Public Policy

Chairman Quinn and members of the subcommittee, my name is Kevin Phillips and I am Mayor of the City of Caliente. Although the following comments have not been solicited, I am providing them in the belief that they lend an important perspective regarding the Caliente Rail Corridor that will otherwise not be available to the subcommittee. I ask that the following comments be included in the hearing record for the March 5, 2004 House Subcommittee on Railroads field hearing.

I note that no representatives of local governments potentially impacted by the Caliente Rail Corridor (Esmeralda, Lincoln and Nye counties and the City of Caliente) have been invited to participate in the March 5 field hearing. In my opinion, the impact of this omission is compounded by the fact that representatives of Clark County have been asked to address the subcommittee even though the Caliente Rail Corridor does not cross any of Clark County.

It appears apparent that the State of Nevada and Clark County will use the hearing to seek to prevent or impede the Department of Energy (DOE) from moving forward in a timely manner to address transportation modal and routing decisions. Given the numerous options available to DOE to move spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste through Nevada to the Yucca Mountain site, I do not believe that causing delays in DOE’s transportation decision-making is an effective tool for blocking licensing, construction and operation of the repository.

I am of the strong opinion that delays by DOE in making mode and routing choices for transportation through Nevada will have adverse consequences on the management of related risks. Indeed, if the State of Nevada and Clark County are successful in causing delays, then 11th hour mode and routing decisions will preclude opportunities for affected local governments to work cooperatively with DOE to plan a safe transportation system. In addition, last minute transportation decisions will prevent timely identification and implementation of effective measures to mitigate transportation risks, including emergency first response and emergency medical training and equipment, among other options.

It is particularly disturbing that the State of Nevada and Clark County would seek to delay DOE transportation decisions given that any impacts and the need for mitigation will occur at the local county and city level and not in the State Capital or Clark County. Perhaps more disturbing is the fact that both the State of Nevada and Clark County have gone on record recommending rail as the safest mode of transportation and admonishing DOE to keep shipments of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste out of the Las Vegas Valley (Clark County). Designation of rail as the preferred mode, and selection by DOE of the Caliente Rail Corridor as the preferred corridor, satisfies both preferences expressed by the State of Nevada and Clark County.

Mr. Chairman, the City of Caliente commends DOE for seeking to move forward with modal and routing decisions for transporting spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste through Nevada to the Yucca Mountain site. For some time now, the City of Caliente and numerous other local governments in Nevada have encouraged DOE to make timely transportation mode and routing decisions. We concur with DOE’s conclusion that information contained within the Final Environmental Impact Statement for Yucca Mountain contains the information necessary to support selection of a preferred mode of transportation, and in the case of rail, a preferred rail corridor within which detailed environmental and engineering analyses of alignment alternatives can be performed.

It is important to note that three of the four rail corridor alternatives evaluated by DOE within the Final Environmental Impact Statement for Yucca Mountain would result in spent nuclear fuel and other radioactive waste being transported through Lincoln County and the City of Caliente. The Union Pacific mainline bisects the City of Caliente. Annually, over 25,000 shipments of every hazardous substance imaginable are shipped through Caliente by rail. Emergency first response in the City of Caliente is provided by a volunteer force of highly dedicated individuals. Our emergency first responders do not have adequate training or equipment to respond to the myriad of risks posed by existing rail shipments of hazardous materials through Caliente. If not mitigated, shipments of spent nuclear fuel and other high-level radioactive waste will only serve to heighten risks within the City of Caliente.

I am of the opinion that establishment by DOE of a railhead and/or other rail related operations (i.e. rail to truck intermodal) in or near the City of Caliente will result in locally enhanced emergency first response and emergency medical capabilities. Such congressionally/DOE financed improvements will provide the City with an improved capability to respond to potential accidents involving existing rail shipments of hazardous materials through the City. Given the relatively small increment of additional risk (due to the extreme degree of federal regulation and shipping cask robustness) posed by shipments of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste, I believe that residents of the City of Caliente may be able to live under conditions of overall reduced risk following implementation of Yucca Mountain related transportation operations in or near the City of Caliente. This presupposes congressional/DOE enhancement of local emergency first response and emergency medical capabilities. Alternatively, if the shipments of radioactive waste simply pass through the City without the DOE establishing a terminus of activity in the area and congressional/DOE enhancement of local emergency first response and emergency medical capabilities does not occur, I believe the opportunity for mitigation of cumulative risks in Caliente will be foregone.

Mr. Chairman, I ask that you and your fellow subcommittee members give careful consideration to the public health and safety consequences associated with further slowing down the already deliberative and lengthy process that DOE has undertaken to render Yucca Mountain related transportation modal and routing decisions. Indeed, I would encourage the subcommittee to encourage DOE to keep moving forward in its efforts to establish the environmental, engineering and institutional feasibility of building and operating a direct rail link to Yucca Mountain via the Caliente Rail Corridor. Local governments and their constituents deserve to know sooner rather than later as to whether direct rail access is feasible. If feasible, said local governments are entitled to early identification and implementation of measures to minimize potential risk and other impacts associated with direct rail access and to seek to maximize any potential economic benefits. Accordingly, should DOE conclude that it is preferable to construct a rail line within the Caliente Rail Corridor, the City of Caliente intends to work closely with DOE to identify and pursue all possible economic benefits associated with construction and operation of a branch line serving Yucca Mountain.

In closing, let me reiterate my disappointment that not a single representative of Esmeralda, Lincoln and Nye counties or the City of Caliente, through which the Caliente Rail Corridor passes, was invited to participate on the panel during the March 5 field hearing of the House Subcommittee on Railroads. Your inclusion of these comments in the hearing record will provide an otherwise missing rural local government perspective.