In January of this year Governor Butch Otter backed a deal to bring more nuclear waste into the INL under protest by two former governors, Phil Batt and Cecil Andrus, who said the deal goes against an agreement made back in 1995 concerning spent nuclear waste at the INL. This agreement was passed by Idaho’s voters. This deal said that commercial nuclear waste could not be shipped into the INL. The Federal government has been very slow to clean up the INL, especially 900,000 gallons which has to be solidified before it can be properly stored or shipped to other facilities.
Once again Governor Otter is putting Idaho’s environment in jeopardy because it is more important to him that we get the $20 million of government funding that goes along with these spent fuel rods. What they don’t tell us is that tethered to this contract is an agreement to accept 20 metric tons more of nuclear waste for storage. Looks like the price for storing waste is $1,000 a ton. This is a bad idea and all of the crying by Idaho Falls Mayor Rebecca Casper and Idaho Dept. of Commerce Director should not sway this administration to fall prey to yet another government scheme to dump more radioactive waste in our state.
The Governor and Director Sayer should be working to bring more businesses to Idaho not more nuclear waste. What would happen if we did have an earthquake and that radioactive material was to seep down into our aquifer and contaminate our water supply? We have enough government subsidies flowing into this state already, in fact 36% of our State Budget is made up of money supplied by the federal government. How about cutting taxes to make Idaho more attractive to corporations, or how about fighting to get our land back from the federal government so we can grow our economy with jobs created from our natural resources.
It’s time to get off the federal government dole along with all of their rules and regulations that go along with the money they give is. Every time we do a deal with the Feds we seem to lose a little more of our freedom. If you care about your state and the environment your children and grandchildren are going to grow up in, call Governor Otter and Attorney General Wasden and let them know that you don’t want any more nuclear waste brought into Idaho. Tell them you want them to hold the federal government’s feet to the fire and clean up the mess they have made at the INL.
You can reach the Governor at 208-334-2100 and Attorney General Wasden at 208-334-2400. Make a call today and tell them NO MORE NUCLEAR WASTE IN IDAHO.
