Nuke Initiative Foes Produce Old Memo

Opponents of the Stop the Shipments nuclear waste initiative say they have a 4-year-old memo from the state Senate Democratic Caucus questioning the motives of the measure’s chief spokesman.

The Idaho National Engineering Laboratory was an issue for the Senate Democratic Caucus when Carey Democrat John Peavey served as its chairman in 1992, according to the memo.

“Polarize the Magic Valley, environment and aquifer” are listed after the INEL in the memo.

The memo shows Peavey has had a long-running political goal of turning nuclear waste into an inflammatory issue, Get the Waste Out spokesman Amy Kleiner said.

The initiative would repeal Republican Gov. Phil Batt’s agreement to accept 1,133 more waste shipments in return for cleaning up and removing most of the existing waste from Idaho by 2035.

Any nuclear waste pact would require the approval of the Legislature and voters under the initiative. Batt has tried to make an honest agreement, Kleiner said Wednesday.

“He achieved a federal court order to get the waste out of Idaho and it is very difficult to debate somebody whose goals seem to be self-promotion,” she said.

“I think John Peavey has his eye on higher office. He has failed to offer any solutions about how to get the waste out of Idaho and I think his focus is on promoting his own political career.”

But Peavey denied he was responsible for the memo.

“That wasn’t my meeting,” he said Wednesday in Lewiston. “That was a meeting somebody else ran.” Peavey said he forgot what Democratic senator was responsible for the note.

He unsuccessfully challenged Republican Lt. Gov. Butch Otter two years ago. Peavey said he will not run for that post or the Legislature again, but he does not rule out competing for governor in 1998.

“Why should I?” he asked. “Is the governor going to agree not to run again?”