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BERKLEY BLASTS $3 BILLION YUCCA MT. “RAILROAD TO NOWHERE”

Congresswoman Presses Regulators to Block 300-mile Caliente Line; Highlights Dangers of Nuke Waste Shipments at Las Vegas Hearing

(December 4, 2008 -- Washington, D.C.) Testifying at a hearing held in Las Vegas today, Congresswoman Shelley Berkley pressed federal regulators with the Surface Transportation Board (STB) to reject Bush administration plans to build a $3 billion railroad in Nevada to haul nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain. Members of the STB convened the forum to hear from elected officials, residents and businesses concerned about the impact on communities in Nevada and across the U.S. from thousands of shipments of toxic nuclear waste targeted for burial in the Silver State.

“Nevadans oppose this $3 billion “Railroad to Nowhere” and we recognize the dangers that will accompany decades of toxic nuclear waste shipments to Yucca Mountain,” said Berkley. “My hope is that the STB will listen to our concerns and that they will block any effort by this White House to push forward on the Yucca Mountain rail line as they head out the door,” said Berkley.

In her testimony, Berkley highlighted Yucca Mountain’s pending demise as a result of efforts by Nevada’s Congressional delegation to cut funding for the dump and because of long-standing security concerns and unresolved scientific issues that have plagued the project for decades.

“Yucca Mountain is a $100 billion dinosaur waiting to become another fossil in the desert sands, and working together with President-elect Obama, Nevada's Congressional delegation will see that it's safely buried once and for all,” Berkley said. “So why are we still discussing plans for a 300-mile-long, $3 billion gold-plated railroad to nowhere that ends at a hole in the Nevada desert that will never become home to this nation's nuclear waste!”

The Congresswoman also questioned claims by the Energy Department that the “Yucca Mountain Express” would haul anything other than nuclear waste.

“Those who would ask you to believe that the Yucca Mountain Express will be hauling fresh fruits and vegetables to market may as well be saying they have acres of ocean front property to sell in Nye County right along the rail route,” said Berkley.

And she urged the STB to examine the total impact that more than 40 years of nuclear waste shipments would have on communities nationwide.

“But if STB is going to buy this hapless bluff, and move forward on DOE's application, the Board must look at the true impact that thousands of radioactive waste shipments -- transported over more than four decades -- will have on America's railroads and the residents of every state through which these “Mobile Chernobyls” will pass,” said Berkley.

You can find a copy of the statement here.

 
12/4/2008 BERKLEY BLASTS $3 BILLION YUCCA MT. “RAILROAD TO NOWHERE”
12/1/2008 BERKLEY STATEMENT ON NOMINATION OF SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON FOR SECRETARY OF STATE
11/21/2008 BERKLEY: EXTENSION OF UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS HELPS FAMILIES AT HOLIDAY TIME
11/20/2008 BERKLEY CALLS FOR SWIFT ACTION BY WHITE HOUSE ON EXTENSION OF UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS
11/12/2008

BERKLEY STATEMENT ON BUSH WHITE HOUSE DRIVE TO IMPLEMENT INTERNET GAMING BAN (UIGEA)

10/30/2008 BERKLEY BACKING SWIFT ACTION ON NEW RECOVERY PACKAGE
10/03/2008 BERKLEY VOTES TO EXTEND TAX RELIEF FOR NEVADA FAMILIES
10/02/2008 BERKLEY BILL HONORING MEMORY OF NEVADA MARINE JUSTIN BAILEY NOW ON PRESIDENT’S DESK
9/26/2008 BERKLEY STATEMENT ON GOLD BUTTE CONSERVATION ACT
9/25/2008 HOUSE APPROVES BERKLEY BILL HONORING MEMORY OF NEVADA MARINE JUSTIN BAILEY
9/24/2008 HOUSE EXPECTED TO APPROVE BERKLEY BILL HONORING MEMORY OF NEVADA MARINE JUSTIN BAILEY
9/22/2008 BERKLEY ANNOUNCES $2.3 MILLION GRANT FOR BOULDER CITY VETERANS CEMETERY
9/18/2008 BERKLEY VOTES TO CURB OIL SPECULATION
9/16/2008 BERKLEY ANNOUNCES $550,000 GRANT FOR VEGAS PBS
9/12/2008 MEET JOHN MCCAIN’S “NUCLEAR BRIDGE TO NOWHERE”
9/10/2008 BUSH VOWS TO BLOCK PAY RAISE FOR AMERICA’S TROOPS OVER YUCCA MOUNTAIN FUNDING
9/9/2008 THE HOUSE REPUBLICAN ENERGY BILL: DUMP, BABY, DUMP!
9/8/2008 BERKLEY: YUCCA MOUNTAIN FIGHT ENTERS NEW PHASE AS NRC OK’S SHODDY DUMP APPLICATION

 
 
 
 
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