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Last Revised: Feb. 22, 1997
THE BATTLE FOR WARD VALLEY
WHAT'S NEW IN 1997:
by Tori Woodard
The battle over Ward Valley heated up as we moved into 1997. Local Native Nations, supported by the American Indian Movement, United Farm Workers, Mothers of East L.A., Greenpeace, BAN Waste Coalition, and other members of the Ward Valley Coalition, blocked the road into Ward Valley on January 29, 1997, when the Department of Energy tried to conduct a tour of the proposed nuclear waste dump site.
Two weeks later, runners from the Quechan and Cocopah Nations followed traditional running trails from Mexico up the Colorado River to Ward Valley. After singing traditional songs at the permanent protest camp in Ward Valley, the participants discussed the importance of running north to this land from whence their ancestors migrated south.
The Cocopah, Quechan and Mojave people believe they originated from Spirit Mountain, which overlooks Ward Valley. The Fort Mojave, Chemehuevi, Quechan, Cocopah, and Colorado River Indian Tribes formed the Colorado River Native Nations Alliance in July 1995 in order to fight the proposed dump project.
Meanwhile, on January 31, 1997, the California Department of Health Services (DHS) and U.S. Ecology (the company licensed to operate the dump) filed suit against the federal Department of the Interior (DOI). The suit seeks to halt the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) that DOI started one year ago, and force the transfer of 1,000 acres of federal land in Ward Valley to the State of California for construction of the dump.
As part of the SEIS, DOI would have Lawrence Livermore Laboratories conduct tritium testing to determine whether the proposed Ward Valley dump would leak like its sister dump near Beatty, Nevada. The suit seeks to prevent those tests. On January 31, Governor Wilson asked DOI Secretary Bruce Babbitt to remove protestors from the site so that DHS can conduct the tritium tests itself and move the dump project forward quickly.
At our annual conference the next day, the Ward Valley Coalition agreed to activate our Emergency Response Network to defend Ward Valley with nonviolent actions if anyone tries to evict the camp. Local Native Americans feel strongly about being in the forefront of any such action.
At a February 6 press conference in Sacramento, the Colorado River Native Nations Alliance announced that they filed an administrative complaint with DOI under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. The complaint contends that putting a dump on land held sacred by Native Nations is a discriminatory act.
March 5: a rally for Ward Valley from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Federal Building, 11000 Wilshire Boulevard (at Veteran), Los Angeles. Contact (714) 649-2641 or (310) 395- 2388.
March 22: an Atomic Butterfly rally for Ward Valley from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Federal Building, 450 Golden Gate, San Francisco. Contact (818) 218-4770 or (619) 326-6267. April 25-27: a Spring Gathering in Ward Valley. The weekend will be packed with informational workshops, strategy sessions, and traditional Native American spiritual song and dance. The Gathering will run on solar power and will include a program for children and youth. Contact (415) 752-8678, (714) 547-6282, or (619) 326-6267.
It is very important that this year's Spring Gathering be our largest ever. We now have the basis to demand that President Clinton cancel this irresponsible dump project immediately. Not only is it on sacred land; not only is it certain to leak. The agency responsible for it (DHS) and the company that would operate it (U.S. Ecology) are now trying to prevent independent studies of these and other important concerns.
To stay on top of this quickly-changing campaign, ask for a sample copy of
the Save Ward Valley newsletter.
Call: (619) 326-6267.
E-mail:
savewardvalley@bbs.rippers.com
.
Write: 107 F Street, Needles CA 92363.
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