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Indybay Feature
No Nukes! No Wars! Indigenous Rights! *CALL TO ACTION*
*No profiteers! Support Indigenous Rights!*
On August 6th and 9th, the 61st anniversaries of the U.S. atomic
bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, (August 9, is also the
UN International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples) demand an end to the war in Iraq, no
military attacks on Iran or North Korea, and a path toward the global abolition of
nuclear weapons, starting at home.
On August 6th and 9th, the 61st anniversaries of the U.S. atomic
bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, (August 9, is also the
UN International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples) demand an end to the war in Iraq, no
military attacks on Iran or North Korea, and a path toward the global abolition of
nuclear weapons, starting at home.
*SUNDAY, AUGUST 6*
Ceremony and Nonviolent Action at Lawrence Livermore Nuclear Weapons Lab:
It has been 61 years since the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima,
and another nuclear tragedy looms dangerously close. With the Bush
Administration’s policy of creating lower yield, more “usable” nuclear
weapons, now is a more important time than ever in calling for the
abolition of all weapons of mass destruction and war.
WHEN: Sunday, August 6 gather at 8 AM; march at 9 AM
WHERE: Livermore Nuclear Weapons Lab, Vasco Rd & Patterson Pass Rd,
Livermore, CA. Take 580, exit south at Vasco.
WHAT: A morning of protest and action, featuring a Japanese
Hibakusha—an atomic bomb survivor—at one of the principal nuclear
weapons design labs in the world, a mere 50 miles from San Francisco.
PEACE CAMP: Come join us on August 5 in Del Valle Regional Park for the
Livermore Peace Camp! Space is limited, e-mail Butterfly [at] Lacy.com to reserve a spot.
*WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 9***
Ceremony and Nonviolent Action at Bechtel Corporate Headquarters in San
Francisco:
The anniversary of the U.S. bombing of Nagasaki, August 9, is also the
UN declared International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. Since
their earliest stages, nuclear weapons and the people who profit from
them have caused untold suffering to indigenous peoples around the
world. Come and act with us to voice our support for the sovereignty and
dignity of indigenous peoples and call for an end to nuclear weapons and
war!
WHEN: Wednesday, August 9 at 10 AM
WHERE: Bechtel, 50 Beale St, San Francisco. Half a block from
Embarcadero BART.
WHAT: Join us for a morning of protest and a ceremony led by Western
Shoshone spiritual leader Corbin Harney at Bechtel’s Corporate
Headquarters. Bechtel is one of the top profiteers of the war in Iraq,
manages nearly every aspect of the nuclear weapons cycle, and is known
by communities worldwide for its habitual violations of indigenous and
human rights.
To sponsor either of these events, or to volunteer, please contact:
Tri-Valley CAREs (925) 443-7148 http://www.trivalleycares.org
Western States Legal Foundation (510) 839-5877 http://www.wslfweb.org
International Indian Treaty Council (415) 641-4482 http://www.treatycouncil.org
Livermore Conversion Project (510) 639-9095
*WHY LIVERMORE NUCLEAR WEAPONS LAB?***
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is one of the three national
laboratories that act as the brain of the U.S. nuclear weapons complex,
which today is modernizing and developing new nuclear weapons to support
U.S. wars of empire.
*WHY BECHTEL?*
Bechtel has recently partnered with the University of California to
manage the Los Alamos National Laboratory, another key nuclear weapons
facility, and will most likely bid for Lawrence Livermore. Bechtel is
one of the world’s top nuclear profiteers, built upon an extensive
history of abusing indigenous populations for profit.
*WHY NOW?*
The culture of fear that surrounds nuclear weapons and even their
suspected presence creates war and destruction. With respect to Iran
enriching uranium, President Bush has continually stated that, "All
options are on the table." The paranoia over the possibility that Iran
could develop a nuclear weapon a decade from now should be turned
inward. The U.S. is even now designing new nuclear weapons in direct
violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty while hypocritically
pushing for another illegal war and possible nuclear strike against a
sovereign nation. On August 6^th and 9^th , we will take our voices to
the people who design and profit from human suffering. We demand an end
to U.S. nuclear weapons development, production and testing. We demand
an end to wars of empire and an end to nuclear excuses for war.
In Iraq, they never found nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction,
yet the daily reality of death and destruction rages on, sparked by the
Bush administration's invasion and fueled by the ongoing U.S. military
occupation. A majority of people in this nation now oppose the war, but
the White House and most members of Congress are resisting the only
solution to the crisis: bring the troops home immediately. We will send
our message loud and clear to decision-makers and the public at large:
End the war in Iraq, No war with Iran or North Korea, End the threat of
nuclear annihilation!
NO NUKES! NO WARS!
For more information, go to http://www.august6.org/bay_area
--
Tara Dorabji
Outreach Director
Tri-Valley CAREs
http://www.trivalleycares.org
tara [at] trivalleycares.org
ph: (925) 443-7148
fax: (925) 443-0177
Before the word, was the silence. In this silence existed neither thought nor judgment. First came laughter,then the tears, and the sound was born. With the sound, the world flooded with memories.
Ceremony and Nonviolent Action at Lawrence Livermore Nuclear Weapons Lab:
It has been 61 years since the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima,
and another nuclear tragedy looms dangerously close. With the Bush
Administration’s policy of creating lower yield, more “usable” nuclear
weapons, now is a more important time than ever in calling for the
abolition of all weapons of mass destruction and war.
WHEN: Sunday, August 6 gather at 8 AM; march at 9 AM
WHERE: Livermore Nuclear Weapons Lab, Vasco Rd & Patterson Pass Rd,
Livermore, CA. Take 580, exit south at Vasco.
WHAT: A morning of protest and action, featuring a Japanese
Hibakusha—an atomic bomb survivor—at one of the principal nuclear
weapons design labs in the world, a mere 50 miles from San Francisco.
PEACE CAMP: Come join us on August 5 in Del Valle Regional Park for the
Livermore Peace Camp! Space is limited, e-mail Butterfly [at] Lacy.com to reserve a spot.
*WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 9***
Ceremony and Nonviolent Action at Bechtel Corporate Headquarters in San
Francisco:
The anniversary of the U.S. bombing of Nagasaki, August 9, is also the
UN declared International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. Since
their earliest stages, nuclear weapons and the people who profit from
them have caused untold suffering to indigenous peoples around the
world. Come and act with us to voice our support for the sovereignty and
dignity of indigenous peoples and call for an end to nuclear weapons and
war!
WHEN: Wednesday, August 9 at 10 AM
WHERE: Bechtel, 50 Beale St, San Francisco. Half a block from
Embarcadero BART.
WHAT: Join us for a morning of protest and a ceremony led by Western
Shoshone spiritual leader Corbin Harney at Bechtel’s Corporate
Headquarters. Bechtel is one of the top profiteers of the war in Iraq,
manages nearly every aspect of the nuclear weapons cycle, and is known
by communities worldwide for its habitual violations of indigenous and
human rights.
To sponsor either of these events, or to volunteer, please contact:
Tri-Valley CAREs (925) 443-7148 http://www.trivalleycares.org
Western States Legal Foundation (510) 839-5877 http://www.wslfweb.org
International Indian Treaty Council (415) 641-4482 http://www.treatycouncil.org
Livermore Conversion Project (510) 639-9095
*WHY LIVERMORE NUCLEAR WEAPONS LAB?***
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is one of the three national
laboratories that act as the brain of the U.S. nuclear weapons complex,
which today is modernizing and developing new nuclear weapons to support
U.S. wars of empire.
*WHY BECHTEL?*
Bechtel has recently partnered with the University of California to
manage the Los Alamos National Laboratory, another key nuclear weapons
facility, and will most likely bid for Lawrence Livermore. Bechtel is
one of the world’s top nuclear profiteers, built upon an extensive
history of abusing indigenous populations for profit.
*WHY NOW?*
The culture of fear that surrounds nuclear weapons and even their
suspected presence creates war and destruction. With respect to Iran
enriching uranium, President Bush has continually stated that, "All
options are on the table." The paranoia over the possibility that Iran
could develop a nuclear weapon a decade from now should be turned
inward. The U.S. is even now designing new nuclear weapons in direct
violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty while hypocritically
pushing for another illegal war and possible nuclear strike against a
sovereign nation. On August 6^th and 9^th , we will take our voices to
the people who design and profit from human suffering. We demand an end
to U.S. nuclear weapons development, production and testing. We demand
an end to wars of empire and an end to nuclear excuses for war.
In Iraq, they never found nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction,
yet the daily reality of death and destruction rages on, sparked by the
Bush administration's invasion and fueled by the ongoing U.S. military
occupation. A majority of people in this nation now oppose the war, but
the White House and most members of Congress are resisting the only
solution to the crisis: bring the troops home immediately. We will send
our message loud and clear to decision-makers and the public at large:
End the war in Iraq, No war with Iran or North Korea, End the threat of
nuclear annihilation!
NO NUKES! NO WARS!
For more information, go to http://www.august6.org/bay_area
--
Tara Dorabji
Outreach Director
Tri-Valley CAREs
http://www.trivalleycares.org
tara [at] trivalleycares.org
ph: (925) 443-7148
fax: (925) 443-0177
Before the word, was the silence. In this silence existed neither thought nor judgment. First came laughter,then the tears, and the sound was born. With the sound, the world flooded with memories.
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Bechtel's Nevada subsidiary, contracted by the US Dept. of Energy (DOE), profited from the construction of an underground tunnel for the purposes of storing nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain. Not only is Yucca Mt. a sacred place in the Western Shoshone's land (Newe Sogobia), the seismic features of basin/range topography and water percolation makes Yucca Mt. an UNSAFE location for the storage on nuclear waste material, estimated to be dangerously radioactive for the half life of at least ?? several million years. Either way the frequency of earthquakes and percolation of water could comprimise the safety of these vessels and expose downwinders to hefty dosages of radiation..
Bechtel Nevada is assuring downwind (& downstream) residents that the Yucca Mt. storage facility is perfectly safe, no worries. Based on the pattern of Bechtel corporation and their employers at the Dept. of Energy at Nevada Test Site (NTS), many people find Bechtel's claim of guaranteed safety as highly doubtful. Certainly wouldn't bet my life (or anyone else's) on Bechtel's record of finincially influenced integrity..
Bechtel wins the bid, awarded 3.1 billion taxpayer dollars for contruction of nuclear waste storage tunnel under Yucca Mt. What a bunch o' regular boy scouts, eh??
"In February, Bechtel SAIC becomes the primary management and operations contractor at Yucca Mountain. Its five-year, $3.1 billion contract includes $133.2 million in various awards and performance incentives for meeting deadlines and performing work to certain standards. This arrangement gives the company a clear and significant interest in the regulatory approval of the repository and the completion of the project as quickly as possible."
more on Yucca Mt. timeline @;
http://www.citizen.org/cmep/energy_enviro_nuclear/nuclear_power_plants/nukewaste/yucca/articles.cfm?ID=12787
The issue of water percolation at Yucca Mt. is a complex equation of average rainfall, fissure/fault/crevasse formation in several geological layers, distance to Amargosa underground river/aquifer and time. The DOE uses computer models to estimate the length of time before the nuclear waste cannisters will leak and radioactive material will enter the groundwater. The key word here is not "if" but "when". Needless to say the DOE gives ample time in favor of waiting for radioactive leakage, though some recently silenced scientists think it could be sooner rather than later..
"The Energy Department had already modeled the infiltration of rainfall—the first simulation. Some of the scientists thought that infiltration might actually be negative. That is, the mountain might be so dry that water vapor would be sucked out of it, rising from the aquifer beneath the mountain and up through it to the atmosphere. But the majority believed that with enough time—and there was plenty of time—drops of water would work their way down and come in contact with the metal containers holding the nuclear waste. That would start corrosion, and corrosion would eventually cause the radioactive elements to mix with the water and leak out. From there it was just a matter of additional time before the mix, still descending, entered the zone where the aquifer lay and then moved south into Bruce's well."
more details on Bruce's well, water percolation and risks of corrosion @;
http://www.discover.com/issues/sep-02/features/featyucca/
Even the moderates are aware of the seismic activities occurring daily in Nevada, this from the state website;
"Analysis of the available data indicates that, since 1976, there have been 621 seismic events of magnitude greater than 2.5 within a 50-mile radius of Yucca Mountain. Reported underground nuclear weapons tests at the Nevada Test Site have been excluded from this count.
The most notable event during this period was a magnitude 5.6 earthquake near Little Skull Mountain, about 8 miles southeast of the Yucca Mountain site, that occurred on June 29, 1992. This earthquake caused damage to a nearby Department of Energy field office building. This earthquake, and many after-shocks, occurred on a fault that had not previously been identified. The Little Skull Mountain earthquake and numerous others at about the same time in the western U.S. are considered to have been triggered by the magnitude 7.4 Landers earthquake, in California.
The only significant cluster of earthquake activity in the 50-mile radius area is in Rock Valley, about 12 miles southeast of Yucca Mountain. The data base also reveals that, in 1948, there was a magnitude 3.6 event on the southeast boundary of the Yucca Mountain site, in an area known to have a number of faults. Recently, there have been other events recorded beneath Yucca Mountain with magnitudes less than 2.5.
Earthquake activity is a safety concern both during operation, above and below ground, and after closure of a repository at Yucca Mountain.
The mountain ranges and valleys of the Basin and Range, including the Yucca Mountain area, are a result of millions of years of intense faulting and volcanism. Records of recent events indicate that faulting is an ongoing process in the vicinity of Yucca Mountain that is expected to continue long into the future. Thirty-three faults are known to exist within and adjacent to the Yucca Mountain site.
The 20-year record reported here is approximately the same period of time that the Department of Energy has been evaluating the Nevada Test Site and Yucca Mountain as a potential high-level nuclear waste disposal site."
more on earthquakes at Yucca Mt. @;
http://www.state.nv.us/nucwaste/yucca/seismo01.htm
Naturally any real and relevent science can and will be repressed daily (just like those earthquakes) by the Bush/Cheney regime in the interests of continued corporatist profits from global energy and resouce expolitation. Now the B/C regime wants US taxpayers to fund construction of 1000+ more nuclear fission plants with even more radioactive nuclear waste!! Or are US soldiers and Iraqi civilians going to experience more radiation sickness from exposure to "depleted" uranium (aka nuclear waste) munitions??
Oh yeah, and then there's the folks sleeping next door, so deep and quiet we can't even hear them snore. When will these gentle folks feel like wake up? Before or after the several million years half life of radioactive nuclear waste expires? Meet Yucca Mt's long time (yet little mentioned) neighbors, the volcanoes..
"The volcanoes have not been discussed that much during the 20-year characterization to establish whether Yucca Mountain is a suitable nuclear-waste repository. But they will be — and not merely by environmentalists opposed to the project.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is the government-funded watchdog that must license the proposed facility, and it thinks that the Department of Energy (DOE), which is responsible for getting the repository built, is seriously underestimating the risk presented by the volcanoes. The argument will come to a head this autumn, just as President George W. Bush is expected to issue his recommendation on whether the project should proceed."
more on Yucca Mt.'s volcanic neighbors @;
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v412/n6850/full/412850a0.html;jsessionid=BB75F0FBB1E80A72DBF6F74C906C40E8
Not like residents of the Nevada desert haven't had way beyond their fair share of radiation and resulting cancer, leukimia, etc.. from the aboveground atomic bomb tests of the cold war era (50's, 60's, etc..). The DOE even wants to resuspend radioactive sand particulates with their "divine strake" 700 ton ammonium nitrate superbomb in the same location (Nevada Test Site) where the previous decades above ground testing occurred. Just who do these warmonger Bush/Cheney regime imperialists think they're trying to fool about protecting our national well being? Bomb Nevadans first, then bomb Iran? Before of after spraying the Califa hippies & farmworkers with a good dosage of PBO pesticides?? Sounds to me like the first steps of modern petrochemical & nuclear holocaust cancer inducing genocide taking place in the gool ol' US of A..
"Sometimes "days past" leave traces that cannot be forgotten. 2001 marked the 50th anniversary of nuclear weapons testing at the Nevada Test Site and many still suffer from cancer and other diseases caused by fallout from the United States atomic testing program half a century later. It may come as a surprise that Yavapai County residents are included in the official list of people affected. The areas in Arizona recognized by the government as affected by fallout are Yavapai, Coconino, Apache, Gila, and Navajo counties. One out of every seven tests dumped radioactive fallout on northern Arizona.
In spite of decades of denials by government officials who routinely assured the public that radioactive fallout from nuclear weapons testing was harmless, in 1990 Congress passed the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA). RECA provides $50,000 per person compensation payments to "Downwinders" who later suffered from a specific radiation related cancers and other diseases. The term "Downwinder" refers to anyone who was living in one of the areas contaminated by fallout from the Nevada Test Site during the period of atmospheric (above ground) nuclear testing.
People living or working "downwind" of Nevada Test Site - in northern Arizona, southern Utah, and most of Nevada - for at least two years between January 21, 1951, and October 31, 1958, or in the month of July, 1962 may have suffered cancer and other diseases caused by exposure to radiation.
The specific diseases recognized as resulting from fallout include: leukemia (other than chronic lymphocytic leukemia), lung cancer, multiple myeloma, lymphomas (other than Hodgkin's disease), and primary cancer of the thyroid, male or female breast, esophagus, stomach, pharynx, small intestine, pancreas, bile ducts, gall bladder, salivary gland, urinary bladder, brain, colon, ovary, or liver."
more on financial compensation for lost lives @;
http://www.sharlot.org/archives/history/dayspast/text/2002_08_25.shtml
The monumentally high cancer rates found in Nevada downwinder residents and miners is evidence of wrongdoing on the part of Bechtel Nevada, DOE and other corporate/government entities. Yucca Mountain tunnel was excavated by local miners who were not given the proper safety equipment by Bechtel Nevada, the corporation contracted by DOE to excavate the storage tunnel. This resulted in their exposure to silicate (shardlike mineral particulates) that entered their respiratory tract and caused the miner's lung disease known as silicosis, a chronic bleeding of the lungs..
"A group of attorneys representing sick workers from the deep-bored tunnels at Yucca Mountain announced today the filing of a major class action lawsuit against Department of Energy ("DOE") contractors who dug several miles of tunnels from 1992 to 1996 and then fraudulently concealed from workers and visitors their overexposures to known toxic hazards until early this year. The suit, filed in Clark County, Nevada, District Court (Las Vegas), names Bechtel Corporation, SAIC Corporation, the Kiewit Group, Parsons Brinckerhoff, Morrison-Knudson, and TRW, among others.
Gene Griego, lead plaintiff in the action, is a technician who worked on site at the proposed nuclear waste repository, going in and out of the test tunnels as they were being dug in the mid 1990s. "This lawsuit will expose an outrageous fraud against the workforce and even the visitors at Yucca Mountain," he said, "one that's already killing people." A non-smoker, Griego was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease last year. "We hope to see these innocent people compensated, and the perpetrators brought to justice," he added.
The suit claims workers and visitors were deliberately exposed to illegal levels of silica, erionite, and other known toxic dusts choking the tunnels, fibrous minerals that in some cases are up to a 100 times more carcinogenic than asbestos. And these dusts can act like a deadly time bomb - life-threatening diseases can appear 20 or more years after a worker or visitor has been exposed. Citing sworn testimony by an industrial hygienist formerly employed by Keiwit, Judy Kallas, the suit claims tunnel contractors devised a corrupt scheme to fraudulently doctor tunnel air monitoring data to deceive workers and visitors about their safety, thereby avoiding requirements for respiratory protection, protective clothing, and other common preventive measures. Kallas has claimed the toxic dust in the tunnels was so thick her glasses would shield her view."
more on Bechtel's crimes against workers @;
http://www.earthmountainview.com/yucca/yucca.htm
Newe Sogobia belongs to the Western Shoshone, the US military and DOE illegally siezed the land for nuclear weapons testing, renaming it Nevada Test Site. It is the goal of this author and many others to witness the return and ecological restoration of the land in question to the Western Shoshone people, honoring the Treaty of Ruby Valley that states the land called Newe Sogobia belongs to the Western Shoshone..
"Western Shoshone homeland, Newe Sogobia, has never been for sale! In the 1863 Treaty of Ruby Valley with the U.S., Western Shoshone (Newe) leaders agreed to settle into a lifestyle of ranching and allow non-Indians to pass through their territory; but did not cede lands.
Over a hundred years later, following the discovery of microscopic gold in Newe Sogobia, the U.S. charged Newe ranchers, Carrie and Mary Dann, with "trespass". The issue went to the Supreme Court which ruled the Western Shoshone lost the land when the Interior Department, acting as their "trustee," had accepted money.
In 1979, the Indian Claims Commission (ICC) paid the Interior 15 cents an acre for Western Shoshone lands they said were taken by "gradual encroachment," a method of taking which has never been found to be legal.
U.S. Indian law and policy is based on the racist Columbus-era "Doctrine of Discovery", which declared Indians did not have the same rights as Europeans. To this day, the U.S. government has prevented Newe from arguing their title in the U.S. courts. The ICC decision was found in 2003 to be illegal by the Organization of American States (OAS); but the U.S. has refused to respond to the concerns of the OAS and continues to use illegal means to claim title to Newe lands"
more on return of stolen land @;
http://www.wsdp.org/brochure121405.htm
We Say Bechtel & NTS out of Nevada & Newe Sogobia! The decontamination and ecological restoration of Newe land, Amargosa watershed/aquifer, etc.. may take several years, but it's worth it!!
"It [Yucca Mountain] is above the Amargosa Aquifer, which may be the nation's largest underground river and provides water to Los Angeles, California."
http://texnewmexradioactiverangers.bravehost.com/waste_disposal.html
Top ten reasons to oppose Bechtel/DOE Yucca Mt. plan @;
http://www.wagingpeace.org/articles/2002/08/23_krieger_yucca-top10.htm
database on Yucca Mt @;
http://www.shundahai.org/yucca_mt.html
Bechtel Nevada is assuring downwind (& downstream) residents that the Yucca Mt. storage facility is perfectly safe, no worries. Based on the pattern of Bechtel corporation and their employers at the Dept. of Energy at Nevada Test Site (NTS), many people find Bechtel's claim of guaranteed safety as highly doubtful. Certainly wouldn't bet my life (or anyone else's) on Bechtel's record of finincially influenced integrity..
Bechtel wins the bid, awarded 3.1 billion taxpayer dollars for contruction of nuclear waste storage tunnel under Yucca Mt. What a bunch o' regular boy scouts, eh??
"In February, Bechtel SAIC becomes the primary management and operations contractor at Yucca Mountain. Its five-year, $3.1 billion contract includes $133.2 million in various awards and performance incentives for meeting deadlines and performing work to certain standards. This arrangement gives the company a clear and significant interest in the regulatory approval of the repository and the completion of the project as quickly as possible."
more on Yucca Mt. timeline @;
http://www.citizen.org/cmep/energy_enviro_nuclear/nuclear_power_plants/nukewaste/yucca/articles.cfm?ID=12787
The issue of water percolation at Yucca Mt. is a complex equation of average rainfall, fissure/fault/crevasse formation in several geological layers, distance to Amargosa underground river/aquifer and time. The DOE uses computer models to estimate the length of time before the nuclear waste cannisters will leak and radioactive material will enter the groundwater. The key word here is not "if" but "when". Needless to say the DOE gives ample time in favor of waiting for radioactive leakage, though some recently silenced scientists think it could be sooner rather than later..
"The Energy Department had already modeled the infiltration of rainfall—the first simulation. Some of the scientists thought that infiltration might actually be negative. That is, the mountain might be so dry that water vapor would be sucked out of it, rising from the aquifer beneath the mountain and up through it to the atmosphere. But the majority believed that with enough time—and there was plenty of time—drops of water would work their way down and come in contact with the metal containers holding the nuclear waste. That would start corrosion, and corrosion would eventually cause the radioactive elements to mix with the water and leak out. From there it was just a matter of additional time before the mix, still descending, entered the zone where the aquifer lay and then moved south into Bruce's well."
more details on Bruce's well, water percolation and risks of corrosion @;
http://www.discover.com/issues/sep-02/features/featyucca/
Even the moderates are aware of the seismic activities occurring daily in Nevada, this from the state website;
"Analysis of the available data indicates that, since 1976, there have been 621 seismic events of magnitude greater than 2.5 within a 50-mile radius of Yucca Mountain. Reported underground nuclear weapons tests at the Nevada Test Site have been excluded from this count.
The most notable event during this period was a magnitude 5.6 earthquake near Little Skull Mountain, about 8 miles southeast of the Yucca Mountain site, that occurred on June 29, 1992. This earthquake caused damage to a nearby Department of Energy field office building. This earthquake, and many after-shocks, occurred on a fault that had not previously been identified. The Little Skull Mountain earthquake and numerous others at about the same time in the western U.S. are considered to have been triggered by the magnitude 7.4 Landers earthquake, in California.
The only significant cluster of earthquake activity in the 50-mile radius area is in Rock Valley, about 12 miles southeast of Yucca Mountain. The data base also reveals that, in 1948, there was a magnitude 3.6 event on the southeast boundary of the Yucca Mountain site, in an area known to have a number of faults. Recently, there have been other events recorded beneath Yucca Mountain with magnitudes less than 2.5.
Earthquake activity is a safety concern both during operation, above and below ground, and after closure of a repository at Yucca Mountain.
The mountain ranges and valleys of the Basin and Range, including the Yucca Mountain area, are a result of millions of years of intense faulting and volcanism. Records of recent events indicate that faulting is an ongoing process in the vicinity of Yucca Mountain that is expected to continue long into the future. Thirty-three faults are known to exist within and adjacent to the Yucca Mountain site.
The 20-year record reported here is approximately the same period of time that the Department of Energy has been evaluating the Nevada Test Site and Yucca Mountain as a potential high-level nuclear waste disposal site."
more on earthquakes at Yucca Mt. @;
http://www.state.nv.us/nucwaste/yucca/seismo01.htm
Naturally any real and relevent science can and will be repressed daily (just like those earthquakes) by the Bush/Cheney regime in the interests of continued corporatist profits from global energy and resouce expolitation. Now the B/C regime wants US taxpayers to fund construction of 1000+ more nuclear fission plants with even more radioactive nuclear waste!! Or are US soldiers and Iraqi civilians going to experience more radiation sickness from exposure to "depleted" uranium (aka nuclear waste) munitions??
Oh yeah, and then there's the folks sleeping next door, so deep and quiet we can't even hear them snore. When will these gentle folks feel like wake up? Before or after the several million years half life of radioactive nuclear waste expires? Meet Yucca Mt's long time (yet little mentioned) neighbors, the volcanoes..
"The volcanoes have not been discussed that much during the 20-year characterization to establish whether Yucca Mountain is a suitable nuclear-waste repository. But they will be — and not merely by environmentalists opposed to the project.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is the government-funded watchdog that must license the proposed facility, and it thinks that the Department of Energy (DOE), which is responsible for getting the repository built, is seriously underestimating the risk presented by the volcanoes. The argument will come to a head this autumn, just as President George W. Bush is expected to issue his recommendation on whether the project should proceed."
more on Yucca Mt.'s volcanic neighbors @;
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v412/n6850/full/412850a0.html;jsessionid=BB75F0FBB1E80A72DBF6F74C906C40E8
Not like residents of the Nevada desert haven't had way beyond their fair share of radiation and resulting cancer, leukimia, etc.. from the aboveground atomic bomb tests of the cold war era (50's, 60's, etc..). The DOE even wants to resuspend radioactive sand particulates with their "divine strake" 700 ton ammonium nitrate superbomb in the same location (Nevada Test Site) where the previous decades above ground testing occurred. Just who do these warmonger Bush/Cheney regime imperialists think they're trying to fool about protecting our national well being? Bomb Nevadans first, then bomb Iran? Before of after spraying the Califa hippies & farmworkers with a good dosage of PBO pesticides?? Sounds to me like the first steps of modern petrochemical & nuclear holocaust cancer inducing genocide taking place in the gool ol' US of A..
"Sometimes "days past" leave traces that cannot be forgotten. 2001 marked the 50th anniversary of nuclear weapons testing at the Nevada Test Site and many still suffer from cancer and other diseases caused by fallout from the United States atomic testing program half a century later. It may come as a surprise that Yavapai County residents are included in the official list of people affected. The areas in Arizona recognized by the government as affected by fallout are Yavapai, Coconino, Apache, Gila, and Navajo counties. One out of every seven tests dumped radioactive fallout on northern Arizona.
In spite of decades of denials by government officials who routinely assured the public that radioactive fallout from nuclear weapons testing was harmless, in 1990 Congress passed the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA). RECA provides $50,000 per person compensation payments to "Downwinders" who later suffered from a specific radiation related cancers and other diseases. The term "Downwinder" refers to anyone who was living in one of the areas contaminated by fallout from the Nevada Test Site during the period of atmospheric (above ground) nuclear testing.
People living or working "downwind" of Nevada Test Site - in northern Arizona, southern Utah, and most of Nevada - for at least two years between January 21, 1951, and October 31, 1958, or in the month of July, 1962 may have suffered cancer and other diseases caused by exposure to radiation.
The specific diseases recognized as resulting from fallout include: leukemia (other than chronic lymphocytic leukemia), lung cancer, multiple myeloma, lymphomas (other than Hodgkin's disease), and primary cancer of the thyroid, male or female breast, esophagus, stomach, pharynx, small intestine, pancreas, bile ducts, gall bladder, salivary gland, urinary bladder, brain, colon, ovary, or liver."
more on financial compensation for lost lives @;
http://www.sharlot.org/archives/history/dayspast/text/2002_08_25.shtml
The monumentally high cancer rates found in Nevada downwinder residents and miners is evidence of wrongdoing on the part of Bechtel Nevada, DOE and other corporate/government entities. Yucca Mountain tunnel was excavated by local miners who were not given the proper safety equipment by Bechtel Nevada, the corporation contracted by DOE to excavate the storage tunnel. This resulted in their exposure to silicate (shardlike mineral particulates) that entered their respiratory tract and caused the miner's lung disease known as silicosis, a chronic bleeding of the lungs..
"A group of attorneys representing sick workers from the deep-bored tunnels at Yucca Mountain announced today the filing of a major class action lawsuit against Department of Energy ("DOE") contractors who dug several miles of tunnels from 1992 to 1996 and then fraudulently concealed from workers and visitors their overexposures to known toxic hazards until early this year. The suit, filed in Clark County, Nevada, District Court (Las Vegas), names Bechtel Corporation, SAIC Corporation, the Kiewit Group, Parsons Brinckerhoff, Morrison-Knudson, and TRW, among others.
Gene Griego, lead plaintiff in the action, is a technician who worked on site at the proposed nuclear waste repository, going in and out of the test tunnels as they were being dug in the mid 1990s. "This lawsuit will expose an outrageous fraud against the workforce and even the visitors at Yucca Mountain," he said, "one that's already killing people." A non-smoker, Griego was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease last year. "We hope to see these innocent people compensated, and the perpetrators brought to justice," he added.
The suit claims workers and visitors were deliberately exposed to illegal levels of silica, erionite, and other known toxic dusts choking the tunnels, fibrous minerals that in some cases are up to a 100 times more carcinogenic than asbestos. And these dusts can act like a deadly time bomb - life-threatening diseases can appear 20 or more years after a worker or visitor has been exposed. Citing sworn testimony by an industrial hygienist formerly employed by Keiwit, Judy Kallas, the suit claims tunnel contractors devised a corrupt scheme to fraudulently doctor tunnel air monitoring data to deceive workers and visitors about their safety, thereby avoiding requirements for respiratory protection, protective clothing, and other common preventive measures. Kallas has claimed the toxic dust in the tunnels was so thick her glasses would shield her view."
more on Bechtel's crimes against workers @;
http://www.earthmountainview.com/yucca/yucca.htm
Newe Sogobia belongs to the Western Shoshone, the US military and DOE illegally siezed the land for nuclear weapons testing, renaming it Nevada Test Site. It is the goal of this author and many others to witness the return and ecological restoration of the land in question to the Western Shoshone people, honoring the Treaty of Ruby Valley that states the land called Newe Sogobia belongs to the Western Shoshone..
"Western Shoshone homeland, Newe Sogobia, has never been for sale! In the 1863 Treaty of Ruby Valley with the U.S., Western Shoshone (Newe) leaders agreed to settle into a lifestyle of ranching and allow non-Indians to pass through their territory; but did not cede lands.
Over a hundred years later, following the discovery of microscopic gold in Newe Sogobia, the U.S. charged Newe ranchers, Carrie and Mary Dann, with "trespass". The issue went to the Supreme Court which ruled the Western Shoshone lost the land when the Interior Department, acting as their "trustee," had accepted money.
In 1979, the Indian Claims Commission (ICC) paid the Interior 15 cents an acre for Western Shoshone lands they said were taken by "gradual encroachment," a method of taking which has never been found to be legal.
U.S. Indian law and policy is based on the racist Columbus-era "Doctrine of Discovery", which declared Indians did not have the same rights as Europeans. To this day, the U.S. government has prevented Newe from arguing their title in the U.S. courts. The ICC decision was found in 2003 to be illegal by the Organization of American States (OAS); but the U.S. has refused to respond to the concerns of the OAS and continues to use illegal means to claim title to Newe lands"
more on return of stolen land @;
http://www.wsdp.org/brochure121405.htm
We Say Bechtel & NTS out of Nevada & Newe Sogobia! The decontamination and ecological restoration of Newe land, Amargosa watershed/aquifer, etc.. may take several years, but it's worth it!!
"It [Yucca Mountain] is above the Amargosa Aquifer, which may be the nation's largest underground river and provides water to Los Angeles, California."
http://texnewmexradioactiverangers.bravehost.com/waste_disposal.html
Top ten reasons to oppose Bechtel/DOE Yucca Mt. plan @;
http://www.wagingpeace.org/articles/2002/08/23_krieger_yucca-top10.htm
database on Yucca Mt @;
http://www.shundahai.org/yucca_mt.html
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