[Peace-discussion] Experts: Divine Strake 'Mushroom Cloud' Could Have Sickened Many
Deanna L. Taylor
deesings@xmission.com
Fri, 29 Jun 2007 20:32:02 -0600
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As musician Laura sings: =A0"Sometimes Davey wins".
I am so glad we were part of the coalition that got this thing =20
stopped. =A0Read on:
Deanna
=20
http://nativeunity.blogspot.com/2007/06/experts-divine-strake-mushroom-cloud=
.html
Friday, June 29, 2007
Experts: Divine Strake 'Mushroom Cloud' Could Have Sickened Many
By KEN RITTER
Associated Press Writer
June 28th, 2007
LAS VEGAS (AP) - A non-nuclear explosive test planned by the =20
government could have spread
lethal radioactive particles across the Nevada desert and beyond had =20
it not been
canceled, experts testified Wednesday.
"A new generation of 'downwinders' would have been created, with =20
cancers and birth
defects," said Robert Hager, a Reno lawyer who summoned witnesses to =20
try to drive a stake
through any future plans for the "Divine Strake" test at the Nevada =20
Test Site 85 miles
northwest of Las Vegas.
The explosion of a 700-ton fuel oil and fertilizer bomb was proposed =20
to gather data about
penetrating underground bunkers that produce and store weapons of mass =20
destruction. But
the prospect of a mushroom cloud in the desert prompted a lawsuit and =20
intense opposition
in Utah and Nevada, where critics feared it would scatter decades-old =20
radioactive
material from previous Cold War-era tests.
The Defense Threat Reduction Agency canceled the test in February.
Justice Department lawyers urged U.S. District Judge Lloyd George not =20
to hold Wednesday's
hearing, arguing the cancellation made the issue moot.
"DTRA has no plans to conduct either the Divine Strake experiment or =20
any tests using
open-air explosive detonations at the (Nevada Test Site)," government =20
lawyers Caroline
Blanco and Sara Culley declared in documents filed in the case.
"We think it should be completely over," Blanco said Wednesday.
But Hager pleaded with the judge to order the government to provide =20
notice and an
opportunity for public hearings if a similar test is resurrected.
Hager also sought the recovery from the government of $400,000 in =20
attorney and legal fees
he claims were racked up forcing DTRA to pull the plug on the Divine =20
Strake experiment.
He said the government first postponed the test and later canceled it =20
only after his
clients, the Western Shoshone tribe members and others in Nevada and =20
Utah, filed a
lawsuit and found fatal flaws in the environmental impact reports.
The judge, who has heard months of arguments since the blast was =20
initially scheduled for
June 2006, did not make immediate rulings on those requests. He gave =20
both sides several
weeks to file briefs before he decides.
But he agreed to hear the experts Hager brought to Las Vegas to =20
testify that the
government failed to adequately study possible health effects of the blast.
Plutonium expert Michael Ketterer, a chemistry and biochemistry =20
professor at Northern
Arizona University in Flagstaff, testified that government soil =20
samples found "no doubt"
there was radioactive contamination at the blast site.
Diane Stearns, a Northern Arizona University biochemist and uranium =20
expert, faulted a
December 2006 draft environmental report on the proposed blast for =20
failing to answer what
she called the "obvious" question.
"The public wants to know: What are the health risks from the =20
fallout?" she said on the
witness stand. "We know this radioactivity is carcinogenic. We know it =20
can cause cancer."
Government officials a year ago downplayed surface contamination, and =20
then said they
didn't expect the blast would disturb fallout left from the 100 =20
aboveground and 828
underground nuclear weapons tests conducted at the test site from 1951 =20
to 1992.
Thousands of people who lived near the test site - called downwinders =20
- were exposed to
cancer-causing radiation from the weapons tests.
Ketterer said Wednesday that plastic shovel sampling for a December =20
2006 environmental
study was so "abbreviated and hasty" he could not tell how much =20
plutonium there was on
the surface around the Divine Strake site.
"They didn't test enough so that a report could be provided to =20
represent the danger?" the
judge asked.
"Yes, your honor," Ketterer replied.
"The report as far as you're concerned was inadequate?"
"Yes."
Over the image of a huge crater left from a July 1962 nuclear test =20
dubbed "Sedan,"
Richard Miller, a researcher, author and former federal Occupational =20
Safety and Health
Administration compliance agent, testified that for many years =20
radioactive fallout from
Nevada traveled across the U.S.
Miller compared the 10,000-foot dust plume that officials said would =20
have been generated
by the Divine Strake blast with a dust cloud kicked up by the =20
104-kiloton Sedan test,
which was detonated at a shallow 600 feet below ground.
Miller also offered charts showing widespread and random radioactivity =20
deposits around
the nation after nuclear tests in the past, and called it impossible =20
to predict where
microscopic particles cast so high in the atmosphere would settle.
"A debris cloud can be scavenged by a thunderstorm and 99 percent of =20
the material can
come to Earth within an hour," Miller said. But he said measurements =20
also found
radioactive clouds wafted north to Canada, west to California or east =20
as far as Maine.
Hager noted that the government had predicted dust churned up by the =20
Divine Strake test
would settle within about 50 miles - or near the boundary of the =20
Nevada Test Site.
The blast was to have been 280 times larger than the bomb that =20
destroyed the Alfred P.
Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995.
TO SUBMIT an ARTICLE, OPINION PIECE, COMMENTS to the Native Unity =20
Digest, e-mail
bobbieo@digitaldune.net[1].
NATIVE UNITY - A place for Native American Peoples to solidify their =20
tribes to make a
positive impact on the cultural, social, economic and political fabric =20
of American
society and a place for non-Natives to better understand the ways of =20
the American Indian.
AIROS NATIVE NETWORK plays music, news and other great programs from =20
Indian Country -
www.airos.org
FOR NATIVE CELEBRITY NEWS - go to www.nativecelebs.com
Visit Vietnam Vet. LARRY MITCHELL at http://www.potawatomivet.com and =20
click on his blog
at the site.
NATIVE BIZ LEARNING CENTER - www.learn.nativebiz.com was developed for =20
tribal education
specialists serving tribal communities. Any tribal community can =20
register at NO COST.
NAJA ALERTS, POTPOURRI - Every Tuesday when available.
Links:
------
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<p>As musician Laura sings: =A0"Sometimes Davey wins".</p><p>I am =
so
glad we were part of the coalition that got this thing stopped. =A0Read
on:</p><p>Deanna</p><p><a target=3D"_blank"
href=3D"http://nativeunity.blogspot.com/2007/06/experts-divine-strake-mushro=
om-cloud.html"
class=3D"fixed">http://nativeunity.blogspot.com/2007/06/experts-divine-strak=
e-mushroom-cloud.html</a><br
/>
Friday, June 29, 2007<br />
Experts: Divine Strake 'Mushroom Cloud' Could Have Sickened Many<br />
By KEN RITTER<br />
Associated Press Writer<br />
June 28th, 2007<br />
<br />
LAS VEGAS (AP) - A non-nuclear explosive test planned by the government coul=
d
have spread <br />
lethal radioactive particles across the Nevada desert and beyond had it not =
been
<br />
canceled, experts testified Wednesday.<br />
<br />
"A new generation of 'downwinders' would have been created, with cancer=
s
and birth <br />
defects," said Robert Hager, a Reno lawyer who summoned witnesses to tr=
y to
drive a stake <br />
through any future plans for the "Divine Strake" test at the Nevad=
a
Test Site 85 miles <br />
northwest of Las Vegas.<br />
<br />
The explosion of a 700-ton fuel oil and fertilizer bomb was proposed to gath=
er
data about <br />
penetrating underground bunkers that produce and store weapons of mass
destruction. But <br />
the prospect of a mushroom cloud in the desert prompted a lawsuit and intens=
e
opposition <br />
in Utah and Nevada, where critics feared it would scatter decades-old
radioactive <br />
material from previous Cold War-era tests.<br />
<br />
The Defense Threat Reduction Agency canceled the test in February.<br />
<br />
Justice Department lawyers urged U.S. District Judge Lloyd George not to hol=
d
Wednesday's <br />
hearing, arguing the cancellation made the issue moot.<br />
<br />
"DTRA has no plans to conduct either the Divine Strake experiment or an=
y
tests using <br />
open-air explosive detonations at the (Nevada Test Site)," government
lawyers Caroline <br />
Blanco and Sara Culley declared in documents filed in the case.<br />
<br />
"We think it should be completely over," Blanco said Wednesday.<br=
/>
<br />
But Hager pleaded with the judge to order the government to provide notice a=
nd
an <br />
opportunity for public hearings if a similar test is resurrected.<br />
<br />
Hager also sought the recovery from the government of $400,000 in attorney a=
nd
legal fees <br />
he claims were racked up forcing DTRA to pull the plug on the Divine Strake
experiment.<br />
<br />
He said the government first postponed the test and later canceled it only a=
fter
his <br />
clients, the Western Shoshone tribe members and others in Nevada and Utah, f=
iled
a <br />
lawsuit and found fatal flaws in the environmental impact reports.<br />
<br />
The judge, who has heard months of arguments since the blast was initially
scheduled for <br />
June 2006, did not make immediate rulings on those requests. He gave both si=
des
several <br />
weeks to file briefs before he decides.<br />
<br />
But he agreed to hear the experts Hager brought to Las Vegas to testify that=
the
<br />
government failed to adequately study possible health effects of the blast.<=
br
/>
<br />
Plutonium expert Michael Ketterer, a chemistry and biochemistry professor at
Northern <br />
Arizona University in Flagstaff, testified that government soil samples foun=
d
"no doubt" <br />
there was radioactive contamination at the blast site.<br />
<br />
Diane Stearns, a Northern Arizona University biochemist and uranium expert,
faulted a <br />
December 2006 draft environmental report on the proposed blast for failing t=
o
answer what <br />
she called the "obvious" question.<br />
<br />
"The public wants to know: What are the health risks from the
fallout?" she said on the <br />
witness stand. "We know this radioactivity is carcinogenic. We know it =
can
cause cancer."<br />
<br />
Government officials a year ago downplayed surface contamination, and then s=
aid
they <br />
didn't expect the blast would disturb fallout left from the 100 aboveground =
and
828 <br />
underground nuclear weapons tests conducted at the test site from 1951 to
1992.<br />
<br />
Thousands of people who lived near the test site - called downwinders - were
exposed to <br />
cancer-causing radiation from the weapons tests.<br />
<br />
Ketterer said Wednesday that plastic shovel sampling for a December 2006
environmental <br />
study was so "abbreviated and hasty" he could not tell how much
plutonium there was on <br />
the surface around the Divine Strake site.<br />
<br />
"They didn't test enough so that a report could be provided to represen=
t
the danger?" the <br />
judge asked.<br />
<br />
"Yes, your honor," Ketterer replied.<br />
<br />
"The report as far as you're concerned was inadequate?"<br />
<br />
"Yes."<br />
<br />
Over the image of a huge crater left from a July 1962 nuclear test dubbed
"Sedan," <br />
Richard Miller, a researcher, author and former federal Occupational Safety =
and
Health <br />
Administration compliance agent, testified that for many years radioactive
fallout from <br />
Nevada traveled across the U.S.<br />
<br />
Miller compared the 10,000-foot dust plume that officials said would have be=
en
generated <br />
by the Divine Strake blast with a dust cloud kicked up by the 104-kiloton Se=
dan
test, <br />
which was detonated at a shallow 600 feet below ground.<br />
<br />
Miller also offered charts showing widespread and random radioactivity depos=
its
around <br />
the nation after nuclear tests in the past, and called it impossible to pred=
ict
where <br />
microscopic particles cast so high in the atmosphere would settle.<br />
<br />
"A debris cloud can be scavenged by a thunderstorm and 99 percent of th=
e
material can <br />
come to Earth within an hour," Miller said. But he said measurements al=
so
found <br />
radioactive clouds wafted north to Canada, west to California or east as far=
as
Maine.<br />
<br />
Hager noted that the government had predicted dust churned up by the Divine
Strake test <br />
would settle within about 50 miles - or near the boundary of the Nevada Test
Site.<br />
<br />
The blast was to have been 280 times larger than the bomb that destroyed the
Alfred P. <br />
Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995.<br />
<br />
TO SUBMIT an ARTICLE, OPINION PIECE, COMMENTS to the Native Unity Digest, e-=
mail
<br />
<a href=3D"compose.php?to=3Dbobbieo%40digitaldune.net&thismailbox=3DINBOX"
class=3D"fixed" nicetitle=3D"New Message to
bobbieo@digitaldune.net">bobbieo@digitaldune.net</a>.<br />
<br />
NATIVE UNITY - A place for Native American Peoples to solidify their tribes =
to
make a <br />
positive impact on the cultural, social, economic and political fabric of
American <br />
society and a place for non-Natives to better understand the ways of the
American Indian.<br />
<br />
AIROS NATIVE NETWORK plays music, news and other great programs from Indian
Country - <br />
www.airos.org<br />
<br />
FOR NATIVE CELEBRITY NEWS - go to www.nativecelebs.com<br />
<br />
Visit Vietnam Vet. LARRY MITCHELL at <a target=3D"_blank"
href=3D"http://www.potawatomivet.com/"
class=3D"fixed">http://www.potawatomivet.com</a> and click on his blog <br /=
>
at the site.<br />
<br />
NATIVE BIZ LEARNING CENTER - www.learn.nativebiz.com was developed for triba=
l
education <br />
specialists serving tribal communities. Any tribal community can register at=
NO
COST.<br />
<br />
NAJA ALERTS, POTPOURRI - Every Tuesday when available.</p>
<br />
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