Gillette senator accuses city council of violating the public trust on nuclear issue

GILLETTE — Sen. Troy McKeown, R-Gillette, did not mince words Tuesday night as he accused Mayor Shay Lundvall and members of the Gillette City Council of violating the Wyoming State Public Records Act and, in his view, acting with no regard to the knowledge or will of the community.

“I’m really disgruntled that y’all think you could sign a non-disclosure agreement (and) violate the State Public Records Act,” McKeown said. “You’re doing this all in a back room, and I’m referring to the nuclear companies you want to bring in, and the stuff you want to do with that in secret.”

McKeown said the city had, by entering into a non-disclosure agreement, worked to circumvent the law by keeping details concerning nuclear companies interest in Gillette from the public.

“I can’t believe that an elected official would ever sign a non-disclosure agreement, because all he’s telling everybody, and anybody who signed it (is telling everybody), is that the business is more important than the people, and the people shouldn’t know what’s going on,” McKeown said.

Lundvall and the city council did not respond to McKeown’s allegations during Tuesday’s meeting, but later in the week, Lundvall bluntly responded to McKeown’s claim after the city was asked for comment.

“The claims asserted during Tuesday evening’s public comments regarding illegal action taken by the mayor and city council are untrue,” Lundvall said.

Under the Wyoming Public Records Act, government entities and employees are required to have most public records be available for inspection by members of the public, but the law does highlight exceptions to the rule, ranging from issues of security to private financial information collected by the government.

City Attorney Sean Brown told the News Record Thursday afternoon that the only NDA the city has signed is with the company BWXT, which was presented before the council in February 2024 as part of a promise to explore the idea of Gillette as a place for the company to relocate, with the non-disclosure agreement focusing squarely on content that the WPRA makes exceptions for.

“This non-disclosure agreement essentially says that if either party receives confidential information or trade secrets or otherwise privileged or protected information, they can’t disclose it without the other party,” Brown said. “That’s generally how a non-disclosure agreement works. They are extremely common in private industry, less common when you’re dealing with a governmental entity, but they still occur.”

Brown’s office also released a statement Thursday highlighting many of the same points, clarifying the current NDA with BWXT and discussing current Wyoming law regarding the use of NDA’s and information regarding the Wyoming Public Records Act.

“The city actually spent a great deal of time negotiating the language of that non-disclosure agreement to acknowledge and ensure that BWXT knew that the city of Gillette is subject to certain Wyoming laws, including the Wyoming Public Records Act,” Brown told the News Record. “The non-disclosure agreement already acknowledges the Wyoming Public Records Act in general, says whatever public records we have are available for inspection by the public, however, section 203 lists dozens of exceptions where either a government can or, in fact, has to withhold public records from being released unless there’s a court order saying otherwise.”

Tuesday proved the latest in a series of debates in the public eye over the past few weeks on the question of whether to bring the nuclear energy industry into Campbell County. It’s sparked vocal disagreement from many, particularly over the fear of such actions leading to nuclear waste storage.

McKeown said the majority of his constituency does not support the introduction of nuclear business into Campbell County. He specifically expressed concern over the storage of nuclear waste and the harm that could have on the community and environment down the line.

“Nobody wants this nuclear stuff right now,” he said. “…I’m telling you, 63% of my constituents, which are almost 63%...of your constituents, don’t want this.”

The News Record could not confirm the source of this poll at the time of publication.

In a press release sent out by the city on Thursday, Lundvall expanded on the issue, stating that no formal agreements concerning nuclear manufacturing or development had been made and making clear both his and the city council’s opposition to nuclear waste storage in Gillette and Campbell County.

“Since taking office, I have been very open about my commitment to economic development and business diversification for Gillette,” Lundvall said in the release. “Over the past couple of years, I have been actively involved in working to recruit business that would bring good jobs to our community. These efforts have spanned multiple industries, including nuclear manufacturing. I want to be clear that I have no desire for our community to store spent nuclear fuel waste. Other council members share this desire.”

In the release, Lundvall also said the city is working to host a series of seminars which would bring in experts in the nuclear field to talk about the industry and answer questions from the public. The first of these meetings should be held sometime over the next month, according to the release.

“I do intend to continue the exploration of job creation through the nuclear industry and others,” Lundvall said. “I will do my best to keep the public informed with any updates as they become available while supporting a competitive free market and respecting individual business decisions.”

This story was published on August 22, 2025.