From Deseret News archives:
Anti-blast rally in St. George
Protesters to speak out against 'Divine Strake' Saturday
"We feel like we need to put some fire under people," said St. George resident Hughette Nordin, who is organizing the protest planned at Bluff Street Park, 600 N. Bluff Street, from 8 a.m. to noon. "We want people to really know what's going on."
The grass-roots effort is focused on stopping "Divine Strake," a 700-ton ammonium-nitrate and fuel-oil explosive to be detonated June 23 over an existing tunnel complex at the Nevada Test Site, about 135 miles southwest of St. George.
The blast had been scheduled for June 2, but the date was pushed back pending a lawsuit filed by the Western Shoshone Indian Tribe and others over concerns that the explosion will disturb contaminants left over from previous nuclear tests. Hundreds of nuclear tests were conducted about eight miles west of the proposed blast site between 1950 and 1992.
Thousands of people now suffering from various cancers say their health problems stem from radiation released by those nuclear tests. The federal government's Radiation Compen- sation Exposure Act provides a one-time settlement from $50,000 to $100,000 to downwinders who qualify under the program's guidelines.
Helene Stone, another St. George resident involved in the planned protest, moved to St. George from Ventura, Calif., in 2001. "I wouldn't have moved here if I'd known that resumption of these tests was a possibility," she said.
The National Nuclear Security Administration's Nevada Site Office and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, in a report released Tuesday, said the detonation of Divine Strake is perfectly safe and should go forward.
"Divine Strake is a one-time experiment and most of the impacts are expected to be brief and transient in nature, and will not result in significant impacts to the environment or to human health or safety," the report said.
The explosive material will be placed in a charge hole about 32 feet in diameter and 36 feet deep above a limestone tunnel complex. High-speed cameras will be installed to record damage to the tunnel, while other equipment will measure and record ground motion and other effects of the blast.
Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman last month spoke out against the testing, and repeated his opposition to the blast on Thursday through his spokesman, Mike Mower.
"We feel that testing shouldn't take place when we are downwind," said Mower. "Utahns have suffered generations of adverse effects due to prior testing in Nevada."
Saturday's protest is intended to educate people about past nuclear tests conducted at the Nevada Test Site and to rally support against further weapons tests. Stone said organizers would ask those attending the rally to urge Utah Sens. Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennett to stop Divine Strake.
"Sen. Hatch said he can stop these tests, so why doesn't he?" Stone said. "We have enough information to know that this test is unnecessary. Now is the time to stand up against it. We hope our senators are listening."
E-mail: nperkins@desnews.com
