CPTnet
9 June 2007
JONESBOROUGH, TN: Delegation launches actual and virtual balloons to call
attention to DU contamination
by Ron Forthofer
Our CPT delegation on Depleted Uranium (DU) planned two major events on 22
and 23 May 2007. The first event was a release of 200 balloons across from
the Aerojet Ordnance plant in Jonesborough in an attempt to get some idea of
how far and where possible air contamination from Aerojet travels.
The second event was a press conference involving local and CPT participants
followed by a release of another 200+ balloons.
We stuffed notes in the balloons asking the balloon recipients to inform a
local contact about where the balloons landed and to contact Aerojet.
On the following day, Linda Modica, representing the Sierra Club, and Cliff
Kindy of CPT met with the press, but Aerojet continued to refuse to meet
with the delegation. We used an empty chair with a nuclear warning sign at
the press conference to show the lack of an Aerojet representative.
Our delegation also put out a "virtual" balloon release to illustrate the
scope of DU air contamination:
VIRTUAL BALLOON RELEASE: Peace be with you. If this email reaches you, you
may have breathed emissions from Aerojet Ordnance Tennessee, a company that
makes weapons from nuclear waste left over from the uranium enrichment
process.
You may also be downwind of Iraq and Afghanistan where hundreds of tons of
weaponized uranium (WU) have been exploded. The poison dust discharged by
those thousands of burned bombs has fallen not only on the war zones, but
has also circled the globe. If you are concerned about the continuing use
of radioactive, toxic weapons of mass destruction by the Pentagon, please
write emails to the following individuals who are responsible for weapons
manufacturing at Aerojet Ordnance Tennessee. AOT (a subsidiary of GenCorp
of California) is one of the larger uranium penetrator core manufacturers
with military contracts.
Charles Pepper McCary, AOT-Jonesborough: charles.mccary@aerojet.com
Linda Cutler, GenCorp-California: lcutler@gencorp.com
Claudia Smith, GenCorp-California: claudia.smith@gencorp.com
Please copy Cliff Kindy of Christian Peacemaker Teams at
guest.313917@MennoLink.org, and Linda Modica of Sierra Club Radiation
Committee at linda.c.modica@mac.com on your messages to Aerojet.
Thanking you for taking action to stop weaponized uranium munitions,
Linda C. Modica, Chair Sierra Club Radiation Committee
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