Tag Archives: toxic waste

Hot off the press from HEAL Utah:

Today, at the eleventh hour, EnergySolutions conceded to HEAL Utah and backed out of our legal challenge of the company’s expansion plans.

Rather than face oral arguments before the Utah Supreme Court tomorrow, EnergySolutions has instead withdrawn its request to double in size. (This means there will be no oral arguments heard tomorrow, so please do not plan on attending. While we would’ve relished the opportunity to hear our appeal argued in person, the strength of our case has spoken for itself).

In the past two years, EnergySolutions has submitted two separate requests to double the size of its nuclear waste dump. Governor Huntsman negotiated the withdrawal of the proposal to stack nuclear waste twice as high two weeks ago and today our legal action has forced the company to withdraw its proposal to expand onto new land.
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Announcement from HEAL Utah:

Tonight, Governor Huntsman let Senate Bill 155 become law.

While pledging to prevent “backdoors” for more and hotter nuclear waste to be dumped in Utah, Gov. Huntsman instead let EnergySolutions and the Legislature push the door wide open while locking Utahns out.

Using EnergySolutions’ language to describe the bill as a needed “technical clarification,” Gov. Huntsman vindicated the Legislature’s desire to remove itself and all elected officials in Utah from future expansions and licensing decisions at EnergySolutions’ current site–including decisions to take hotter waste.

In his statement, Gov. Huntsman did pledge to limit the volume of waste at EnergySolutions through his powers as governor. We hope this means he can still carry through with his promise to keep Utah from being the nation’s dumping ground for nuclear waste. But we’ll need to make sure.
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The Governor of Utah has until midnight tonight to veto the nuclear waste bill that passed both the state senate and house.

SB 155 would take the Legislature and governor out of disposal decisions by Energy Solutions on its own property.

The Governor’s office has been flooded with calls and emails urging him to veto this bill:

From HEAL Utah

Gov. Huntsman has until tonight to veto Senate Bill 155 or it becomes law. Hundreds of calls have poured in, yet the Governor has yet to make a decision.

Please take a minute to call Gov. Huntsman today at (801) 538-1000 and leave a message asking him to veto SB 155.

Then, if Gov. Huntsman does veto the bill, join us on Capitol Hill for the final day of the session: Wednesday, February 28th. We’re holding a citizen lobby day all day long from 9:00am-Midnight to urge our legislators to do their jobs and not exempt themselves from having oversight over nuclear waste expansions at EnergySolutions. More details to follow, but let us know if you can make it.

If you can’t make it on the last day, make sure to contact your senator and representative and ask them to support the Governor’s veto of SB 155. You can find your state legislators here: http://www.le.state.ut.us/maps/amap.html.
To see how they voted, follow these links:
Senate vote: http://le.utah.gov/~2007/status/sbillsta/sb0155.003s.txt;
House vote: http://le.utah.gov/~2007/status/sbillsta/sb0155.001h.txt

Gov. Huntsman has said this about SB 155: “I want to make sure there are no backdoors in terms of volumes of waste [and] in terms of hotter waste.”
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The Delta Center has a new name: Energy Solutions Arena.
EnergySolutions Arena — Former Envirocare provides new name for Delta Center
Arena’s new name a winner, Miller says:Critics have no shortage of nicknames

This came to my desk from HEAL Utah:

EnergySolutions is no longer just an eyesore in the West Desert. As of this afternoon, the sports arena you’ve known for 15 years as the Delta Center will be known as the “EnergySolutions Arena.”

Now every time you take your kids to a Jazz game, see a concert, or simply drive through downtown Salt Lake, you can be reminded that your state is home to the largest commercial nuclear waste dump in the nation. Dan Patrick on ESPN sports radio is already calling the renamed arena “The Dump.”

In its latest attempt at rebranding, EnergySolutions has branded Utah, for the world to see, as the nation’s nuclear waste dump.

EnergySolutions can spend how it wants the untold millions it makes off dumping the nation’s unwanted waste in Utah, but this is a slap in the face to Utahns who are uneasy about their state being known as the nation’s dumping ground. And Larry Miller, who admitted he was in “nuclear kindergarten” before being educated by EnergySolutions, could certainly have sold out to a company with a better image for the state of Utah.

But don’t be uneasy, Larry Miller says, because his company and EnergySolutions share a lot of the same ideals. And EnergySolutions’ president Steve Creamer is only looking forward to the day when his company’s name is on the lips of every fourth grader in Utah. Continue reading →