Phil Wolfgramm, a political science student at the University of Utah, doesn't see any benefits to Initiative 1, the waste-tax measure on the Nov. 5 ballot.
"I'm voting against it," he said after Wednesday's debate at the Hinckley Institute of Politics.
But U. students Heather Johnson and William Chatwin support it.
"I see it as the only opportunity to make a citizen mandate to the Legislature to take a look at the issue," said Chatwin.
The 50 or so U. students who attended the debate on Initiative 1 seem to be split on the Radioactive Waste Restrictions Act. Initiative 1 is a measure that would hike taxes on the low-level radioactive waste now disposed of at Envirocare of Utah and divert those taxes to education and the homeless. It would prohibit the import of "hotter" low-level radioactive waste and would prohibit government employees from going to work in the radioactive waste business for three years after state service.
Hugh Matheson, chairman of Utahns Against Unfair Taxes, argued that the initiative unfairly targets one company that currently pays its fair share in taxes.
Currently, Envirocare's taxes range from approximately 30 cents to $68 per cubic foot. If the measure passes, it would hike it from $4 to $150 per cubic foot, depending on the type of waste.
"This initiative promises schools a bunch of money but it would tax us out of existence," Matheson said.
Frank Pignanelli, campaign chairman of Utahns for Radioactive Waste Control, said Envirocare holds the monopoly on the majority of so-called class A waste, which is primarily contaminated dirt tainted with radioactivity. "They aren't going out of business," he said.
But some U. students weren't convinced that the low-level radioactive waste is a health hazard.
"Are we taxing this because it is dangerous?" questioned Jim Perry, a graduate student of nuclear engineering, "if so, why not tax the radioactivity?"
Matheson couldn't agree more. "On a per-currie basis, our tax burden is much higher," compared to other states, he added.
State taxes are generally based on volume, not curries, Pignanelli explained. Besides, that's not the point.
"This is bad stuff," he said. "Our tax policy is that we have become a welcome mat to take the waste. . . . If we're going to be a toilet, let's be a paid toilet."
A key provision in the measure is to ban "hotter" low-level radioactive wastes, so-called Class B and C, which mostly comes from decommissioned nuclear power plants, Pignanelli argued.
"This company wants to bring high-level waste in the state," he said. "This initiative is the only opportunity you have to say no. The state has been taking the waste here for 14 years. If we're going to keep taking the waste, we should be compensated for it."
But Matheson said the initiative is not the answer.
"If you want a straight up-and-down vote on high-level waste, that's one thing, but don't mix it all together and confuse the issue as helping schools," he argued.
E-MAIL: donna@desnews.com