Development enters Yucca Mountain foray

The Southern Nevada development industry weighed into the Yucca Mountain fight Tuesday with donations totaling $70,000 to the Nevada Protection Fund.

The donations were the first in support of Nevada's fight against the proposed repository at Yucca Mountain in Nye County to come from outside the public sector and the gaming industry. Real estate and development comprise the second largest industry in the state.

The fund was created by Gov. Kenny Guinn for the sole purpose of blocking the development of a nuclear waste repository in the state.

Steven Molasky, who was appointed eight years ago to the state's Nuclear Projects Commission, announced Molasky Cos. will donate $50,000.

The 9,400-member Nevada Association of Realtors contributed $20,000 to the fund.

The contributions bring the total to more than $6 million that the state has earmarked for its campaign. Most of the funds thus far have come from public sources, including $4 million from the state, $1 million from Clark County, $100,000 from the city of Las Vegas, and lesser amounts from municipalities throughout the state. Nevada Resort Association members -- essentially the local gaming industry -- have contributed about $300,000.

Money raised in support of the fund goes toward lobbying efforts, a publicity campaign and legal challenges by the state to what Nevadans have dubbed "the dump." The state has recruited John Podesta and Kenneth Duberstein, chiefs of staff for the Clinton and Reagan administrations, respectively, as their main lobbyists, and hired Brown and Partners to conduct its nationwide informational campaign.

Opposition to the nuclear waste repository has gained an immediacy because a key vote is expected on the issue this summer. Following the endorsement of the repository plan by Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham and President George W. Bush earlier this year, the next political step is for a veto by Gov. Guinn -- a foregone conclusion.

That, in turn, leads to an override vote by Congress, where efforts by both sides are being directed. Only a simple majority in both houses is needed for the project to continue to its next stage.

Nevada politicians hold no hope of swaying enough House members to vote in opposition, but believe obtaining a majority in the Senate is still possible. Lobbying efforts are focused mainly on senators who have yet to take a firm stance on the issue.

Guinn said the nuclear power interests have spent about $30 million in support of the Yucca Mountain facility, a far greater figure than Nevada has to spend on the issue. The governor said the state easily could spend twice the amount already raised, but time and fund-raising are in short supply.

"We just can't cover every state. We have to spend very wisely," Guinn said.

As part of a family that has developed many properties in Southern Nevada, including Sunrise Hospital Medical Center and Boulevard Mall, Molasky said opposition to the repository is important to "every stakeholder in Nevada's future."

"People have said this is being forced down our throats and there is nothing we can do about it," Molasky said. "That's not true."

Molasky called upon the business community in Southern Nevada to contribute to the Nevada Protection Fund.

"The quality of life and the fear factor the dump creates will be more far-reaching than just (the development) industry," Molasky said. "We have a great legal team put together and the fight is far from over."

He believes the state can win through two means: political and legal. Should the political strategy -- Congress sustaining the unusual veto power Guinn has in this complicated legislation -- fail, the contest likely will shift to the lawsuits filed over the proposed repository.

"We think we can win there as well because when it comes right down to it, the science is on our side," Molasky said, referring to years of studies which were conducted to determine if such a project were safe enough to build.

Kellie Rubin, president-elect of the state Realtors' group, called the fight against the repository one of "private property rights."

Rubin said the donation was a first step for her organization, which will launch a campaign to rally support from other Realtor groups across the nation, whom she believes may be sympathetic to the anti-repository camp.

"(Realtors) believe very strongly in private property rights. That's what we're about as a group. I think our fight is a protection of private property rights," Rubin said.

Nevada's vast expanses of federally owned land made it a convenient choice for repository proponents when Yucca Mountain was selected by Congress as the only site under consideration in 1987. Nevada has the highest percentage of federally controlled land among the states.

The Nevada Association of Realtors also plans to sway the National Association of Realtors' powerful lobbying arm to take a position opposed to the repository in the coming months.

"Nationally, we have a very influential lobbying force and we're putting together a plan for our national efforts," Rubin said.

Molasky and Rubin both said the presence of the repository probably would have little direct effect on business, but that it would detract from the quality of life for residents.

"I think our industry is going to be fine, regardless. It's going to affect our overall community more than us," Rubin said. "Anytime you put something like that 90 miles outside of a city, it's going to have an effect, but I doubt it would affect market values or stop people from coming to Nevada.

"It's really a quality of life issue and a health issue."

Even if approved by Congress, the repository faces several more legal hurdles, including the lawsuits, licensing and acquisitions, such as obtaining water needed for the project. The state plans to oppose the nuclear repository project on each of those issues.

Real Estate home