South Mississippi lawmakers don't want nuclear waste storage in MississippiApr 3 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Paul Hampton The Sun Herald
Four South Mississippi lawmakers are asking the state House to oppose storing nuclear waste anywhere in the state. The day after Northern District Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley failed to get a similar resolution passed there, Reps. Hank Zuber and Jeffrey Guice of Ocean Springs, Scott DeLano of Biloxi and Greg Haney of Gulfport filed a concurrent resolution "to oppose the siting of a high-level radioactive waste repository within the borders of the state of Mississippi." It would put the House on record in opposition to using salt domes in South Mississippi and to using its ports, roads and airports to transport the waste. "This resolution reaffirms the unbroken 32-year policy of the state of Mississippi that declares our unalterable opposition to the siting of a radioactive waste repository in our state," the lawmakers wrote. The resolution was assigned to the House Rules Committee. Presley, for his part, says he will keep bringing his resolution up every month until either it passes or he leaves the PSC. He said he has 20 months left on his term. "We'll either vote on it and take a stand, or we're going to vote on it every month," he said. "We'll get something passed or we'll vote on it 20 more times." Southern District Commissioner Steve Renfroe, who wanted some time to study the issue, said he would look at all the state's options, including a suit to try to recover money the state has paid into a federal fund. "I think it's an issue I'm willing to work through and take a position on," Renfroe said. "I thought the opportunity might be a little bigger than what he presented, particularly regarding a possible lawsuit the commission or the state of Mississippi might bring to the federal government to try to recover some or all of the funds that Mississippi ratepayers have paid for Yucca Mountain." He said the commission could be ready to take action next month. Presley also wants to stop the payments into the fund that was supposed to build a waste storage facility at Yucca Mountain, Nev. That project has been on hold for years but the state continues to pay into it. He said the state has paid $30 million into the fund. He said Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz told a congressional committee that he had heard "rumors" that Mississippi was interested in being the home of America's nuclear waste. Mississippi Energy Institute President Patrick Sullivan also talked about the possibility of storing nuclear waste in Mississippi last year. http://www.energycentral.com/functional/news/news_detail.cfm?did=32039366& |