The American Gaming Association (AGA) and a coalition of Nevada gaming interests have penned a joint missive to Congress in response to President Trump’s decision to earmark funds to resurrect the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste facility. The letter implores the House of Representatives to keep the processing site in a decommissioned state on the grounds of safety to local residents and tourists to nearby Las Vegas.
“As leaders in Nevada’s entertainment, gaming, and resort industries, we write to express our vehement opposition to the inclusion of funding for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in the Administration’s Fiscal Year 2020 budget request,” it stated. “We urge you to continue working together to ensure that Yucca Mountain remains part of Nevada’s past and that nuclear waste is never stored anywhere near the world’s entertainment capital and Nevada’s treasured public lands.”
It continued: “Yucca Mountain is located approximately 90 miles from the world’s premier tourist, convention, and entertainment destination in Las Vegas, Nevada. In 2018, we welcomed more than 42 million visitors and we are on pace to meet or break that figure in 2019. The Las Vegas Valley is also home to 2.2 million residents, which includes hundreds of thousands of our employees, making it one of the largest and most economically dynamic cities in the country.
“The combination of these factors has a profound impact on the amount of revenue generated for Nevada’s general fund. The impacts nuclear waste could have on our visitors and our employees would unquestionably have severe negative implications for Nevada’s future and economic growth. We are proud to stand together with Nevadans in every corner of the Silver State in opposition to this relic of the past and any attempt to resurrect a project that would so directly imperil the health, safety, and economic future of our great state.
Among the letter’s signatories are Bill Miller, President and CEO AGA; James Murren, Chairman and CEO MGM Resorts International; Timothy Wilmott, CEO Penn National Gaming; Mark Frissora, President and CEO Caesars Entertainment; Matt Maddox, CEO and President Wynn Resorts; Sheldon Adelson, Chairman and CEO Las Vegas Sands; Keith Smith, President and CEO Boyd Gaming Corporation; Richard Haskins, President Red Rock Resorts; and Joseph Asher, CEO William Hill US.
