on this proposed project due to the large volume," the statement reads. "However, it should be known that BLM will be unable to make a final determination until the Bureau of Indian Affairs makes a decision. "Once a final decision is made, all public comments, with the exception of privacy-protected information, will be available for public review." The State of Utah through the governor's office made the deadline Monday and submitted 40 pages of legal arguments and exhibits. In general, the State's comments focus on the following points: 1. The recently created Cedar Mountain Wilderness Area precludes the grant of a right-of-way for the PFS proposed rail route. 2. As a new, start-up, limited liability company, PFS lacks the technical and financial capability of operating, maintaining and terminating use of the proposed intermodal site. 3. In a post 9-11 world, PFS's intermodal operations, where spent nuclear fuel casks would be stored next to Interstate 80 and under the low-altitude flight paths of military and commercial aircraft, would constitute a prime terrorist target and present an unacceptable risk to national security. 4. PFS's overweight and over-length trucks would seriously jeopardize public safety and emergency planning. 5. The proposal would unfairly and adversely affect adjacent property owners. 6. BLM's resource management plan for the intermodal area cannot accommodate the use of public lands for nuclear waste operations. Earlier in the week, the Utah Democratic Party said in a press release that it supports the opinion of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. On Monday, the LDS Church provided the following statement: "The transportation and storage of high-level nuclear waste create substantial and legitimate public health, safety and environmental concerns. "It is not reasonable to suggest that any one area bear a disproportionate burden of the transportation and concentration of nuclear waste. "We ask the federal government to harness the technological and creative power of the country to develop options for the disposal of nuclear waste." e-mail:mwatson@tooeletranscript.com http://www.transcriptbulletin.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=12891&Itemid=54
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