To use an analogy, if Gov. Mike Leavitt can't go to the dance, maybe he should buy the prom dress for someone who can.
Duncan Steadman, an attorney representing Goshute tribal members opposed to a high-level nuclear waste dump on their tribal lands west of Salt Lake City, says his firm needs $200,000 more to continue a lawsuit on behalf of the Goshutes."Our clients are in a unique position to fight this," Steadman said. On the other hand, he said, the state -- which also wants to block the waste shipments -- is powerless in the federal courts on this issue because of tribal sovereignty.
A federal judge made that case earlier this month, dismissing two claims by the state, one that the state should be allowed to intervene in the lease agreement between tribal officials and the consortium of utilities that want to put nuclear waste there. The judge also refused the state's request to look at the lease agreement.
Steadman told the Senate Democratic Caucus on Wednesday that he is confident his Goshute clients will be eventually given access to those documents through discovery, a normal court process whereby each side must disclose evidence and pertinent documents. But the court case will never get that far, Steadman says, unless the state puts up the money to keep the lawsuit going.
It makes good sense, he said, for the state to fund the lawsuit given the state has the same objective to keep the waste out and it has few other legal options of its own. The state has already contributed $50,000 toward the lawsuit.
"We must continue to attack on a united front," Steadman told lawmakers, adding, "We have the more right on our side."
Democratic senators were sympathetic, but they told Steadman that Leavitt has to put the money into his budget request for it to have any chance of passing when the Legislature convenes in January.
"I am worried we asked them (Goshutes opposed to the dump) to start a fight, and now we are not giving them the tools to finish it," said Sen. Pete Suazo, D-Salt Lake. "It's like kicking the beehive and walking away."
Steadman represents members of the Goshute tribe who have openly opposed a plan by Private Fuel Storage (PFS) to store spent nuclear fuel rods in above-ground casks on tribal lands. PFS negotiated a lease agreement with tribal chairman Leon Bear and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
The terms of that lease have never been made public, and Steadman's clients contend in court documents that PFS is dumping millions of dollars into the reservation to buy local support -- something Bear has repeatedly denied. Steadman asserts that about one-third of the tribe backs PFS, about one-third is opposed and one-third is undecided.
Steadman said there has never been a vote by tribal members on the issue, and tribal members have been given no information about the agreement to make an informed decision about whether it is a good deal or not for the tribe.
"We want the courts to stop the money that is corrupting the process," Steadman said.
Steadman said his three-person law firm is being overwhelmed by the case. When opposing sides deliver motions and briefs, they come by the truckload. "They are trying to bury us in paper," he said.
When his firm accepted the case at the request of the state about two years ago, Steadman promised to commit 10 hours per week to the case. Since that time, his firm has spent more than 5,000 hours on the case and has had to turn away other clients.
"We need help desperately," he said. "The only way they lose is without representation."