Can we trust feds on Yucca?

For those who trustingly place faith in the federal government safeguarding Las Vegans from a Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, I offer one word of caution: Moencopi.

That's a tiny village in the Hopi Nation, in northern Arizona. It's so remote, if you Googled "out of sight, out of mind," Moencopi might come up first. Yet world-renowned Las Vegas and little-known Moencopi may one day share an unfortunate kinship.

Let me explain.

Moencopi, which means "running water," is an ancestral farming community of about 200 Hopi families. Unless something dramatic happens, the people there may not make it too many more growing seasons, because radioactivity from an old government dump is bearing down on the community.

Years ago, the unlined dump on the Navajo Nation, outside Tuba City, was used to dispose of radioactive byproducts from a uranium mill. Because the dump was located outside Hopi boundaries, the people in Moencopi didn't have much say about the dump, its use or its lack of safeguards. More's the pity because after the Bureau of Indian Affairs closed the dump in 1997 and covered it with dirt, the groundwater became radioactively contaminated and began moving toward the Hopi Nation.

According to the Flagstaff, Ariz., newspaper last week, the "plume of contaminated water has migrated to within one-third mile of a spring the Hopi village of Lower Moencopi uses for drinking water."

Hopi leaders blame the Navajo dump site. Awareness of the plight has so far resulted in little more than a governmental shoulder shrug. It will cost $23 million to clean up the dump. No one's willing to own up -- or pony up.

The Navajo Nation has been no help. And the federal government says it's not even sure from where the radioactive taint stems. Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., recently held committee hearings that lamented the plight of Moencopi and the many problems with contamination on the Navajo Nation after decades of mining and milling.

But like all classic bureaucratic nightmares, everyone's long on lament and short on accountability and action.

Do I think America has the engineering skill to dig a big hole at Yucca Mountain? Sure. In fact, it's pretty much done. I've been in it. It's an E-ticket (if anyone still remembers what that was).

Do I think we, as a country, can safely transport high-level nuclear waste from nuclear plants around the United States to Yucca Mountain, assuming the Nuclear Regulatory Commission ever licenses the place? Sure, with just about the same degree of safety as the federal aviation system.

But do I think that the transportation and storage of high-level nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain will take place, mishap-free, forever? Not a snowball's chance on the Strip.

There will be problems. Maybe even disasters. And when they happen, will the federal government own up and correct them?

Some will try to knock my argument down by saying I'm a Yucca Mountain alarmist. Tell you what. Let's see Moencopi get fixed, then we'll talk.

For now, Moencopi gives me no comfort.

Car theft, car sale

Have you heard about this crime in Las Vegas?

Car thieves steal a marketable car (say, a Cadillac Escalade), strip out the seats, tires and just enough equipment to make sure the insurer will call it a total loss.

The insurance company then pays the claimant and sells the stripped Escalade on the salvage market for pennies on the dollar.

Now for the twist: The thieves buy the stripped-out Escalade (which comes with a new vehicle identification number), put back the seats, tires and the previously stolen equipment and then sell the car at top used value.

The right car can net the thieves $50,000 a pop, easy. Steal, strip and buy back 10 cars a month and, well, you can do the math. Makes you wonder how much of this scam stems from inside knowledge.

State song agony

I love e-mail with a sense of humor. Reader Terry Miller-Newcomb found my past column helpful on what I called the "near unsingable" state song "Home Means Nevada." I thought you'd get a kick out of her letter. She writes in part:

"Like many a loyal Nevadan before me, as a fourth-grader, I chose to sing 'Home Means Nevada' as my 'talent' in the once-annual Ruby S. Thomas Elementary School Talent Contest. The horrified faces in the crowd before me still haunt my memories. Children, their parents and most of my teachers sat, mouths gaping, as I nervously squeaked out the chorus. The worst portion, musically speaking, is when a terrified 10-year-old must voice the already sing-songy words 'If you follow the old Kit Carson trail ...' Agony!

"Your column has probably saved me thousands of dollars and many hours in therapy as I recover from post-traumatic singing disorder. This is an entirely self-diagnosed malady, although my supportive teachers, which included Ric Watson, Mary Ellen Schwartz and Jean Rhodehammel, and served as witnesses to the event, must certainly be suffering as well!

"Having said all this, you must know how sad I would feel if our song was replaced and forgotten forever. I'm a Nevada traditionalist who still misses the old skyline: The Sands, The Dunes. Heck I even show my kids where The Hacienda once stood. Perhaps we could commission a native Nevadan to write the 'Modern' state song and call this one 'Traditional'?

"Anyway, thanks for the memories!

"P.S. For fifth grade, I did a baton-twirling routine to Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass."

And with that, dear readers of Nevada's largest and best newspaper, happy holidays -- Hanukkah, Christmas and all.

Sherman Frederick is publisher of the Las Vegas Review-Journal and president of Stephens Media. Readers may write him at sfrederick@reviewjournal.com.