UNITED STATES: Recent efforts of the CPT DU team
October 4th, 2008
CPTnet
4 October 2008
UNITED STATES: Recent efforts of the CPT DU team
Christian Peacemaker Team involvement with depleted uranium (DU) issues started in 2000 when the organization began sending delegations to join the residents of Vieques, Puerto Rico in their nonviolent efforts to oust the U.S. Navy from training/testing grounds in Vieques. The Navy fired DU rounds into the Vieques bombing zone and this toxic, radioactive byproduct has affected the health of people living on the island.
CPT visits to Iraqi hospitals in 2002/2003 explored the impact of 350 tons of DU weapons used by Coalition forces in 1991. Dramatic increases of cancer and leukemia rates with unusual birth defects implicated D.U. The 2003 “Shock and Awe” bombing of the city by the U.S. rained down another 300 tons of DU weapons. World Health Organization staff received orders not to talk with CPT delegations about the impact of DU on Iraqi civilians.
In March 2006, a small team from the CPT Northern Indiana Regional group set a goal to “stop the production of DU weapons.”
Alliant Tech in Minnesota had just received a contract to produce DU weapons. The DU team chose to visit the sites involved in the contract: Aerojet Ordnance DU penetrator core production plant in Jonesborough, TN, an army ammunition propulsion center in Radford, VA, and the Alliant Tech assembly plant in Rocket Center, WV. Contacts expanded to include environmental groups, universities, veterans groups, and VA hospitals, labor unions and community activists.
By 2007, Aerojet became the focus of the campaign to end production of DU. In addition to sending delegations to the area, the DU team did an anecdotal health survey of all the homes within a half-mile of Aerojet. The team also cooperated with local residents to hold a national DU conference at East Tennessee State University and encourage United for Peace and Justice to hold one of six national rallies during 2007 in Jonesborough with a DU focus.
The Pentagon expert on DU during the 1990s became a friend and advisor for the team and alliances grew with national and international anti-DU groups. Team members engaged with activists instrumental in closing DU facilities at the Massachusetts Stamford operation, the New York National Lead plant, the Minnesota Alliant site, and Jefferson Proving Grounds in Indiana. Scientists had discovered DU-contaminated aquifers in and DU up and down wind from these locales.
The DU team expects similar problems at Aerojet. Team members are collecting a “ranging shot” of samples to be tested by a reputable researcher with a mass spectrometer. If the tests find DU outside the plant, the discovery will provide more incentives to close the site.
The European Union (EU) Parliament voted in 2008 to ban production and use of DU weapons and forbid deployment of EU troops where DU has been used. The UN General Assembly declared that DU products are WMDs, weapons of mass destruction. These decisions indicate that ending the production of DU weapons is a realistic goal.
[DU team members in recent years have included Amy Fry Miller, Angela Brauneller, Ben Long, Chris Long, Cliff Kindy, Ethel Umble, Juanita Shenk, Mabel Brunk, Tom Benevento, and Wes Rehberg. For more information on DU, see www.stop-du.org and http://www.wildclearing.com/]
4 October 2008
UNITED STATES: Recent efforts of the CPT DU team
Christian Peacemaker Team involvement with depleted uranium (DU) issues started in 2000 when the organization began sending delegations to join the residents of Vieques, Puerto Rico in their nonviolent efforts to oust the U.S. Navy from training/testing grounds in Vieques. The Navy fired DU rounds into the Vieques bombing zone and this toxic, radioactive byproduct has affected the health of people living on the island.
CPT visits to Iraqi hospitals in 2002/2003 explored the impact of 350 tons of DU weapons used by Coalition forces in 1991. Dramatic increases of cancer and leukemia rates with unusual birth defects implicated D.U. The 2003 “Shock and Awe” bombing of the city by the U.S. rained down another 300 tons of DU weapons. World Health Organization staff received orders not to talk with CPT delegations about the impact of DU on Iraqi civilians.
In March 2006, a small team from the CPT Northern Indiana Regional group set a goal to “stop the production of DU weapons.”
Alliant Tech in Minnesota had just received a contract to produce DU weapons. The DU team chose to visit the sites involved in the contract: Aerojet Ordnance DU penetrator core production plant in Jonesborough, TN, an army ammunition propulsion center in Radford, VA, and the Alliant Tech assembly plant in Rocket Center, WV. Contacts expanded to include environmental groups, universities, veterans groups, and VA hospitals, labor unions and community activists.
By 2007, Aerojet became the focus of the campaign to end production of DU. In addition to sending delegations to the area, the DU team did an anecdotal health survey of all the homes within a half-mile of Aerojet. The team also cooperated with local residents to hold a national DU conference at East Tennessee State University and encourage United for Peace and Justice to hold one of six national rallies during 2007 in Jonesborough with a DU focus.
The Pentagon expert on DU during the 1990s became a friend and advisor for the team and alliances grew with national and international anti-DU groups. Team members engaged with activists instrumental in closing DU facilities at the Massachusetts Stamford operation, the New York National Lead plant, the Minnesota Alliant site, and Jefferson Proving Grounds in Indiana. Scientists had discovered DU-contaminated aquifers in and DU up and down wind from these locales.
The DU team expects similar problems at Aerojet. Team members are collecting a “ranging shot” of samples to be tested by a reputable researcher with a mass spectrometer. If the tests find DU outside the plant, the discovery will provide more incentives to close the site.
The European Union (EU) Parliament voted in 2008 to ban production and use of DU weapons and forbid deployment of EU troops where DU has been used. The UN General Assembly declared that DU products are WMDs, weapons of mass destruction. These decisions indicate that ending the production of DU weapons is a realistic goal.
[DU team members in recent years have included Amy Fry Miller, Angela Brauneller, Ben Long, Chris Long, Cliff Kindy, Ethel Umble, Juanita Shenk, Mabel Brunk, Tom Benevento, and Wes Rehberg. For more information on DU, see www.stop-du.org and http://www.wildclearing.com/]