The following article highlights the work of ANA member group Healing Ourselves and Mother Earth, including a quote from the president of our Board of Directors, John Hadder.
Sep. 6, 2011
By Launce Rake
From The Nevada View
Continued nuclear, biological and conventional weapons testing? Renewable energy experiments and commercial solar power? Expanded transport, burial and storage of radioactive waste?
These are all potential outcomes from a review and re-set of activities at the federal Nevada Test Site, now formally known as the Nevada National Security Site.
Test Site Vision, a project of Healing Ourselves & Mother Earth, a national organization working to make information on the nuclear agency open to the general public, is encouraging public participation in the Test Site’s Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement.
The relationship of the Test Site to residents of Nevada, Utah and California, and Native American communities is both complex and profound. The Test Site has, for six decades, been the site for much of the U.S. testing of weapons of all sorts, but particularly nuclear weapons in above and below-ground explosions. The testing has contaminated groundwater aquifers and sparked environmental and health concerns. Today the mission of the Test Site, operated by the federal departments of Energy and Defense, has transitioned to a broader national security mandate. Additionally, it has been identified as a possible site for renewable energy research and commercial solar power generation. The Test Site is nearly 1,400 square miles and just 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas on land that is claimed by indigenous Shoshone Indians.
In September, the federal government will hold a series of meetings throughout the region to solicit public comment – and identify public priorities – for the Test Site environmental impact statement.
“This process will play a major role in determining the direction of Test Site development for at least the next decade,” said John Hadder, a Nevada resident who is working with Test Site Vision to encourage public participation. “Our families, the environment and Nevada’s economy will be affected by the outcome of the environmental impact review.”
Members of the public can learn more and speak on the Test Site at public hearings, online or in written comments until Oct. 27.
Las Vegas: Tuesday, Sept 20, 5-8 p.m. Cashman Center, 850 Las Vegas Blvd.; Pahrump: Wednesday, Sept 21, 5-8 p.m. Pahrump Nugget, 681 South Hwy. 160; St. George, UT: Thursday, Sept 22, 5-8 p.m. Courtyard by Marriott, 185 South 1470 East; Tonopah: Tuesday, Sept 27, 5-8 p.m. Convention Center, 301 Brougher Ave.Carson City: Wednesday, Sept 28, 5-8 p.m. Carson Nugget, 507 North Carson.
For more information: in Las Vegas, call (702) 917-7541 or (702) 646-4814; in Reno, call (775) 348-1986. Read more about the Test Site and the Environmental Impact Statement at www.h-o-m-e.org or on Facebook.com/HOME.MotherEarth.