Kanab residents to rally against blast

They fear Nevada test would raise tainted soil

KANAB — Karen Tobin had never heard of the term "downwinder" before moving to Kanab from Connecticut six months ago.

"I moved here for my dream job at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary," said Tobin, a 31-year-old who now is the sanctuary's caretaker for 20 shelter cats. "I found out in May about the Nevada Test Site, and it was very scary to read about downwinders and the fact that the southern Utah area was ground zero for these nuclear tests."

Downwinder is a term used to describe people who lived downwind from hundreds of nuclear tests conducted by the federal government between 1951 and 1992 at the Nevada Test Site. Thousands of downwinders eventually contracted specific forms of cancer from exposure to the fallout.

Tobin said her concerns were heightened after reading about the federal government's plan to detonate a massive 700-ton conventional bomb called Divine Strake at the test site. Although that test was placed on indefinite hold May 26 until questions about its safety are answered, Tobin said she believes the test should be scrapped altogether.

"It's very upsetting to read about the families who were affected by past nuclear tests at the Nevada Test Site, and I'm sure the soil there is contaminated," she said. "This proposed explosion was going to disturb the soil, and I didn't want to be directly downwind of those contaminants."

Tobin is spearheading an informal rally on Saturday at the Kanab City Library from 1 to 3 p.m. for residents to discuss their concerns about Divine Strake. Two St. George downwinders, Michele Thomas and Michelle Bird, are scheduled to share their personal stories. A petition to stop the blast will be available for signatures.

"I was inspired by the rally held in St. George last month, and I decided to have my own rally," Tobin said. "The more attention this gets, the better. I hope people educate themselves about Divine Strake, too. I just don't think it's necessary."

Helene Stone, who helped organize the St. George rally, said 100 people signed a petition that day against the proposed Divine Strake test. Several hundred more signed petitions in the following weeks.

"We are continuing the effort and are gathering more signatures," said Stone, who delivered the petitions with more than 600 signatures to the St. George offices of Republican Sens. Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennett.

The decision by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency to halt its plans for Divine Strake came on the heels of public and political pressure to take another look at possible health risks from the blast. Both open-air and underground nuclear tests were carried out in the vicinity of the Divine Strake location, and critics contend the site is contaminated.

Public hearings will be held in St. George and Salt Lake City once the agency issues its revised environmental assessment on the proposed test, Hatch spokesman Peter Carr said on Thursday.

"Senator Hatch has been pressing for some environmental data that would back up the claims they are making that this will be safe, and he wants that information, along with the revised assessment, to be made public before the meetings," Carr said.

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E-mail: nperkinsi@desnews.com

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