Eli Bebout wanted Wyoming to be USA's Nuclear Waste dump

07/25/02

MOST of the nuclear waste in America could be coming to Wyoming if Bebout's 1990s plan had worked out

If Republican Governor Candidate Eli Bebout had had his way, Wyoming would be one of the major nuclear waste dumps in the country today. Back in the early 1990s, Bebout was on the Board of Directors of a company poised to make millions selling-out Wyoming to the nuclear waste industry.

Instead of candidates for governor arguing about how they would handle shipments of nuclear waste passing through Wyoming, they would be desperately dealing with the fact that MOST of the nuclear waste in America could be coming to Wyoming.

In 1993 Bebout and his partners formed the company, Nuclear Energy West (NEW Corp.) to create a temporary nuclear waste storage site in Fremont County. Bebout was on the board of directors of the nuclear waste company that was hoping to make millions from the company's success. In 1991, Bebout was also one of the principle organizers of an effort called MRS, which was created to store nuclear waste in Fremont County. Gov. Sullivan killed that attempt in 1992 when 80 percent of the people in Wyoming opposed it.

Ironically, Bill Sniffin, another Republican candidate for Governor is also from Fremont County, but worked against Bebout and the NEW Corporation's plans to make Wyoming a nuclear waste dump.
Sniffin was editor and publisher of the Lander Wyoming State Journal. As a voice for Fremont County, and with support from the entire state, Sniffin used his influence to successfully fight the nuclear waste promotions.

Repeatedly, Sniffin would lead the countywide discussion on nuclear waste and economic development with these important two questions:
1) Are we so desperate?
2) Why would we want something here that nobody else in the world wants?

What does all this mean today? Both Sniffin and Bebout want to be the Governor of Wyoming. During this year's primary election campaign Eli Bebout has been telling a very different story than what the facts reveal. Here are some examples:

• He has not been forthcoming with details about his role as a member of the board of directors of the company and was one of its first organizers.
  
  
• He has not admitted that rather than being involved in a passive manner, he was actually involved in an "active" way as one of the promoters of nuclear waste development in Wyoming, and helped revive it even after the Wyoming people opposed it overwhelmingly.

As a candidate for governor, it is important that the people of Wyoming have a clear understanding of just how much Eli Bebout wanted Wyoming to be the country's nuclear waste dump.

The facts show he wanted it badly and that he would have made money from the project had it become a reality.

Bill Sniffin is an investigative reporter, a small businessman, an economic developer and a builder. He knew that if Fremont County succumbed to the "quick fix" of the effort being led by Bebout and his partners, the area would become, in the long run, a "National Sacrifice Area."

For a long time, Sniffin wondered why Bebout and his partners were pushing so hard to become the country's nuclear waste dump. Ultimately, Sniffin learned that they were involved in a for-profit company and could have made millions while Wyoming could suffer unbelievably from becoming the country's nuclear waste dump.

Sniffin thinks Wyoming voters deserve to know these facts and react accordingly.

Had Bebout and his partner's plans been successful back in the early 1990s, more than 3,000 shipments of nuclear waste would already be in central Wyoming. These shipments would have passed through all parts of Wyoming getting to their final destination in Fremont County.

Regardless of how Bebout is explaining his position on nuclear waste now, it important for voters to recognize the differences in how these two candidates handled this situation that was critical to the future of Wyoming and Fremont County less than 10 years ago.

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Authorized by William C. Sniffin
Contributions or gifts to Bill Sniffin for Governor 2002 are not tax-deductible.
Bill Sniffin for Governor - P.O. Box 900 ­ Lander, WY 82520 (307) 332-3111, ext. 17