Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has re-applied for its permit to use Depleted Uranium in explosions out in the open air near San Francisco. In January, the Livermore Laboratory had applied for a permit to blast 350 pounds of radioactive explosives in November, 2006 and the permit had been granted at that time. (http://www.axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/article_23826.shtml) However, on March 6, the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District withdrew this permit as it claimed that the Laboratory did not describe nor quantify that radioactive materials were being used in the blasts. http://tracypress.com/content/view/8185/2/ According to The Tracy Press article (see below), the Livermore Lab has re-applied for a new permit, this time with the intent to explode even larger amounts of DU and other radioactive materials - to the tune of 450 pounds PER BLAST - out into the open air. Livermore, CA is within approximately 50 miles of San Francisco and San Jose, a densely populated area of 10 million people. We are concerned about the public health effects of these toxic and radioactive detonations in such a highly populated area. The use of Depleted Uranium within these large detonations will render these radioactive materials so small as to become an easily inhaled, invisible poison. The explosion and subsequent dispersal of this aerosolized poison gas throughout the winds in an area where so many people live is simply unacceptable. We urge all of you who are similarly concerned to contact the permit office of the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District and express your opposition to the practice of allowing DU and other radioactive materials to be blasted out in the open air in such a densely populated area. All Regions: Tel (559) 230-6000 Fax (559) 230-6061 Seyed Sadredin [EMAIL PROTECTED] Air Pollution Control Officer (APCO)
In addition, you can free to write Letters to the Editor at The Tracy Press at [EMAIL PROTECTED] . We also urge you to please forward this along to everyone you know. This is not just a local issue, as DU experts Chris Busby and Saoirse Morgan in February, 2006 showed in their research http://www.mindfully.org/Nucs/2006/DU-Europe-Contamination1jan06.htm that the DU used in Baghdad in March, 2003 traveled 2,500 miles through the winds to the UK in only 9 days. Just as the Iraqi citizens did nothing to deserve the DU blasts into their air, we Americas don't deserve to be breathing in this toxic radioactive poison gas, either. Cathy Garger and Romi Elnagar Depleted Uranium Study Team Uranium dust John Upton/Tracy Press Wednesday, 11 April 2007 Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories has applied for a permit to blow up as much as 450 pounds of depleted uranium in explosives tests west of Tracy this year. By John Upton Proposed explosives tests upwind from Tracy will release as much as 450 pounds of radioactive depleted uranium dust into the air every year, according to an air pollution permit application filed Friday by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The blasts will annually release other elements into the air, some of which will also be radioactive, the application reads. A permit allowing the blasts was approved with no public scrutiny by the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District in November, but was withdrawn after a community backlash. Regulators in March instructed the weapons lab to reapply for the permit and to provide data that would allow it to analyze the health effects of radiation that would be released by the blasts. The district does not normally regulate radioactive material, and it had not been informed by the lab that the blasts would be radioactive. District spokeswoman Jaime Holt said Wednesday that air pollution controllers had begun to evaluate the labs new permit application. Well be looking to see the extent of their risk assessment, and if we need to conduct one ourselves, we will, Holt said. Holt said there would be an appropriate opportunity for public input before the district approves or rejects the permit based on guidelines in the California Environmental Quality Act. Many of the radioactive elements in the blasts already pollute the soil and water at Site 300, which along Corral Hollow Road is hidden in hills southwest of Tracy. The director of the labs public affairs department said late Tuesday that she was unable to answer technical questions about the application. Nothing has changed from our application last fall, Susan Houghton said. We have simply resubmitted our application. The $1.7 billion a year Department of Energy lab has sought to increase its outdoor test limits from the equivalent of 100 pounds of TNT to 350 pounds, and to increase its annual testing amount eight-fold to 8,000 pounds in support of homeland security and national defense activities, according to the permit application. Houghton and other lab representatives in January told the Tracy City Council that the lab has currently planned just three of the 30 blasts in the 350-pound range that would be allowed by the permit in the coming 18 months. To reach reporter John Upton, call 830-4274 or e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it http://tracypress.com/content/view/8695/2/ --------------------------------- Finding fabulous fares is fun. Let Yahoo! FareChase search your favorite travel sites to find flight and hotel bargains. 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