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Nuke Notes Revisited
I'm a Downwinder!
by Tori Woodard
| Save Ward Valley 107 F Street Needles CA 92363 Phone: (760) 326-6267 Fax: (760) 326-6268 E-mail:swv1@ctaz.com |
I HAD A NASTY SURPRISE THIS SUMMER: I'm a downwinder. Yep, I grew up in a county that got zapped with radioactive fallout from the atmospheric testing of atomic bombs at the Nevada Test Site. Children in these counties who drank local milk in the '50s are at risk for thyroid cancer, probably caused by radioactive iodine-131 in the milk.
In early August 1997 the National Cancer Institute released their findings
from a 14-year federally-sponsored study. According to the Associated Press,
the hot spot areas are:
 |
STATE | AREA |
|
ARKANSAS | Benton, Washington, Madison, Baxter, Fulton, Sharp, Jackson, and Independence counties. |
|
COLORADO | Archuleta, Conejos, Hinsdale, Saguache, and Gunnison counties |
|
IDAHO | Gem County |
|
IOWA | Three counties south of Des Moines in south-central Iowa |
|
KANSAS | Most of the state |
|
MISSOURI | Central Missouri, including parts of the Ozarks and areas above St. Louis |
|
MONTANA | Much of western Montana, and Petroleum County in the east |
|
NEBRASKA | Cherry, Frontier, Lincoln, and Gosper counties |
|
NEVADA | Nye and Lincoln counties |
|
SOUTH DAKOTA | Haakon County and part of Stanley County |
|
UTAH | Kane, Garfield, Utah, Wasatch, Millard and Washington counties |
|
WYOMING | South-Central Wyoming |
The highest average exposure in the hot spot counties - 16 rads for adults and up to 160 rads for children - far exceeds the 10-rad level at which the government recommends people be monitored by a doctor. The exposure rate for children is higher than the adult rate because radioactive iodine was spread largely through contaminated milk, and children tend to drink more milk than adults.
I grew up on a ranch in Saguache County, Colorado. Our milk cows ate local grass and hay that presumably was contaminated with iodine-131. We used a lot of milk and cream. My mother made our own butter and cheese from it too. Sure tasted good. Turns out it wasn't so hot. Or maybe it was too hot!
Thanks, Uncle Sam.
Ward Valley action coming up
As Free Press readers know, for several years now I have been obsessed with protecting Ward Valley, California, from a proposed radioactive waste dump. It looks like a show-down at the site is in our near future.
Both the federal government and the State of California plan to test for tritium in Ward Valley this fall. The Ward Valley Coalition has agreed to resist any further desecration of the land, which is sacred to local Native Americans. Most likely the testing will involve disturbance of the land; if so, we will use nonviolent actions to try to stop it.
The Fort Mojave Indian Tribe asked for an action training workshop, so we are setting one up for Saturday, October 4. It is open to the public, so come on down! In the morning speakers from the Quechan Indian Nation, the Coastal Band of Chumash, the Torres-Martinez Cahuillas, the United Farm Workers, and the Indigenous Environmental Network will tell stories of past successful nonviolent campaigns. In the afternoon role-plays will teach participants how to plan safe and effective actions. The training will be held on the Fort Mojave Indian Reservation adjacent to Needles, California.
On Sunday, October 5, we will meet in Ward Valley, walk the site, and plan logistics for direct action.
We don't yet know when government testing for tritium will take place. On the two days before it begins, Save Ward Valley and the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe will sponsor a 2-day action training camp. There participants will take basic nonviolence training and learn:
People who come to the action training camp will form into affinity groups and choose spokespersons to attend our planning council meetings. The planning council will coordinate logistics and decide on strategies and guidelines.
The best way to know when there's an action in Ward Valley is to join our Emergency Response Network. If you would like to do that, or if you want more information about the action trainings or our campaign, contact Save Ward Valley at (760) 326-6267. We have a new e-mail address: swv1@ctaz.com
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