Tourism would suffer from dump

By Richard N. Velotta / Staff Writer

Pedistrians cross the walkway between New York-New York and MGM in this photo on the Las Vegas Strip. Photo by Sam Morris.

Reports prepared for the Clark County Department of Comprehensive Planning's Nuclear Waste Division paint a grim picture of how the transportation of nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain could devastate tourism and gaming in Southern Nevada.

The reports, authored by Urban Environmental Research LLC, Scottsdale, Ariz., based on research from dozens of public and private sources, say tourists might stay away from the city if a nuclear waste transportation accident occurred.

They spell out how vital tourism is to the entire state and how Nevada's employment levels and tax base would crumble if visitors suddenly stopped coming.

A report focusing on the gaming industry explains how a transportation accident involving high-level nuclear waste would have disastrous public perception consequences, no matter where such an accident occurred, because media accounts would focus on shipments "en route to Yucca Mountain outside of Las Vegas."

Meanwhile, the gaming industry has committed about $750,000 to the fight against Yucca. That's a lot of money compared to what other industries have donated. But it's a pittance requiring no real sacrifice for the gaming industry. The five largest Nevada gaming companies -- Park Place Entertainment, MGM MIRAGE, Harrah's Entertainment, Mandalay Resort Group and Boyd -- generated $15.9 billion in revenue in 2001.

The report focusing on the effect the repository would have on gaming says the industry has been on record as opposed to Yucca Mountain since 1991, but only recently has begun making public statements in opposition to the shipment of nuclear waste.

Industry officials fear losing business from California if waste-hauling vehicles are on Southern Nevada and Southern California highways. They also say Nevada would be stigmatized in the media by any accident, no matter how harmless.

"Industry representatives noted that congestion, particularly on weekends along the California-Nevada transportation corridor, has already proved problematic," the report says. "The addition of slow-moving trucks containing such dangerous wastes, they believe, will increase the likelihood and severity of an accident, discouraging some Californians from coming to Las Vegas to gamble. ...

"According to virtually every gaming industry representative interviewed for the (county's) report, the most serious risk is from the stigma that will result if there is any accident of any kind involving the shipment of high-level waste. These representatives referenced the media coverage (amplification) that is likely to accompany any incident with the nuclear waste vehicle. Several stated that an accident anywhere in Clark County would be reported worldwide and that it would be linked to Las Vegas because it is the nearest media outlet."

The report cited how media coverage of a robbery and murder of German tourists in Florida resulted in a double-digit percentage drop in tourism. Industry experts interviewed in the report also envisioned a scenario in which competitors take advantage of perceived risks to steal customers from Las Vegas.

"At least one gaming executive thought that it was only a matter of time before an Indian gaming establishment used the increased risk associated with the transportation of high-level waste as a reason California gamers should shun Las Vegas in lieu of a tribal-operated facility closer to home," the report says. "Others noted that riverboat gaming, Atlantic City and other vacation destinations might be perceived as less risky, resulting in fewer visitors to Las Vegas."

Vehichles pass two casinos on Interstate 15 in Mesquite. The highway is expected to be one of the main routes for nuclear waste on its way to Yucca mountain if it wins congressional approval. Photo by Aaron Mayes.

A December survey of Strip visitors found 80 percent said their decision on whether to visit Las Vegas again would be affected by a serious nuclear waste accident here. Of that 80 percent, 62 percent said they would never visit Las Vegas again, and 35 percent indicated they would reduce the frequency of their visits.

Facing such threats, the industry's $750,000 donation to the fight against Yucca may seem small. But there is little public criticism of the gaming industry effort.

"I try to never look at another man's pocket," said Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, a frequent critic of casinos' contributions to the communities that host them. "If they've given as much as they can afford, then God bless them."

Goodman, meanwhile, has been on the anti-Yucca campaign trail in recent weeks, scheduling appearances before the Salt Lake City Council and the Portland, Ore., City Council to educate those municipalities about the repository.

"I'm not going to be critical of the industry," added Peggy Maze Johnson, executive director of Citizen Alert, an activist group in Las Vegas.

Johnson thinks the gaming industry will have some surprises in store in the future.

"I know that whatever they're doing, they're doing in concert with our U.S. senators," Johnson said. "If anybody knows how to wrangle money out of the gaming industry, it's Harry Reid and John Ensign."

Johnson said she believes there's too much at stake for the gaming industry for it to stand by and do nothing. Instead, she thinks, the industry has a strategy that it is keeping close to the vest.

"I have no doubt that if it comes down to our senators needing a couple of votes (to sustain Gov. Kenny Guinn's veto of President Bush's approval of Yucca Mountain) that the industry would spring into action and help get the votes," she said.

The industry has said that it must walk a tightrope in the Yucca Mountain debate because some states that have gaming favor ridding their states of waste and shipping it to Nevada. Others in the industry say they have other legislative priorities, such as battling the proposal to ban all college sports betting in Nevada, and don't want to jeopardize support on those issues to win favor on Yucca.

The other series of county reports examines emergency response capabilities and the effect an accident would have on the economies of Las Vegas, Henderson, Boulder City, Mesquite, the Moapa Indian Reservation and on Clark County's public safety agencies.

In each report, authors interviewed government, academic and public safety officials on the likely results from three different scenarios.

Under one scenario, no accident occurs, but opponents to nuclear shipments generate publicity about decreased property values. The second scenario envisions an accident in which a cask containing nuclear waste breaks away from a transport trailer, skids along a North Las Vegas freeway median, but doesn't open. The third scenario describes a chain-reaction collision between a waste-hauling vehicle and a gasoline tanker that results in deaths, injuries and the exposure of hundreds of people to radiation and an aftermath of hazardous waste cleanups and thousands of lawsuits.

The end result is fairly clear: Tax revenue generation would be significantly damaged.

The results of a downturn can be illustrated in room tax generation projections for the current fiscal year, which was affected by an event that didn't even occur in Clark County -- the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

For the 2002 fiscal year, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority is projecting tax revenues of $105 million. That compares with $135.8 million actually collected in 2001 and $120.5 million in 2000.

While each city uses its tax revenues differently, the county report indicates that park development would be significantly affected in Las Vegas.

"Approximately $3 (million) to $4 million of funds from the (hotel) room tax each year is also dedicated to parks for construction and these funds are also part of the city's capital improvement program," the report says. "Any economic downturn or negative impact on either tourism ... would obviously have negative implications for the revenue generation from these taxes."

Other reports focus on the direct effect accidents would have on each community. Most concur that the impact would vary, depending on the location of an accident.

The report on Mesquite, for example, indicates that tourism for the city would be greatly affected if an accident occurred along a one-mile corridor of Interstate 15 running parallel to its casinos.

The top five employers in Mesquite are casino companies, including Casa Blanca Resort, Si Redd Oasis Resort, Virgin River Hotel, Rancho Mesquite and Mesquite Star.

Tourism also would be hurt with an I-15 accident on the Moapa Indian Reservation. The tribe plans to expand a regional truck stop and gaming center that houses Moapa Tribal Enterprises, the tribe's primary source of revenue.

"(With I-15 as the primary transport route), this may result in serious vulnerabilities to the tribe's most important revenue source -- the gaming-store center, in addition to any planned new economic growth in the I-15 corridor," the report says.

About 90 percent of the tribe's revenue -- $2.3 million -- is generated through Moapa Tribal Enterprises.

Yucca Mountain main page