The next day, Creamer was publicly named as one of the prospective buyers of Envirocare of Utah, a radioactive disposal site that wants the governor and the Legislature to sign off on a plan to store hotter waste in Tooele County.
Huntsman and his staff now consider the donation shady.
"We had no idea he was involved in that [purchase] and quite honestly feel a little abused by that donation. Access is not for sale," said Huntsman Chief of Staff Jason Chaffetz. "Even internally we questioned the intent of that donation."
Huntsman now will return the $25,000, as well as a $15,000 previous donation, Chaffetz said after he talked with an environmental activist late Wednesday.
"If it will help ease everybody's mind about our sincerity and commitment [to oppose hotter nuclear waste], then we will give the money back to him," Chaffetz said.
Earlier on Wednesday, Chaffetz indicated Huntsman would keep the donation, but that "if there was ever any thought that this is going to help [Creamer] with something with Envirocare, he was misinformed and will have quite the opposite effect as far as we are concerned."
When news of the donation surfaced, Claire Geddes, a longtime citizen watchdog of government, worried that Huntsman might go back on his vow to stop hotter Class B and C waste from being stored at Envirocare, about 80 miles west of Salt Lake City. Currently, the company is licensed to dispose of only the least dangerous type of radioactive waste - Class A.
Chaffetz said the governor will stand fast.
"It has always been important to us to do everything possible to make sure no B and C waste comes into Utah."
The donation was listed in the year-end financial disclosure filed with the state election office Wednesday and was the second-highest amount Huntsman received since winning Utah's top office Nov. 2.
State election records show Creamer contributed more than $80,000 to candidates in the 2004 gubernatorial election, including $45,000 to Nolan Karras, whom Huntsman defeated in the GOP primary; $20,000 to Gov. Olene Walker; and, before the latest disclosure, $15,000 to Huntsman. Creamer's wife, attorney Jeannine Bennett, contributed $10,000 to Democratic gubernatorial candidate Scott Matheson Jr.
The day after the Envirocare sale was announced, Creamer said the donations were made before his purchase of the company was on the table.
A call to Creamer for comment was not immediately returned Wednesday night.
Creamer has promised to hold a news conference to release details about his plans with Envirocare after the sale closes.
During the gubernatorial primary campaign, Huntsman criticized Karras for his close ties to Khosrow Semnani, owner of Envirocare, casting oblique aspersions because Karras had "a lot of campaign support staff aligned with the waste industry," along with substantial campaign contributions from Semnani and his employees.
Chaffetz, then Huntsman's campaign manager, said Huntsman wouldn't accept contributions from Semnani should he try to donate to the campaign.
No contributions from Semnani or Envirocare ever showed up in the campaign. But Huntsman's political action committee, in addition to the Creamer donation, also accepted $5,000 from the International Uranium Corp. at the end of last month. IUC has a uranium mill at White Mesa, near Blanding.
Semnani announced last month that he is selling Envirocare to Creamer and New York investment firm Lindsay Goldberg & Bessemer.
Department of Environmental Quality Deputy Director Bill Sinclair and legislative attorney Robert Rees have said the governor has the power by simply signing a letter to kill Envirocare's regulatory permit for B and C waste issued at the agency level.
Huntsman has declined to do so, citing concerns about possible legal repercussions. But he has reiterated his strong opposition to B and C waste coming into the state, noting that the license could be exercised only if he gave approval.
mcanham@sltrib.com
phenetz@sltrib.com
