Nevada blast (Divine Strake) delay a victory, critics say

[helderheid]

Nevada blast delay a victory, critics say
Environmentalists, politicians see time as chance to probe risks
By Judy Fahys and Robert Gehrke
The Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake Tribune
Red tape has snagged the federal government's plans next month for a massive explosion at the Nevada Test Site.
Court papers filed by Pentagon and U.S. Energy Department lawyers say the Divine Strake test will be delayed by three weeks.
"The proposed detonation of Divine Strake will take place no earlier than June 23," said Jay H. Horman, acting manager of the National Nuclear Security Administration's Nevada Test Site office, in a statement presented to the U.S. District Court in Las Vegas on Monday.
The postponement, rumored last week, marks a victory for critics and opponents who say the federal government has yet to prove that the massive explosion will not harm the environment or people downwind.
The two federal agencies say they need to detonate the 700 pounds of explosives - an ammonium nitrate-fuel oil mixture many times more powerful than the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing - to calibrate conventional and nuclear weapons needed to take out a deeply buried enemy bunker.
Attorney Robert Hager in Las Vegas said even with new environmental documents released Friday, it is not clear that Nevadans, including the Winnemucca Indian Colony, and Utahns would be safe if fallout from past atomic testing becomes airborne in the explosion.
"We would like it to be a permanent delay," Hager said, "and we are prepared to go forward put this matter to bed forever."

More >>>

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_3801654

[helderheid]

1. I wonder what Randi will have to say. Here's an Action Alert >>>

Sunday May 28
Join in an International Day of Action May 28 at the Nevada Test Site
Here are the details:

The Stopthe Divine Strake Coaltiion is pulling together the details of the Stop
Divine Strake event on May 28(see coalition group members below). In order to
properly plan for what could be a huge gathering, the Coalition is asking
people to contact us to let us know how many are coming in their group(s).
Certainly this number will change, but the Coalition wants to be responsible in
planning for basic water and sanitation needs. If you know of other groups or
individuals in your area who are planning on attending, please include these
numbers in your estimates. Please advertise this event freely, and distribute
updated information as it becomes available.

The Stop the Divine Strake Coalition is also encouraging visitors to organize
into affinity camps, and to collaborate on providing for food water and
shelter. While there will be some shared areas for shade, gathering, and
workshops, affinity camps are encouraged to schedule their own activities and
actions. The Coalition will provide scheduling for the main gathering tent.

Participants need to plan on bringing their own food and necessities.

Here are the basics on the event:

Saturday, May 27 arrival at camp, issuing of permits, camp setup and workshops
Sunday, May 28 Sunrise ceremony, interfaith service, rally, direct actions
Monday May 29, camp breakdown and departure

Donations can be made through Shundahai Network - www.shundahai.org

Updated details can be seen at Shundahai Network, www.shundahai.org or Desert
Greens Green Party of Utah, www.desertgreens.org/events.html or
www.gput.org/events.shtml

Coalition Members
# American Indian Movement of Colorado
# Blue Sky Institute
# Center for Energy Research
# Citizen Alert
# CodePINK
# Corp Watch
# Desert Greens Green Party of Utah
# Georgians Against Nuclear Energy
# Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space
# Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE)
# Gold Star Families for Peace
# Green Party of St. Paul /4th Congressional District (MN)
# Green Party of the United States EcoAction Committee
# HEAL Utah
# Indigenous Environmental Network
# International Indian Treaty Council
# KWIA Support Group for Indigenous Peoples
# Las Vegas Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
# Lee Slaughter
# Nevada Desert Experience
# NOW of Southern Nevada
# NOW of Nevada
# Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
# Oregon Peaceworks
# Oxfam America
# People for Peace and Justice of Utah
# PomPomsNotBombBombs, Utah's Radical Cheerleaders
# Proposition 1 Committee
# Ruckus Society
# Shundahai Network
# Stop the War Machine
# Temple of Goddess Spirituality
# Tonatierra
# Truthout.org
# WAND
# Western Shoshone Defense Council
# Western Shoshone National Council
# Western States Legal Foundation

Coalition Letter
The U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) plans to detonate a 700-ton
ammonium nitrate and fuel oil explosive on June 2, 2006 at the Nevada Test Site
(NTS), a federal facility 65 miles north of Las Vegas. They are calling this
test “Divine Strake.”

While this test is not nuclear in composition, its purpose, according to DTRA
documents, is to “simulate a low-yield nuclear weapon.” Given that previous
nuclear tests have occurred only a few miles away from where Divine Strake will
occur, this test raises the specter of kicking up previous radioactive
contamination and sending it downwind. We have been told too many half-truths
and outright lies to believe in the “safety” of this test. Furthermore, no full
environmental impact statement has been done to verify that there is no
radioactive contamination at the particular site.

It must be stressed that the presence of the United States military on Western
Shoshone land is uninvited. In fact, the Western Shoshone have been fighting
for sovereignty over their ancestral and treaty-recognized lands, and to shut
down the NTS for years. Most recently, their efforts brought them to the United
Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) which found
the United States in violation of recognized fundamental human rights standards
and international law, and ordered the United States to “freeze”, “desist” and
“stop” their activities on Western Shoshone land. All this while the DTRA was
preparing for the “Divine Strake” test

As tensions increase with Iran, speculation has increased in the media and
elsewhere that this test, in conjunction with other military projects, is
building up to an imminent attack on the peoples of Iran, possibly in the form
of nuclear bombardment. This test is seemingly a “war game” to initiate a U.S.
led invasion of Iran. Many media articles about Divine Strake and its possible
role in the escalation of tension with Iran may be found on
www.shundahai.org/divine_strake.htm and www.disarmamentactivist.org

Because our goal is to stop the test, and to not expose anyone to undue health
risks from the actual blast, our focus will be an International Day of Action
on Sunday May 28, 2006 (Memorial Day Weekend) at the Nevada Test Site Peace
Camp, located across Highway 95 from the Test Site. We are looking for allied
organizations to join our coalition, and either join us at the Nevada Test Site
on the 28th, or stage actions in their own communities throughout the following
week.

Some of our anticipated activities will be:
¨ Delivering eviction/deportation notices to the U.S. Department of Defense and
Department of Energy as illegal, non-respecting immigrants to indigenous lands.
¨ A rally with speakers from indigenous, immigrant, nuclear abolition, and peace
and justice communities.
¨ Non-violent direct action training
¨ Peacekeeper training
¨ Workshops on the history of the test site and radiation compensation,
indigenous sovereignty, and the escalation with Iran.
¨ Spiritual ceremonies to remember those who have suffered or died as a result
of war and nuclear weapons testing. ¨ Brainstorming workshops on what common
actions folks can do later in the week in their respective cities ¨ Vigil
activities at U.S. Federal Buildings and Bechtel Corporation offices on June 1
and June 2, if the test has not been cancelled.

Some of our anticipated needs are:

# Getting the word out to sympathetic communities
# Development of fliers and other outreach materials
# Optimizing media participation both before, during and after the event
# Providing shelter and water to participants
# Organizing workshops
# Providing “peacekeepers” to keep the event on message and free of violence.

Ongoing activities – Please keep the phone calls, letters coming!
The test detonation can be cancelled. We call for the United States Government
to do so immediately. Concerned citizens can call or write to express their
opinions to their Congressional Representatives and:

President George W. Bush [e-mail] 202-456-1111
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld http://www.dod.gov/faq/comment.html
Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld
Secretary of Defense
1000 Defense Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301-1000

James Tegnelia [e-mail] [phone]
Defense Threat Reduction Agency
Attn: James Tegnelia
8725 John J Kingman RD Stop 6201
Fort Belvoir, VA 22060-6201

[Beelzebud]

2. The name Divine Strike for a weapon, makes me want to puke...

[helderheid]

3. It's actually 'Divine Strake' Definition of Strake:

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

A Strake is

1. part of a boat or ship. It is a strip of planking in a wooden vessel or of plating in a metal one, running longitudinally along the vessel's side, its bottom or between them on the turn of the bilge.
2. a device for controlling air flow over an aircraft.
3. a tool for tamping down and levelling semi-fluid materials into a mould.

The word Strake also refers to a straightedge used for levelling a bed of sand, or striking poured concrete or plaster level with the edges of the formwork or mould into which it has been poured. A strake used for flooring or paving work is often called a 'screed'.

[RaleighNCDUer]

10. I interpret that to mean that the blast is intended to liquify the earth

over deep bunkers and inject that material into the bunkers, like pouring in concrete, filling in the upper level tunnels and chambers, and sealing off the lower ones from the surface.

But can conventional explosives give the result they want? The shock may be similar, but without the thermonuclear heat will it have the liquification effect?

[helderheid]

11. I have no idea. The whole thing is INSANE.

[helderheid]

13. .

[AndyA]

4. This whole topic just terrifies me. What if they do stir up something

bad from the past, that drifts through the air and into communities? Maybe then we'll see the need for those Concentration Camps that have already been prepared. Maybe then we'll see the need for Martial Law.

This whole thing just reeks of scandal and corruption.

What will they do to the environment? Could this trigger earthquakes in California? At some point, mankind is going to have to understand we just can't keep abusing the Earth, it can only take so much.

[helderheid]

5. I'm downwind from there

I have thyroid problems even though I was born after the nuclear testing.

[AndyA]

6. It really makes me wonder. We know that "duck and cover" was a big

scam from the very beginning. What else is our government not telling us? I don't live anywhere near the area, but I am very concerned for the people who do. Something could go very wrong, and there would not be enough time to do anything about it.

[helderheid]

7. That kind of explosion is bound to spew up some nasty stuff.

[KAT119]

8. The' ripple effect' would tip the balance of plates worldwide...

Most insurance co's have stopped offering earthquake insurance-they know something....

[helderheid]

9. The Wasatch Front is on a line

and guess where I live?

[bdamomma]

12. for sure

it would screw up us and our environment even more, these people are assaulting us and earth.