Utah basketball arena renamed for nuclear-waste corporation
Here in Seattle, home of Qwest and Safeco fields, we know well how corporations have rushed the pro-sports playing field. But our McMonikers are nothing next to Utah’s latest rechristening: The Salt Lake City stadium that’s home to the Utah Jazz, formerly the Delta Center, is now known as EnergySolutions Arena. Sounds all green and forward-looking, doesn’t it? But locals aren’t stoked about the company’s best-known business operation, a nuclear-waste facility in the Utah desert. Indignant fans are hollering nicknames like HazzMat Center, Half-Life Arena, Radium Stadium, and the Tox Box (there go all our headlines) and asking for a do-over. “Utah’s always been the ‘stick-it’ state: whatever you don’t want in your state, stick it here,” said Jazz fan Tom Kessler. “We’re not tree-huggers, but these guys lend credence to bringing all this stuff to Utah. It’s bogus.” The company and its supporters counter that, far from bogus, nuclear reprocessing is the future. Refs are reviewing the play.
