draft letter re B61-11 test in Alaska

[acat@akcf.org]

Alaska Community Action on Toxics
135 Christensen Drive
Anchorage, Alaska 99501
(907) 222-7714 (phone); (907) 222-7715
acat@akcf.org

Dear Friends,
Alaska Community Action on Toxics has drafted a letter opposing the Air
Forceetrating nuclear bomb. We are gravely concerned about the national
and international implications of the entry of this new generation of
nuclear weapon into the U.S. nuclear arsenal in a time when your
leadership is so important in achieving nuclear disarmament. We believe
that the testing and potential certification of the B61-11 weapon
violates the spirit and intent of the Comprehensive Test Ban
Treaty and international efforts to achieve nuclear disarmament.

The Air Force proposes to use up to 165 pounds of depleted uranium (DU) in
each of the two B61-11 bombs. We ask that you initiate international efforts
to ban the use of depleted uranium weaponry. From uranium mining to the
manufacture and deployment of depleted uranium weapons, DU is destructive to
the environment and human health. Exposure to depleted uranium during the
Gulf War is causing serious health problems for thousands of our own
soldiers, as well as the Iraqi people.

For this specific test of the B61-11 weapon, the Air Force Environmental
Assessment (EA) is not honest nor scientifically sound in its presentation
of the facts concerning depleted uranium (see attached critique of the EA by
physicist Leonard Dietz). Depleted uranium is both a radiological and toxic
hazard. As you may know, "depleted uranium" is a misleading term referring
to the byproduct of uranium processing that removes much of the fissionable
isotope uranium-235. The remaining uranium-238 has a half-life of 4 billion
years and emits alpha radiation. Minute quantities of alpha-emitting
substances, if ingested or inhaled, can cause lung cancer. Uranium is highly
toxic and can cause irreparable kidney damage and other health problems. The
Air Force did not acknowledge that DU is also a source of beta and gamma
radiation. We simply cannot accept Air Force assurances of safety when
precious habitat, fish and wildlife, subsistence resources, and human health
and safety are at risk.

Mr. President, on April 29, 1994, you issued an Executive Memorandum which
directs that "as executive departments and agencies undertake activities
affecting Native American tribal rights or trust resources, such activities
should be implemented in a knowledgeable, sensitive manner respectful of
tribal sovereignty." The Air Force has failed to consult with tribal
governments in the manner in which you directed, on a
government-to-government basis.

Further, the Air Force proposed action violates your Executive Order 12898
on environmental justice that directs that: "Each federal agency shall make
achieving environmental justice part of its mission by identifying and
addressing, as appropriate, disproportionately high and adverse human health
or environmental effects of its programs, policies, and activities on
minority populations and low income populations" The proposed test
threatens the health and safety of local tribes who depend on subsistence
resources in the area and violates the sanctity of the land and water.

We are writing to you today because we have gotten no response to our
concerns and requests for a full Environmental Impact Statement from the Air
Force. We believe the national and international implications of this test
require that you cancel this test and subsequent certification of the B61-11
weapon.

Sincerely,

[signers]

cc Secretary of Defense William Cohen
 Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force Thomas McCall, Jr.
 Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt
 Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Kevin Gover
 Chair, Council on Environmental Quality, Kathleen McGinty
 Secretary of Energy Federico Peqa
 Senator Ted Stevens
 Senator Frank Murkowski
 Governor Tony Knowles

Pamela K. Miller
Alaska Community Action on Toxics
135 Christensen Drive
Anchorage, Alaska 99501
(907) 222-7714 Phone
(907) 222-7715 Fax

--
Grace Potorti
Military Airspace Director
PO Box 60036
Reno NV, 89506

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