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SALT LAKE CITY -- Utah's top Democratic political candidates called for unified opposition to a form of nuclear waste disposal in Utah Sunday.
In addition, they portrayed Republican Gov. Gary Herbert as insufficiently vigilant on the issue, an accusation the governor's spokesman sharply denies.
When depleted uranium came to the state of Utah, the governor said nothing until after the train had left the station. Now we have 5,000 barrels of depleted uranium sitting in the west desert. We can't afford to be asleep at the wheel when it comes to blended waste.
–Peter Corroon
This is the second week in a row that gubernatorial challenger Peter Corroon has tried to generate campaign heat on a Sunday. Once again, the Salt Lake County mayor called a news conference, knowing the media tends to cover anything that moves on Sunday, a traditionally slow news day.
Corroon made a joint appearance with Democratic incumbent Congressman Jim Matheson.
They denounced the disposal of so-called "blended nuclear waste" at the EnergySolutions landfill at Clive in Tooele County. That's radioactive waste which is blended with other waste.
Matheson and Corroon criticized the governor for acting too late to stop a trainload of depleted uranium last winter. They said the state needs to stop blended waste from coming while the federal government continues to study the issue.
Last week, the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced it was launching a process to set new rules for the blended waste, a process that could take months or years.
The governor's stand on nuclear waste is well known by everyone -- he is absolutely opposed to any kind of high-level nuclear waste coming to Utah. He has been for years.
–Don Olsen
"We've got to make sure we have a united effort to make sure this doesn't happen during this interim," said Matheson. "I think Peter Corroon as governor is going to be the voice we need to make sure that doesn't happen."
Corroon accused Herbert of not taking a firm stance on the issue.
"When depleted uranium came to the state of Utah, the governor said nothing until after the train had left the station," he said. "Now we have 5,000 barrels of depleted uranium sitting in the west desert. We can't afford to be asleep at the wheel when it comes to blended waste."
Gov. Herbert's campaign spokesman, Don Olsen, says this is yet another attempt by Corroon to claim the spotlight before the upcoming election.
"The ramblings of a candidate who is desperate for attention to his campaign," he said. "The governor's stand on nuclear waste is well known by everyone -- he is absolutely opposed to any kind of high-level nuclear waste coming to Utah. He has been for years."
Caught in the crossfire is EnergySolutions. Company officials say they've been disposing of blended waste for years, and the waste at issue is no hotter than what they are already licensed to take.
"It is not high-level nuclear waste. It is class-a material only that would come to Clive. So for the mayor to suggest that we would ever take high-level waste, he is absolutely wrong," said EnergySolutions spokesman Mark Walker. "This is political grandstanding at its best."
The governor's spokesman disputes the notion that Herbert was asleep at the wheel on the depleted uranium issue. He says if the governor hadn't brokered a deal with the U.S. Department of Energy, there would be three trainloads in Utah instead of one.
E-mail: hollenhorst@ksl.com
