By ROBB HICKEN
The LDS Church has taken a stand against the disposal or storage of nuclear waste west of Salt Lake City.
In a press release attributed to the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, church officials took a stand against the storage of nuclear waste in Utah?s Skull Valley area.
?It is not reasonable to suggest that any one area bear a disproportionate burden of the transportation and concentration of nuclear waste,? the statement issued Thursday afternoon read.
Debate over the concentration of waste or spent nuclear material arose after there was concern about the Yucca Mountain repository near Las Vegas was questioned. Since 1997, Private Fuel Storage officials are looking to dump as much as 44,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel rods on land owned by the Skull Valley Band of the Goshute Indians in Tooele County. The tribe, which has struggled with unemployment and poverty, has seen this venture as a relief. An agreement, estimated at as much as $240 million, has been in the works to lease reservation land for the storage of nuclear waste above ground.
Church authorities called on the federal government to use technological and creative power to develop alternative means to dispose of the waste.
?The transportation and storage of high-level nuclear waste create substantial and legitimate public health, safety and environmental concerns,? the release stated.
Earlier this month, Salt Lake City officials joined with other city, county and government leaders in Utah to oppose Private Fuel Storage's proposal
Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman signed a declaration last week opposing the storage plan and encouraged Utah residents to speak out before the Bureau of Land Management, which is conducting a study of the proposed waste site and storage plan.
BLM officials will be gathering comment on the proposal through May 8. The bureau oversees the approval process that would allow access across public lands, which would be required for transportation of the spent nuclear fuel to the storage site.