[Iowa-dx] Fwd: US Coast Guard heeds {Candada} Green Party call to end target practice on Great Lakes (GP of Canada release)

[hhart@blue.weeg.uiowa.edu]

Green Party of Canada
http://www.greenparty.ca

News Release
For Immediate Release
December 21, 2006


US Coast Guard heeds Green Party call to end
target practice on Great Lakes


Ottawa - Green Party leader Elizabeth May today
congratulated the US Coast Guard for scrapping
its practice of conducting routine machine gun
target practice in 34 training zones on the Great
Lakes.

Responding to mounting public pressure, Coast
Guard officials announced on Monday that they
would discontinue firing live ammunition at
floating targets over the Great Lakes and
committed to addressing concerns raised by the
public in any future proposal. "We are pleased
that the Coast Guard has ended this dangerous and
absurd militarization of the Great Lakes. The
Green Party urges the Coast Guard to continue to
respect international treaties by maintaining the
ceasefire," said May.

The Coast Guard's proposal had been widely
condemned by politicians, business leaders,
fishermen and environmentalists in Canada and the
US for both safety and environmental reasons.

"Peppering the Great Lakes with lead ammunition
threatens boaters, fishermen, wildlife. It also
has the potential to contaminate the water supply
of millions of people," said Green Party Water
Critic Tony Maas. "Governments and NGOs have
worked for years to reduce lead contamination in
the Great Lakes. The Coast Guard utterly
disregarded their efforts by pumping toxic lead
ammunition into the Great Lakes."

The Green Party called on the Coast Guard to end
live fire exercises soon after they began. It is
estimated that some 3,000 rounds of lead
ammunition have already been deposited into the
Great Lakes.

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Contact:
Camille Labchuk
Press Secretary
clabchuk@greenparty.ca
613-882-4761


Authorized by the Chief Agent of the Green Party
of Canada http://www.greenparty.ca
Information: media@greenparty.ca