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BLUE RIDGE ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE LEAGUE
PO Box 88 ~
Glendale Springs, North Carolina 28629 ~ Phone
(336) 982-2691 ~ Fax (336) 982-2954 ~ Email:
BREDL@skybest.com
PRESS
RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
March 28, 2005
CONTACT:
Louis Zeller (704) 756-7550 cell
(336) 982-2691 office
Bobbie Paul (404) 524-5999
Charles Utley (706) 772-5558
Glenn Carroll (404) 378-4263
Citizens
Groups Advise SRS Citizens Advisory Board
Sunshine Campaign Will Allow Public To Have Say
Today at a press
conference in North Augusta, grassroots citizens
groups announced a “Sunshine Campaign”
to open up the process of communication between
the Department of Energy, the SRS Citizens
Advisory Board and the general public. The
pressing issue was the risk to public health from
liquid high-level radioactive waste stored in
steel tanks at the old Savannah River bomb plant
and the Department of Energy's proposal to
accelerate work by leaving some wastes in the
ground. Citizens group representatives made a
series of recommendations opposing this plan.
Louis Zeller, campaign coordinator for the Blue
Ridge Environmental Defense League, announcing
the Sunshine Campaign said, “For too long
DOE has told communities affected by high-level
radioactive waste what the issues are; this is
backwards. The DOE should be going to local
residents and asking what issues are important to
them.” He said the Sunshine Campaign would
continue to bring grassroots recommendations to
the Citizens Advisory Board.
Bobbie Paul of Atlanta WAND talked about the fact
that two high-level radioactive waste tanks have
been closed without public involvement. She said,
"We want nothing short of an open,
transparent, public review process on all
high-level nuclear waste issues at SRS."
Charles Utley, BREDL’s community organizer
for the Central Savannah River Area, said,
“The people in the affected community must
be heard. Not one more waste tank should be
closed without first holding public hearings in
North Augusta, Augusta, and Savannah.”
Louis Zeller presented line item details from
Congressional budgets which showed that requests
for the tank cleanup program before and after an
amendment allowing high-level radioactive waste
to remain in South Carolina decreased only $6
million over a thirty year period. Zeller said,
“The promised saving of $16 billion is not
there. The people of South Carolina have the
right to ask: What will we get in return for
millions of gallons of dangerous radioactive
waste?”
Glenn Carroll, of Georgians Against Nuclear
Energy, is concerned about the lack of
coordination by DOE on the plutonium fuel
program. “They want to build a multi-billion
dollar MOX factory to safeguard 34 tons of
plutonium and they haven’t even figured out
how they will coordinate security,” said Ms.
Carroll. “They need to get their act
together.”
In a written statement, Joe Whetstone of
Bluffton, SC addressed contamination of the
Savannah River and the impacts on workers at the
Savannah River Site and future generations living
downstream. He said that citizen’s rights to
safe drinking continue to be threatened by the
Department of Energy’s plans for disposing
high-level radioactive waste.
Today’s Sunshine Campaign initiative is the
product of local and regional groups who are
banding together to open up the process of
communication between the SRS-CAB and the general
public. Participants include Blue Ridge
Environmental Defense League, Carolina Peace
Resource Project, Citizens for Environmental
Justice, Georgians Against Nuclear Energy,
Physicians for Social Responsibility, the SC
Sierra Club, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy,
and Women’s Action for New Directions. They
plan to take their recommendations to
Tuesday’s meeting of the SRS Citizens
Advisory Board.
-end-
MORE INFO:
BREDL Statement to
the Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board
Savannah
River Site
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