The Interior Department called Skull Valley Goshute Chairman Leon Bear on his cell phone to tell him that his tribe's lease for a nuclear waste dump had been rejected, a spokesperson said.
But Interior apparently didn't talk to Bear directly -- they left a message. He says the department hasn't sent him the decision or spoken to him about it.
"They haven't sent me the decision yet -- unless they had it sent by pony express," he told The Salt Lake Tribune in an interview.
Bear said federal and state officials betrayed the tribe by blocking the waste dump.
"If they want to run the reservation, why don't they just come out and run it?" he asked.
The tribe and its partner, Private Fuel Storage, can appeal the decision to federal court but haven't decided whether to do so.
Get the Story:Goshute says feds, state let the tribe down (The Salt Lake Tribune 9/14)
Goshute leader calls N-waste rulings 'thin' (The Deseret Morning News 9/14) Interior Decision Documents:
Skull Valley Band Nuclear Waste Repository Relevant Links:
Skull Valley Goshute Tribe - http://www.skullvalleygoshutes.org
Private Fuel Storage - http://www.privatefuelstorage.com Related Stories:
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