Uranium-impacted Communities Call for No Nukes!

Today, in commemoration of the 69th anniversary of the US dropping an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, WRL lifts up the voices of uranium-impacted communities through the 2012 Nuclear Free Zone Declaration from Multicultural Alliance for a Safe Environment (MASE).

Since the boom of nuclearism in the 1950s, indigenous communities have resisted the contamination of their land by US government collaborations with uranium mining companies. Indigenous led coalitions like MASE have been organizing their communities in the US Southwest to hold government agencies and companies accountable, demanding the clean up of the toxic legacy of uranium mining that has lead to a host of life-threatening health problems for people living near former mining sites. They are also engaged in an ongoing struggle to stop new mining operations on land that has already been poisoned by nuclearism. On October 20, 2012, with support from WRL, MASE adopted a Nuclear Free Zone Declaration, asserting the sovereignty of people’s rights to safe drinking water and to be free from exposure to hazardous and toxic substances.

NUCLEAR FREE ZONE DECLARATION for Northwest New Mexico/Grants Uranium Belt

Uranium mining and milling activities in the Grants Uranium Belt of New Mexico form a critical link in the nuclear fuel chain that supplies nuclear power plants and nuclear weapons development. Radioactivity is released at every stage in the nuclear fuel chain, including uranium mining and milling.

The 1872 Mining Act, originally created to help small miners has become a form of corporate welfare, and has turned cultural landscapes throughout the United States into National Sacrifice Areas, where local communities have been disregarded and the need for ongoing reclamation has resulted in a legacy of contaminated air, water and soil.

Legacy contamination from historic mining and milling in the Grants Mining District has not been completely assessed, nor has the region has been restored to pre-mining and milling conditions.

Whereas:

Uranium legacy contamination poisons our water, land, and lives through ongoing radioactive releases that will continue to plague our cultural landscape and future generations,

There are better job opportunities for local populations in cleaning up the existing legacy of contamination and exploring alternative energy economies,

A 2011 National Academy of Science report made it clear that there is no “safe level” of human exposure to radiation,

Past and present generations residing in the Grants Mining District have been disproportionately affected by uranium mining and milling activities that went unregulated for at least two decades,
Aquifers and waterways contaminated by uranium mining and milling can never be fully restored to pre-mining and milling conditions,

The continued removal of uranium from regional aquifers will result in a permanent loss of water from these deep water sources,

Renewed uranium mining in the Grants Uranium Belt will jeopardize the public health, natural ecosystems, and traditional cultural landscapes by further degrading our air and water quality,
The toxic waste generated from new uranium mining and milling will create an additional legacy for future generations,

Uranium mining violates our basic human rights to a clean and usable water supply, endangers our many traditional cultures, the public health, and interferes with the natural cycles of Earth and Water.

We are committed to protect and restore our shared water resources that are so critical to our continued survival in an arid desert environment, our quality of life, and multi-cultural preservation,

Therefore:

We, the undersigned, join a growing global movement to limit the use of nuclear power and transform National Sacrifice Areas into Nuclear Free Zones.

We endorse the development of renewable energy sources that sustain- not destroy- our public lands, multi-cultural landscapes, and natural ecosystems.

We will provide direction to our lawmakers and private industry to invest in renewable, clean energy that conserves and protects our forests, watersheds and cultures.

We further encourage investment and job creation in the cleanup of the historic uranium legacy contamination that still exists within our shared watersheds.

We further urge all federal and state regulatory agencies to promote the right to a clean, sustainable water sources within their jurisdictions as an element of their public trust to further the best interests of the public welfare, including those poor, minority populations already overburdened by legacy contamination from uranium mining and milling in the Grants Mining District.

We urge the United States Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and New Mexico Mining and Minerals Division not to approve any new mining plans of operation on public lands in New Mexico until the complete reclamation of ground water, soil, and air contamination from historic uranium mining in the Grants Mining District is fully achieved.

In Conclusion,

We, the undersigned, pledge to work in solidarity with all people who wish to break free of their nuclear fuel chains and dependency on non-renewable, polluting sources of energy and move towards the development of renewable and sustainable energy that does not threaten the public health, public water supplies, or our special landscapes.

 

Want to support the Navajo movement for creating a Nuke-free nation?

With thanks to Earth People’s Blog for the declaration text!

 

Protest nuclear warhead test launch tomorrow!

Protest September 14, 11:55 pm (midnight) missile launch at Vandenberg Air Force Base:

NOTE 09/14/10: THIS LAUNCH AND PROTEST HAVE BEEN CANCELED— More info to come!

Join the protest of the test launch of a Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) thermo-nuclear warhead delivery system from Vandenberg Air Force Base Kwajalein atoll in the Marshall Islands.

Uphold the good faith of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty!

Come to the front gate of Vandenberg Space Command / Air Force Base (across from Vandenberg Middle School, six miles north of Lompoc on Highway 1 in Santa Barbara County, CA )

See  www.vandenbergwitness.org or  www.macgregoreddy.com or call 831 206 5043 for details, or email macgregoreddy@gmail.com

Sponsored by

War Resisters League

United for Peace and Justice: Disarmament Working Group,

Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom,

Western State Legal Foundation,

Nevada Desert Experience and many others.

From Nor. Cal. Charter bus !  Comfortable Green Tortoise  round trip available from Oakland with stops in San Jose and Salinas down and back.

Students, you can sleep on the bus!

Also check out Democracy Now’s coverage of the 14 antiwar activists who held a ten-day vigil outside of the Creech Air Force base in Indian Springs, Nevada last year:

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/9/13/activists_go_on_trial_in_nevada

For  more info on the pre-trial rally and support for those going to trial, contact WRL member Jim Haber at 415-828-2506 or read about it on the website of Nevada Desert Experience or Voices for Creative Nonviolence.

Uranium Mining is a Sham!

“Uranium Mining is a Sham!” is one of the chants sung by over 100 anti-nuclear and anti-mining activists gathered together at the Los Alamos national laboratory, the birthplace of the nuclear bomb.

WRL organizers have just returned home from New Mexico after spending time at the Disarmament Summer encampment in Chimayo, New Mexico, organized by the youth-led anti-nuclear network Think Outside the Bomb, along with TEWA Women United, the Indigenous Uranium Forum, and the Multicultural Alliance for  Safe Environments.  Eight activists were arrested during a sit-in in front of the doors to the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research (CMR) building, the home of nuclear weapons planning.

At the action at the Los Alamos lab, activists together carried a bright blue cloth deemed “the living river” as we entered the ground of the lab, symbolizing the power of water as a life-giving force and the destruction of the nuclear fuel cycle of many of our waters. For the group of us who agreed before the march to do a direct action on the grounds of the lab, we were inspired to see 120 people behind us in our symbolic march on paved-over Native land towards the CMR building.

For people who don’t know much about the current status of the global nuclear arms race and have only heard tales of the Obama administration focusing on disarmament, particularly as it pertains to those “dangerous” countries of Central and South Asia, know this: the Obama administration’s talk about disarmament is a sham. Activists on the ground have been calling the U.S. government’s strategic shifts towards more “advanced” nuclear weapons capabilities and increased federal investment in nuclear power contracts a “nuclear renaissance,” as bomb-making remains front-and-center of our strategy for national defense and global domination.

The U.S. government has proposed the largest nuclear weapons budget ever for fiscal year 2011, which includes plans for the creation of “Prompt Global Strike” a conventional weapon system that, like nuclear weapons, could strike anywhere in the world within a hour through the use of intercontinental ballistic missiles.

In addition, the federal government has pledged $54 billion in loan guarantees for new nuclear power facilities, which has direct affects on communities that are targeted for their construction. The nuclear fuel cycle results in some of the most serious health and environmental impacts the world has known.  People living in Albuquerque drink purified and bottled water because what comes out of the tap is laced with plutonium. Communities near the test sites, processing plants, and uranium mines are living with the long-term effects of exposure to uranium and plutonium, which includes cancer, birth defects, and many chronic health problems.

After a 30 year hiatus, the uranium industry has now applied to open or re-open 22 New Mexican mines on Native land, many on sacred sites, in direct opposition to a Navajo ban on mining operations. There are still hundreds of abandoned uranium mines in New Mexico, largely located on Navajo and Pueblo lands, and state and federal agencies are only now beginning to inventory those mines and begin the cleanup process. We must stop the cycle of destruction of uranium mining now before contracts are given to new companies and end the disastrous effects of the nuclear fuel cycle as the Obama administration moves forward with its “nuclear renaissance.”

Hiroshima/Nagasaki 65th Anniversary Weekend

This weekend is the 65th anniversary of  the US’s atomic bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This devastating action caused the deaths of over 200,000 civilians and has left long term environmental and health hazards on the people in these regions.

As the nuclear clock is ticking once again, we join in solidarity to work for an anti-nuclear world.

For those in NYC this weekend, the WRL NYC Local is organizing a Hiroshima/Nagasaki exhibit on Saturday August 7th from 12pm-5pm in Tompkins Square Park.

Please join us to remember this tragic event and to work together to make sure that this never happens again!

Register NOW! for Resistance for a Nuclear Free Future

RESISTANCE FOR A NUCLEAR-FREE FUTURE

PLEASE REGISTER TODAY!

RESISTANCE FOR A NUCLEAR-FREE FUTURE

PLEASE REGISTER TODAY!

We need to provide Maryville College with a solid number to plan space and meals.

Don’t miss this summer’s anti-nuclear resistance gathering to mark the 30th anniversaries of the Nuclear Resister, Nukewatch and the Plowshares Eight!

At a critical time in the movement for a nuclear-free future, we are coming together to increase awareness and action around nuclear issues, and create an opportunity for new and seasoned activists to meet and strategize for a nuclear-free future!

Yes, there’s still time to register for the July 3-5 Resistance for a Nuclear-Free Future gathering at Maryville College and Y-12 nuclear weapons complex, Tennessee, organized by the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, Nukewatch and the Nuclear Resister!

Registration deadline is June 11 to guarantee a dorm room and meals at Maryville College! Click here for more information, or call Felice or Jack at 520-323-8697 or Bonnie or John at 715-472-4185.

NETWORKING**NONVIOLENCE TRAINING**TALKS**STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE**MUSIC** NONVIOLENT PROTEST AND ACTION

AT THE Y-12 NUCLEAR WEAPONS COMPLEX

WORKSHOPS ON:

The Plowshares Movement; Blockading; Supporting Activists in Prison; Songs to Sing at Actions and in Jail; International Law, Resistance and Nuclear Weapons; Representing Yourself in Court; Anti-war Resistance; Think Outside the Bomb; War Tax Resistance; Doing Time; Nuclear Power; Nuclear Weapons; Nuclear Waste; Depleted Uranium; New Bombplex; Nukes in Space.

This gathering is for people who advocate, practice and/or support nonviolent direct action, civil resistance and civil disobedience in the struggle to stop nuclear power and abolish nuclear weapons.

War Resisters League NPT Actions Video

In response to the NPT conference being held at the United Nations in New York City, War Resisters League mobilized with activists from around the world to call for nuclear abolition, beginning with US disarmament. Members of the WRL joined with thousands of international anti-nuclear activists to march from Times Square to the UN headquarters on the eve of the march. On the morning of the first day of NPT talks, WRL members carried out a direct action in Grand Central Station, in which 22 peaceful protesters were arrested by police.

Watch this short film with interviews from various participants to find out more!

NYC: Join WRL at Union Square for Nuclear Abolition Day on Saturday!

This Saturday is Nuclear Abolition Day — a global day of action! We’re holding an action in Union Square (not Times Square, as originally advertised) at 1.00PM. We hope you can make it! Pleasebring banners and friends!

“On June 5, 2010, thousands of people across the world will take part in coordinated local events to mark Nuclear Abolition Day. Our message is simple: it’s time for governments to begin negotiating a Nuclear Weapons Convention to ban all nuclear weapons.”

http://www.nuclearabolition.org/

Navajo Activists Protest Uranium Mining Plans

Nuclear-power officials vow to mine uranium “the right way”

By Bruce Finley
The Denver Post

Uranium-mining leaders and federal regulators poised to fuel a resurgent nuclear power industry gathered in Denver on Wednesday, vowing to do a better job of protecting the environment but drawing demonstrators nonetheless.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials indicated they’re expecting applications for uranium projects at 25 sites by 2013, along with applications to establish 28 new nuclear power plants.

The United States now imports 95 percent of the uranium used at existing nuclear power plants, said Katie Sweeney, general counsel for the National Mining Association, which is running the conference in Denver. Foreign suppliers include Australia, Canada, Kazakhstan and Russia.

“Do we want to rely on ourselves? Or do we want to rely on foreign sources?” Sweeney said. The smartest course, she said, is for domestic uranium producers to “do it right. Mine uranium the right way. It can be done.”

Nuclear plants currently generate 20 percent of the electricity U.S. residents use. Growing concern over climate change has propelled new interest in nuclear energy, which produces no carbon dioxide. Proponents tout nuclear power as a clean alternative to coal-fired plants — an available method that could help reduce human impact on the atmosphere.

But outside the conference Wednesday, American Indian demonstrators with drums and signs demanded a halt to all new uranium mining on Navajo land, where federal regulators have permitted several projects.

“Our Navajo communities rely on the groundwater for everything. These new projects could contaminate the source of drinking water for 15,000 Navajo community members,” said Nadine Padilla of the Multicultural Alliance for Safe Environments. “Our communities are still living with the legacy of contamination from past uranium mining.”

Uranium companies and regulators “need to deal with the legacy of past contamination before we would even consider new mining,” she said.

Federal regulators say their oversight is stricter now than during the Cold War.

The agencies responsible for ensuring the safety of uranium operations are structurally different from the Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service, the agency responsible for offshore oil drilling that now is being dismantled, NRC spokesman Dave McIntyre said. “We do not lease property. We do not profit from Recovery Act activities.”

If more uranium is mined and processed, “there will certainly be a market for it — wherever it comes from,” McIntyre said.

Federal regulators believe uranium can be mined and milled without hurting people and the environment, he said. “It’s up to the industry to decide if they want to do it.” he said. “. . . I don’t think industry ever likes the regulatory scheme 100 percent, but they have to live with it.”

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_15170096?source=email

Uranium Impact Assessment Program: http://sric.org/uranium/index.html

Indypendent Article on May 3!

22 Arrested Declaring Grand Central Station a Nuclear Weapons-Free Zone

May 3, 2010 | Posted in Ellen Davidson , IndyBlog | Email this article

War Resisters League’s Liz Roberts being taken into custody at Grand Central Station May 3. Photo by Ellen Davidson

By Ellen Davidson

Twenty-two activists were arrested May 3 at Grand Central Station for dropping banners off the balconies of the main hall and staging a die-in.

Organized by the War Resisters League, the action declared Grand Central a nuclear weapons-free zone and called for disarmament here in the United States first. Wearing t-shirts that said “No Nukes Begin with U.S.,” the protesters handed out thousands of leaflets to rush-hour commuters and circled the information booth with a picket with large signs shaped like skulls with the names of all the nuclear-armed nations. Participants came from around the country and the world; they were in New York for actions relating to the Nuclear Non-Profileration Review Conference.

Next Left Notes Article on May 3

24 Arrested At Grand Central Die-In

by Tom Keough – May 4, 2010 | News

War Resisters League activist Ruth Benn is arrested
(Photo: Tom Keough / NLN)

NEW YORK — May 3, 2010. To bring a stronger cry against the threats from nuclear weapons at this time of the UN Special Session on Disarmament there was a protest inside of the main lobby of Grand Central Station during Monday’s rush hour.

The action was organized by the War Resisters League and their friends from the Catholic Peace Fellowship, The Catholic Worker and others. Protesters carried death heads with the names of the deadly nuclear weapons states, the US, Russia, China, the UK, France, Pakistan, India, Israel, and North Korea.