"My clients are the Goshute people of the Skull Valley Band. They won a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Interior, overturning disapproval of their lease with Private Fuel Storage to store spent nuclear fuel on their reservation. Many Utahns are misinformed about this litigation, and about my clients. The Goshutes have been called pawns of the nuclear industry. Many believe they can’t make their own decisions about their own land.

These misperceptions have a history. Mark Twain called the Goshutes “the wretchedest type of mankind.” But he lived at a time when racial stereotyping passed for sound science. Like “Not In My Back Yard” environmentalism today. NIMBY.

Twain called the Goshute homeland a “repulsive waste.” Now it’s known for hazardous substances. Dugway Proving Ground, down the road from the reservation, is home to chemical and biological warfare.

Energy Solutions, also present in Goshute territory, offers radioactive waste disposal. Tooele County designated land around the reservation “a hazardous waste corridor.” Many people — not the Goshutes — decided the Goshutes’ homeland is the perfect place for hazardous waste.

Years ago the Energy Department encouraged the band to apply for a federal grant to learn about nuclear waste storage because their community was eligible for a project. They received two grants and are well-informed on the subject. In 1996, the band — lacking economic development of their isolated reservation — signed the lease with PFS. It was conditioned on a federal license for the facility, which the NRC issued in February 2006.

Political reaction to the PFS lease was swift. Then Gov. Mike Leavitt mobilized local opposition, vowing to dig a “moat” around the reservation. Utah lawmakers joined the uproar, enacting numerous unconstitutional laws to block the project. The governor posted a “NO Nuclear Waste” sign on Skull Valley Road."

Get the Story:
Tim Vollmann: The Goshutes have every right to store spent fuel (The Salt Lake Tribune 8/28)

District Court Decision:
Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians v. DOI (July 26, 2010)

Interior Decision Documents:
Skull Valley Band Nuclear Waste Repository

Related Stories:
Secretary Salazar won't commit to appeal on Goshute nuclear site (08/04)
Utah politicians urge appeal on Skull Valley Goshute nuclear waste (8/3)
Politicians promise battle on Goshute Band nuclear waste facility (7/28)
Judge blasts Bush decision on Goshute Band nuclear waste facility (7/27)
Judge holds hearing over rejected Goshute nuclear dump (3/23)
Skull Valley Goshutes sue DOI over lease rejection (7/18)
Court puts off challenge to Goshute nuclear (6/27)
Interior called Goshute chairman on cell phone (09/14)
Goshute chairman blasts Interior on waste deal (9/13)
Editorial: Interior, the imprudent trustee (9/11)
Interior rejects Skull Valley nuclear waste dump (9/8)
Goshute Tribe rejects Griles deal as 'disingenuous' (4/24)