Sender: owner-nukenet@envirolink.org From: swv1@ctaz.com (Molly Johnson) NOTE: The following just came into my hands today. Read carefully; this press release and letter both show just how little the "powers that be" hear what people have to say--even when those people are leaders in the California State government! Write to Sheila Kuehl, Antonio Villaraigosa and Debra Bowen to thank them for their support and ask them to continue to make their voices heard. Write to Garamendi and BLM; ask them why they did not heed the questions presented by members of the California Legislature. Molly Johnson * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Press release from Sheila James Kuehl, Speaker pro Tempore, California State Assembly, State Capitol, POB 942849, Sacramento, CA 94249-0001 KUEHL AND OTHER ASSEMBLY LEADERS DECRY SECRET TEST DESIGNED TO SPEED WARD VALLEY NUCLEAR WASTE. CITES CONCERN FOR DRINKING WATER SAFETY. FOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact Syrus Devers at 916/445-4956, FAX 916/324-4454 The state's refusal to release a key testing protocol in the revaluation of the controversial proposed nuclear waste dump at Ward Valley is the latest in a string of events that call the project's safety into serious question, said California Assembly Speaker pro Tem Sheila Kuehl. Joined by Assembly Majority Leader Antonio Villaraigosa and Chair of the Assembly Natural Resources Committee Debra Bowen, Kuehl decried the fact that the U.S. Department of Interior is expect to announce later today that a permit for the state to conduct tritium tests at the site will be granted. The tritium tests are a key step in determining whether the development of the nuclear waste dump at Ward Valley will go forward. "Because Governor Wilson has already invested significant political capital in pushing for the project and the California Department of Health Service has a history of irregularities with regard to allowing US Ecology, the company seeking to build the proposed dump," Kuehl said, "the fact that the testing protocol will not be publicly disclosed so as to permit independent review is a matter of great concern." Interior apparently also has some concerns about the scientific basis for the state's protocol, because the testing permit contains the condition that the state not begin its testing until the federal tests are completed. Governor Wilson has previously refused to allow joint testing with the federal government. "You would think the Governor would allow joint testing," said Kuehl, "unless he hopes that the state's secret protocol will somehow lead to the results he wants. Given the many irregularities already found in the dealings between US Ecology and the Department of Health Services, as well as the secrecy surrounding the protocols, you have to ask whether the Wilson administration is so set on opening the site, there is too little concern for the safety of the water or the need for the site." A particular subject of controversy is the testing process that will be used to determine whether the radioactive substances to be stored at the proposed site will leak into the underground aquifer which lies beneath Ward Valley and feeds into the Colorado River, only 19 miles away. The Colorado River is a major source of Southern California's drinking water. US Ecology maintains that a test of the Ward Valley site for tritium, a fallout product found in rainwater, will prove that raid does not penetrate more than a feet below the surface because vegetation and the arid climate prevent rain from migrating further underground. Opponents of the nuclear waste dump have serious questions about that assumption as well as its applicability to the Ward Valley Project, in part because such a conclusion is based on assumptions of a totally undisturbed site. The process of constructing Ward Valley, say the opponents, will remove the very vegetation that US Ecology hopes will prevent the migration of hazardous material. Says Kuehl, "Few people in the general public are aware of just how primitive the Ward Valley site will be if it opened. US Ecology intends to simply dig trenches in the dirt, fill them with some of the most dangerous substances known, and then cover them over with dirt. We wouldn't let the average homeowner bury an empty paint can in his backyard that way. Given the Governor's refusal to cooperate with the Interior Department on a joint test and the Department of Health's refusal to release a very controversial test protocol, I'm mystified at how the state's permit ever got approved." Independent studies have raised grave, unanswered questions about the threat that this project imposes on our water supply, and the recent Nebraska study concludes irrefutably that there is not even any need for a new site. There is every likelihood that the project will fail economically as well, due to its high construction cost and probably underutilization. "Ward Valley represents an unacceptable risk to our state's health, medically and financially. If the proponents of this project are wrong, our children's great-grandchildren will be paying the on-going price. It is imperative that the testing process be open, accurate, impartial, and based on the best scientific data possible. In this case, 'good science' does not include political science." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The following is a copy of the letter sent to John Garamendi and the Needles Field Office of the BLM by Sheila James Kuehl, Antonio R. Villaraigosa, and Debra Bowen. Dear Mr. Garamendi, Two matters of serious concern have come to our attention regarding Ward Valley. This project remains one of the more controversial issues in California politics, and the need for balanced, unbiased, and accurate scientific data for the purposes of the SEIS and the tritium is patently clear. With this need in mind, we ask that the state permit to conduct tritium tests not be granted until the protocol the state is using is released for independent scientific review. Despite repeated requests from both your agency and concerned groups here in California, Governor Wilson and the California Department of Health Services have so far refused to make their protocol for tritium testing available. We in the Legislature are now attempting to obtain the test protocol in order to make it public and subject it to scientific review. We therefore ask that you not grant the testing permit until the Governor releases the test protocol, and the Legislature has had an opportunity to review it and hear comments from independent scientists. The purpose of the tritium test to resolve an ongoing controversy, and this goal cannot be achieved if the state is conducting its tests the virtual secret. The second issue that concerns us is the contractor being considered to perform the SEIS. Again, the need for the SEIS to have both the substance and appearance of accuracy and impartiality must be paramount. We understand that the Department of the Interior may be ready to chose S. Cohen & Associates to produce the SEIS. This firm has already produced a study in support of Ward Valley that is one of the matters the SEIS is supposed to evaluate. Simple logic dictates that this firm has an unacceptable conflict rendering them ineligible to produce the SEIS. Further, S. Cohen & Associates has already taken a stance in favor of Ward Valley on most of the core issues. It is not possible for this firm to produce a SEIS that will be perceived as impartial, and the predictable result will be to aggravate the controversy over the safety of Ward Valley. The Department of the Interior should not select this contractor to produce the SEIS. The only way to ensure public confidence in the findings of the SEIS is to ensure that the process is accurate, impartial, and based on the best scientific data possible. Sincerely, SHEILA JAMES KUEHL, Speaker pro Tempore, California State Assembly ANTONIO R. VILLARAIGOSA, Majority Leader, California State Assembly DEBRA BOWEN, Chair, Assembly Natural Resources Committee Save Ward Valley 107 F St. Needles, CA 92363 ph. 760/326-6267 fax 760/326-6268 http://www.shundahai.org/SWVAction.html http://earthrunner.com/savewardvalley http://www.ctaz.com/~swv1