Officials to wait and see on plant
More questions than answers at this point
By JESSICA KELLER
ARGUS OBSERVER
Sunday, January 13, 2008 3:34 AM PST
PAYETTE - Three area political leaders say they are unsure so far how they feel about a proposed nuclear power plant slated to be situated in rural Payette County.
MidAmerican Nuclear Energy Co., a subsidiary of MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., Des Moines, Iowa, has expressed an interest in situating some kind of nuclear energy facility near Little Willow Road in rural Payette County.
Payette County Commissioner Rudy Endrikat, Fruitland Mayor Tom Limbaugh and Malheur County Commissioner Dan Joyce all said they are waiting for more information from MidAmerican before they decide whether a nuclear power plant would be beneficial to the area.
Endrikat, who has previously stated he is not opposed to nuclear power as a citizen, said he still feels the same way. But as a county commissioner, he said he is far from deciding whether a nuclear power facility is right for Payette County. He also said, as a group, the Payette County commissioners are no closer to making a decision.
While many area residents packed Payette High School auditorium in December during an informational meeting hosted by MidAmerican officials, Endrikat said the Payette County commissioners were advised by their attorney not to attend that session or any other unofficial meetings hosted by MidAmerican. The reason, he said, is because the meeting was hosted by Berkshire Hathaway, the parent company of MidAmerican, and was not a formal meeting by a government entity. The county’s attorney, Endrikat said, did not think the county commissioners should introduce themselves to prejudicial information, in favor or against a nuclear power plant, in an informal setting that could affect any future decisions they may make in a formal setting.
“It seems odd, but it’s true,” Endrikat said. “But we all know this is going to go into many, many public hearings, and we were just advised not to do that.”
As a result, Endrikat said, the commissioners know as little as or less than other Payette County residents seeking information. He said, until county commissioners are presented information and hear testimony in a formal public meeting, they cannot make a decision, or come out in favor or against the proposed nuclear plant.
“We’re talking a decision that is going to affect the lives of many, many people for many, many years, so to make a decision based on hearsay is very, very poor,” Endrikat said.
Personally, he said, his opinion of nuclear energy has not changed, but his personal opinion does not overrule the other factors he has to take into consideration, along with his fellow commissioners, on whether a nuclear power plant is well suited for Payette County.
Endrikat said as county commissioners, they must look at the issue in a multitude of ways, weighing a number of factors before making their decision. Those factors they must consider include: how people will get to and from the facility and the traffic it will create; the impact a nuclear power facility will have on Payette County infrastructure and how the county will accommodate that; water — how much the facility will need, where it will come from and how that water is going to get to and from the facility; nuclear waste storage — whether it will be stored on site or shipped elsewhere; and safety, just to name a few, Endrikat said.
“There are a lot of these questions that I have and I know my fellow commissioners have,” he said.
Endrikat said Idaho Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter has indicated government officials will have access to have as many resources and as much information as they will need in order to make informed decisions, which he and the other commissioners intend to use when the time comes.
Limbaugh, like Endrikat, had many of the same questions, but was keeping an open mind about the possibility of a nuclear plant in Payette County.
“I think that it warrants a very close look,” he said, adding if MidAmerican officials can prove the new nuclear energy technology is safe then it should be seriously considered. “But they need to do their tests first to find out.”
Limbaugh said the first thing MidAmerican needs to do is prove their plant is safe because when many people think of nuclear power plants, they think about the “old generation” of nuclear power plants and, in some instances, the accidents and danger to public safety, which scares people.
“I think this company, they’ve got a big job in front of them because when you say ‘nuclear’ (people) think about the bad parts of it and not about the good,” Limbaugh said.
Economically, Limbaugh said a nuclear power plant the size MidAmerican is considering would be good for Payette County, especially considering the number of construction and then operating jobs the firm would need.
He said one thing people should be aware of, and what he is interested in learning himself, is whether the assessed value of such a plant would directly benefit Payette County. He said he is skeptical the state Legislature would allow one county to reap all the tax benefits from a facility worth billions of dollars. Limbaugh said he wouldn’t be surprised if, like other utilities in Idaho, such as Idaho Power, a nuclear power plant would be centrally assessed for tax purposes, and the taxes collected would be divided among all the counties in Idaho.
Still, he said, even if a nuclear power plant was centrally assessed for tax purposes, and Payette County collected only a portion of the tax revenue, those monies, the job creation alone would “be a great benefit on this area.”
In Malheur County, Joyce said the County Court had not conducted a formal discussion about how the proposed plant would affect the county. He said, though, a plant that furnished 800 to 1,000 jobs would make a big impact on the local economy.
“Because we see Boise coming this way all the time, even though there’s a slow down in the market at this time,” Joyce said.
He said the issue was no doubt something the commissioners would pay close attention to as more questions were answered and the situation unfolded. For him, though, like with the others, too many questions remained unanswered.
“I guess there’s just way more unanswered questions than answered questions for me,” he said.
