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While the death knell hasn’t sounded entirely for Private Fuel Storage and the idea of storing nuclear waste on the Goshute reservation in Tooele County, the wake definitely is beginning.
In recent weeks, half of the original investors in PFS have announced they are withdrawing their financial backing of the project. Utah’s congressional delegation successfully got the Cedar Mountain Wilderness Area through the legislative process, which essentially blocks a rail spur to the proposed PFS site. And a movement is afoot to revisit the nation’s overall policy for long-term storage of nuclear waste.
KSL joins most Utahns in welcoming these developments.
Now, as the battle begins to wind down, our thoughts turn to the 120 or so members of the Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians who saw an opportunity nearly a decade ago to improve their woeful economic plight. Their dream of prosperity is quickly fading. Yet, they still have their 18,000 acre reservation and an apparent desire to improve their lot.
It seems appropriate, in KSL’s view, for those who have fought so vociferously against PFS, to begin diverting some of their energy toward helping the Goshutes find other acceptable ways to develop their designated resource.
It’s the least the people of Utah should do.
