Deseret Morning News, Friday, January 12, 2007

Officials seek more Strake hearings

By Suzanne Struglinski and Nancy Perkins
Deseret Morning News

The federal government should conduct additional public meetings on the proposed Divine Strake experiment, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, told the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) in a letter sent Thursday.

The agency, in company with other government agencies, held public meetings in Utah this week to discuss a planned weapons test at the Nevada Test Site that would detonate 700 tons of non-nuclear explosive material. The concern is that the blasts could stir up radiation-contaminated soils and put then into the atmosphere.

But the open-house type format, instead of a public hearing or public forum set-up, did not satisfy many who attendedin Salt Lake City on Wednesday and St. George on Thursday. The agencies used "information stations" where 23 public affairs officers and others from the test's sponsors were ready to answer questions about the blast. A court reporter was on hand to take down any public comments.

"We fully agree with the disappointment felt by many of our constituents over the lack of a plenary session, where a senior government expert would speak on the record and answer questions in front of all the meetings' attendees," Matheson and Hatch wrote. "This is especially disconcerting since DTRA did make a commitment to us to conduct such a plenary session at the meetings."

The lawmakers said they viewed the meetings "as an important first step" but "the format used has important deficiencies."

Cheri Abdelnour, a DTRA public affairs officer, said the various Divine Strake team leaders attending the open houses were able to answer numerous questions from the public.

"We've had a good turnout and we've had some good questions," Abdelnour said. "We're looking forward to reviewing the comments."

Justin Jensen, 14, who attended the St. George open house with his father, said he is worried about the proposed test.

"I'm wondering if it will affect my generation or not," he said. "I don't want my future to be in jeopardy."

Michelle Thomas, 54, a St. George native who has battled numerous forms of cancer linked to radiation fallout from the government's nuclear tests of the 1950s, called the meeting "surreal. I really feel like we've got the ghosts of fall-outs past here with us tonight," Thomas said tearfully. "As a downwinder, I wouldn't wish what's happened to my hometown and the people who live here on anybody. I don't want to do this all over again."

Thomas attended the St. George hearing along with 338 other people, along with several St. George police officers. Ami Budge brought two of her three children to the Dixie Center where the hearing was being held.

"We don't want any type of testing that's going to promote war," Budge said. "I don't believe them when they say it's harmless. I think the government's trying to put one over on us."

Bob Welti was one of several attendees who spoke to the crowd during an impromptu rally held near the end of the 2 1/2-hour meeting.

"Why don't they do the test in Washington D.C.?" said Welti, garnering applause from several dozen people who stood in a circle around him.

In their letter, Matheson and Hatch wrote that the format "confused" some attendees, who did not know which expert to talk with about a topic. Some said they received inconsistent answers.

"Of course, this only increases the much-deserved distrust many Utahns have toward statements made by the federal government regarding radiation and activities at the Nevada Test Site," according to the letter.

Among the many concerns of opponents of the test is that the blast will stir up and blow downwind radioactive- contaminated dust from the area where nuclear bomb testing took places decades earlier.

They asked DTRA for additional public sessions, where attendees could ask government experts questions on the record and all the attendees could hear the answers.

E-mail: suzanne@desnews.com or nperkins@desnews.com

© 2007 Deseret News Publishing Company

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