STANISLAUS CONNECTIONS
For many of us who have been around the Modesto Peace/Life Center for a while, we realize that plutonium is probably the most dangerous source of pollution ever. It has a half life of 250,000 years. A civilization generally lasts less than five thousand years.
One group that I deeply respect is Tri-Valley CAREs. They recently had a meeting with the new Secretary of Energy, Bill Richardson on August 27th. The groups involved were: Tri-Valley CAREs, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Pax Christi, Western States Legal Foundation, and the American Friends Service Committee.
The issues discussed included: providing full funding for the Livermore Public Health Assessment, begun but left incomplete after two years, yet mandated by the Superfund legislation. Plutonium has been found in Big Trees Park and the new $500,000 study is to shed light on how plutonium traveled from the Lab to the park as well as respond to questions about whether there are more "hot spots" in the Livermore Valley. Another issue is calling a halt to construction of the National Ignition Facility until a study can be developed of cost-effective, proliferation resistant approaches to safeguard the stockpile as it awaits dismantlement
A third issue is a study with public input on the risks of proliferation of the Stockpile Stewardship program to analyze a "curatorship." Another issue is shutting down the plutonium facility immediately and initiating an investigation into the recurring safety problems at the Lawrence Livermore National Lab.
A fifth and final issue is the completion of a court mandated study begun in 1990 that would involve environmental restoration called the "Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement." A piece of this plan calls for scrapping the DOE's flawed "Accelerated Cleanup" plan. Another piece is to secure adequate funding for the cleanup of the Lab's main site and Site 300, making sure that these sites are cleaned up fully in a timely manner complying with regulations.
Secretary Richardson "left us with the impression that the safety, public health and cleanup funding issues we raised would receive DOE Headquarters' attention. Richardson mentioned an office of 'Consumer Affairs' and asked for input. Tri-Valley CAREs is drafting a follow-up letter to the Secretary to suggest a way to establish such an office that would be effective, rather than simply window dressing." Copies of the "Briefing Papers" which Tri-Vally CAREs prepared are available on request by calling (925)443-7148.
Tri-Valley CAREs also discovered that LLNL employees improperly routed ten grams of Uranium Carbide "into a storage in a building with an administrative inventory cap of zero for radioactive material." The lab employees failed to notify proper authorities for nearly THREE weeks.
For the next month, Tri-Valley CAREs will concentrate on a lawsuit seeking "to hold DOE in contempt of court for its failure to prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) on cleanup of the nuclear weapons complex. The court-ordered hearing is October 15." Working with the other plaintiff groups, Tri-Valley CAREs is seeking ways to enforce a 1990 Court Order for a review of DOE's cleanup plans and to ensure that there is more of a role for the public in decision-making.
ACTIONS: There will be a Town Meeting on October 22, 1998 from 7-9 p.m. in the Livermore City Council Chambers, 3575 Pacific Avenue, Livermore. The program is entitled: "Radiation and Your Health" Speakers include: Dr. Steven Wing, Professor of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina, who has conducted health studies at the Dept. of Energy's Hanford. Oak Ridge, Los Alamos and Savannah River sites, and at Three Mile Island. Dr. Seth Tuler, Research Fellow, Clark University and Project Director at the Childhood Cancer Research Institute, who has designed health studies in partnership with diverse communities. Marylia Kelley, Executive Director, Tri-Valley CAREs. Pat Sutton, Public Health Scientist and Board Member at Western States Legal Foundation, an Oakland-based group connecting issues of nuclear weapons, public policy and the environment.
