Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

RAILROAD TO YUCCA MOUNTAIN: DOE seeks public land

Agency wants to reserve land across rural Nevada for path to nuclear repository

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WASHINGTON -- Department of Energy officials said Monday they want to continue reserving 308,600 acres of public land across rural Nevada as the department maps out a railroad to the proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain.

DOE began accepting public comment for a land withdrawal along a corridor stretching 300 miles from Caliente to the repository site on the western edge of the Nevada Test Site.

The mile-wide corridor has been segregated since December 2003 at DOE's request. The department in a draft environmental study issued Monday said it was seeking a 10-year land withdrawal from the Bureau of Land Management to continue the rail project.

The designation would forbid new mining claims on the property and also prohibit the BLM from selling any parcels or allowing other federal agencies to make use of the land. Current mining claims, grazing permits, water rights and public access would not be affected, federal officials said.

DOE spokesman Allen Benson said it was possible the department would not require all the land for the entire 10 years. But he said DOE was anticipating lawsuits and could face other obstacles that could delay final designation of a rail route.

"This gives us sufficient time to do everything that needs to be done," Benson said.

The Energy Department projected minimal disruptions from the land withdrawal. Activities required to evaluate the land consist mainly of photographing land features and conducting field surveys of its topography, historical and biological resources, DOE said in a 37-page environmental assessment.

After examining the study, Robert Halstead, a nuclear waste transportation consultant to the state of Nevada, said the Energy Department may be underestimating what would be required to fully study the corridor.

To do a credible job, DOE may have to disturb the land through drilling and ditch-digging more than it suggested in its report, Halstead said.

Also, Halstead said, "I think the DOE is somewhat cavalier in its treatment of the potential adverse impacts of the land withdrawal on mineral exploration. I don't think they've done a fair job to establish that withdrawing this land for 10 years won't adversely impact some people."

Halstead also questioned why DOE did not seek to withdraw additional land for study that ranchers and miners have identified as possible alternative routes that would minimize local impacts.

The proposed land withdrawal affects Nye, Lincoln and Esmerelda counties, with public hearings scheduled for next month. DOE said it would accept public comments for 30 days, until Sept. 28.