SAN DIEGO COALITION SUES NAVY

[Aimee Houghton <aimeeh@igc.org>]

From: Aimee Houghton <aimeeh@igc.org>

 ***** WARNING: This is a long file *****

Here is a copy of a news release regarding the lawsuit that Environmental
Health Coalition and several other organizations and individuals filed Friday
to halt nuclear aircraft carrier homeporting in San Diego. Please e-mail or
otherwise communicate with groups you know to be interested in these issues.
 Please call me with questions at (619) 235-0281. 

Thank you.

Laura Hunter

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 CONTACT: Laura Hunter, 235-0281
 DATE: June 21, 1996

 SAN DIEGO COMMUNITY COALITION FILES SUIT
 TO HALT NAVY DREDGING AND NUCLEAR HOMEPORTING 

 Today, a coalition of organizations filed a lawsuit in 
Federal Court against the CVN Homeporting project at Naval Air 
Station, North Island. A complaint was filed against the United 
States Navy and the United States Army Corps of Engineers. The 
complaint alleges violations of the National Environmental Policy, 
the Federal Resource Conservation and Recovery, the Clean Water, 
and the Administrative Procedure Acts.

 Parties to the lawsuit include Environmental Health Coalition, 
Peace Resource Center of San Diego, Southwest Network for Economic and 
Environmental Justice, Military Toxics Project, the San Diego Military 
Toxics Campaign, and Mr. Lee Olsen a leading advocate for recreational 
and sport diving in San Diego. Other groups supporting this action are 
Greenpeace USA and Concerned Citizens of Coronado. The plaintiffs 
are represented by Steve Crandall, an environmental attorney. 

 Specific legal claims include the Navy's use of a purported 
emergency to dispense with rigorous public review and analysis of its 
cleanup plans for contaminated bay sediments and creation of a 
confined disposal facility (CDF) for contaminated sediments 2E At the 
same time, the State and Federal regulatory agencies charged with 
the responsibility for evaluating the CDF have repeatedly admitted 
that there is, even at this late date, no reasonable assurance that 
toxic pollutants will not leach out of the fill and into the Bay. 
Another major issue addressed in the complaint is that dredge spoils 
may cause serious harm to a wide variety of marine organisms because 
they are contaminated. In addition, numerous potential negative 
impacts to the environment that may result from this massive dredge 
and fill operation were left wholly undisclosed or unanalyzed by the 
Navy's Final Environmental Impact Statement. These include impacts 
to the vitally important Point Loma kelp beds and other significant 
marine resources of San Diego Bay.

 Other concerns include: failure to adequately assess viable 
alternatives for the project; failure to analyze the impacts of 
three nuclear carriers; failure to conduct a credible analysis of 
alternatives for the project; and the failure to assess or mitigate 
significant impacts on marine resources.

 The organizations and individuals bringing the suit all share 
a long-standing commitment to protect San Diego's environment and 
public health. They have been raising concerns at every step in the 
administrative process about the environmental review and documentation 
and the negative impacts of the project since it was first announced.
The project will permanently dock up to three nuclear aircraft carriers 
in close proximity to neighboring naval and civilian residences. 
Further, the Navy has proposed to construct a nuclear repair facility 
on landfill next to an active earthquake fault. Concerns about this 
project include: health risks to neighboring and downwind residents 
from on-going and accidental releases of radiation and other toxic 
emissions; negative impacts on San Diego Bay from dredging and 
filling; failure of the Navy to disclose critical information 
about nuclear vessel safety records; failure of the Navy to assess 
and mitigate impacts to natural and recreational underwater 
resources outside of San Diego Bay in areas to be dredged; and, 
impacts of dredging on the Pt. Loma kelp bed. 

 Standing on the shore of San Diego Bay a few hundred feet 
from where the nuclear carriers will be homeported, Laura Hunter, 
Director of the Clean Bay Campaign for Environmental Health 
Coalition said, " This project poses great and unnecessary risks to
neighboring populations. The environmental analysis conducted 
by the Navy for this project was seriously deficient. The impacts 
from this project are unmitigated and will degrade San Diego Bay 
for generations to come. Our action is to halt this project, 
not against the people in the Navy. Navy families and sailors 
deserve protection too."

 Carol Jahnkow, Executive Director of the Peace Resource 
Center stated, "We are deeply concerned over the Navy's plans to 
homeport nuclear powered aircraft carriers in San Diego Bay. We 
believe that the porting of these vessels and the dredging and 
construction necessary for this project will have irrevocable 
negative impacts on our harbor and community. We call on the Navy 
to fully disclose the health and environmental effects of all =
stages of this project and to reevaluate the necessity of the 
project." 

 Communities of color are the focus of concern for the 
Southwest Network of Economic and Environmental Justice (SNEEJ). 
Regional organizer Jose Bravo stated that "People from Barrio 
Logan and other heavily impacted communities catch fish from the 
Bay for subsistence. The dredging of contaminated sediment will 
resuspend toxic materials and cause them to enter the food chain 
and could harm human health. In addition, 87% of the time the 
prevailing winds would blow any radioactive or toxic air emissions 
directly over Barrio Logan and National City, communities 
already shouldering most of San Diego's toxic burden."

 The Military Toxics Project is a national network of 
over 130 grassroots organizations fighting military and 
contractor pollution. In a written statement, Cathy Lemar, 
Director of the Military Toxics Project stated, "The military 
and the Navy are polluting communities all over America. The 
Military Toxics Project opposes the San Diego Homeporting 
project as a gesture of solidarity with citizens all across 
the country who are faced with similar threats to their rights 
to clean air, water, and the right to raise their children in 
a safe and healthy environment."

 Lee Olsen is a sport skin and scuba diver who has been 
diving in and around San Diego for 35 years. Olsen said, "I 
have submitted comments expressing concerns about apparent 
serious inadequacies in the environmental review process. My 
concerns focus primarily on the potential adverse impacts of 
the proposed dredging projects on marine resources in or 
adjacent to the dredge footprint and associated with the 
proposed beach sand disposal areas."

 Violet Devoe, resident of Coronado and member of the 
newly founded Concerned Citizens of Coronado, is concerned about 
the erosion of Coronado's quality of life. "The City Council of 
Coronado has failed to do its duty to protect the residents from 
the negative impacts of this project. We are calling on them 
to join in this suit. This project is not a gift horse, it is 
a Trojan horse and our future is at stake" she said.

 ###

 ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH COALITION
 Contact: Laura Hunter, (619) 235-0281

 Environmental Health Coalition (EHC) is a local San Diego, 
non-profit organization dedicated to the prevention and cleanup of 
toxic pollution threatening our health, our community, and the 
environment. We promote environmental justice, monitor government 
and industry actions that cause pollution, educate the community 
about toxic hazards and toxics use reduction, and empower the 
public to join our cause.

 PEACE RESOURCE CENTER OF SAN DIEGO
 Contact: Carol Jahnkow, (619) 265-0730

 The Peace Resource Center (PRC) is a community clearinghouse 
of information on peace and social justice activities. The PRC 
promotes networking among peace-related organizations, offers 
nonviolent alternatives to conflict resolution and carries out 
programs of peace education.
 Founded in 1980 by six local organizations committed to 
peace, PRC now has over 40 member organizations and churches as 
well as hundreds of individual and family members.

 SOUTHWEST NETWORK FOR
 ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
 Contact: Jose Bravo, (619) 239-8030

 The Southwest Network for Economic and Environmental 
Justice (SNEEJ) is a coalition of 72 community-based grassroots 
organizations, native, labor, and student groups from six 
southwestern and western United States and four Mexican states. 
SNEEJ has regional offices in New Mexico and a local office in 
San Diego.

 MILITARY TOXICS PROJECT 
 Contact: Cathy Hinds Lemar, (207) 743-2541

 The Military Toxics Project is a national network of over 
130 member organizations. The mission of MTP is to unite activists, 
organizations, and communities in campaigns for 1) cleanup of 
military pollution; 2) empowerment of local communities to 
participate in decisions that affect their environment and public 
health; and 3) advancement of the development and =implementation 
of preventative-based solutions to the toxic and radioactive 
pollution caused by United States military activities. 

 MTP's programs revolve around its issue networks and 
campaigns. These networks are comprised of grassroots community 
groups, environmental and peace organizations, veterans, workers, 
and technical advisors working on issues surrounding depleted 
uranium, conventional munitions, base closures and at-large 
issues. At-large issues are those that are facing groups but 
not yet formally organized as a campaign.

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