[NV Greens] Fwd: FW: Department of Transportation rules against secret shipments of DU munitions by the Department of Defense

[Paul Etxeberri]

>
>Subject: FW: Department of Transportation rules against secret 
>shipments of DU munitions by the Department of Defense
>Date: Thu, 09 Jun 2005 05:05:46 +0000
>X-ELNK-AV: 0
>
>Friends,
>
>Please take a look at http://dms.dot.gov, scroll down on left to 
>Simple Search and
>enter 18576 for the Docket Number. The DOT decision not to renew 
>DOT-E 9649 is document No. 276 so hit the reverse order button and 
>then pull up the pdf noted at the bottom
>
>-OR go direct to: http://dmses.dot.gov/docimages/p81/334474.pdf .
>
>And if that is sufficient to get you to take an action, I thank you.
>Did you have any invitation to present comment to the DOT?  I saw nothing.
>
>The text below was my first info on the issue.
>
>Greetings and wishes for a pleasant summer.
>
>Charles
>
>
>-------------- Forwarded Message: --------------
>From: "Nancy Allen" <evanoff at sipeb.aoyama.ac.jp> (by way of Richard Evanoff)
>To: <greensabroad at yahoogroups.com>
>Subject: [greensabroad] Department of Transportation rules against 
>secret shipments of DU munitions by the Department of Defense
>Date: Thu, 9 Jun 2005 02:18:06 +0000
>>  Well...this is certainly groundbreaking news and I cannot find it anywhere
>>  in the US press...anyone else??...Even if the Pentagon considers DU
>>  perfectly safe apparently the DOT does not. Wonder if that makes for some
>>  interesting interagency conversations or is this all just too boring and
>>  esoteric?....nancy
>>
>>
>>  Glen Milner <gkaajm at juno.com> wrote:
>>  GROUND ZERO CENTER FOR NONVIOLENT ACTION
>>  16159 Clear Creek Road NW Poulsbo, WA  98370
>>  phone: 360-377-2586     e-mail: info at gzcenter.org
>>  website: www.gzcenter.org
>>  JUNE 8, 2005--FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>>  Contact:    Sunny Miller (413) 773-7427 (Deerfield, Massachusetts)
>>  Glen Milner (206) 365-7865 (Seattle, Washington)
>>
>>  Department of Transportation rules against secret shipments of radioactive
>>  munitions by the Department of Defense
>>
>>  The Department of Transportation (DOT) recently announced its intent to end
>>  a special exemption, DOT-E 9649, which allows for the secret shipment of
>>  radioactive or "depleted uranium" munitions by the Department of Defense.
>>  The DOT Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (HMS)
>>  announced plans to phase out the exemption in the next year for new
>>  radioactive munitions and in the next two years for munitions already
>>  manufactured before transitioning to full compliance with hazardous
>>  materials regulations.  The special exemption was created in 1986 and has
>>  been renewed every two years since.
>>  The highly toxic, radioactive ammunition, also known as "depleted uranium"
>>  or DU, has been used in recent Iraq and Afghanistan wars.  The shipments
>>  occur on a daily basis throughout the U.S., on our highways, railways, and
>>  waterways.
>>  Depleted uranium munitions are a uniquely hazardous material, consisting of
>>  a radioactive penetrator which breaks down into small particles when
>>  burned, and an explosive charge or combustible propellant in the shell of
>>  the cartridge.  A fire involving depleted uranium munitions would spread
>>  radioactive material around the area of the accident.  Under the terms of
>>  DOT-E 9649, first responders would not know they were addressing a fire
>>  involving radioactive material.
>>  In a May 18, 2005 Information Memorandum to the Chief of Staff, the DOT
>>  noted that over 200 comments had been received against the renewal of the
>>  exemption from national and local government offices, first responder
>>  organization members, interest groups and citizens.
>>  The comments specifically addressed: 1. the absence of hazard
>>  communications that would aid emergency response personnel; 2. Accuracy and
>>  completeness of the recent DOD request which falsely stated the exemption
>>  had not been used in the previous two years; and 3. the lack of DOD
>>  compliance with the terms of the exemption.
>  > Sunny Miller, of Traprock Peace Center, one of the organizations opposed to
>>  the renewal of the exemption, said, "The ruling against the Department of
>>  Defense shows that political activists in the U.S. can educate themselves
>>  and others on important technical issues and organize to petition
>>  governmental agencies to enforce the law."  Miller said, "Moms, dads,
>>  teachers and ordinary people are speaking up about safety in our
>>  communities."  Glen Milner, of Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action
>>  said, "Activists involved presented overwhelming evidence that depleted
>>  uranium shipments, occurring daily throughout the United States, are a
>>  hazard and a danger to the public."  Milner added, "The DOT and
>>  specifically, Mr. Billings and his staff of the Office of Hazardous
>>  Materials, had the honesty and courage to require that the Department of
>>  Defense label radioactive munitions accordingly."
>>  The Department of Transportation concluded the following:  1. Radiation
>>  levels allowed by the exemption for depleted uranium munitions are
>>  significantly higher than allowed in hazardous materials regulations (HMR)
>>  and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safety regulations; 2. In
>>  some cases, transport workers can receive inappropriate radiation exposures
>>  by being in the vicinity of the material for just 100 hours per year. 3.
>>  The U.S. Navy has not had a required safety plan in place for a number of
>>  years for handling radioactive munitions; and 4. The DOD has been using
>>  DOT-E 9649 internationally, in violation of a specific requirement that the
>>  exemption is for domestic use only, shipments in foreign nations have been
>>  in violation of IAEA regulations.
>>  A letter dated May 19, 2005 from Patricia Young, of the Department of the
>>  Army, to the DOT stated, ".DOT-E 9649, (governing the shipment of DU
>>  ammunition) is one of the few documents on which our two agencies have not
>>  been able to reach an agreement."  The letter continued, "We believe that
>>  failure to renew the exemption may possibly interrupt the movement of these
>>  critical munitions to our forces in Afghanistan and Iraq.  The cost of our
>>  compliance with the currently exempted standards may reach as high as $50
>>  million; it may be cost prohibitive given our current fiscal restraints."
>>  A May 20, 2005 e-mail message from the Army to the DOT suggested a mid-July
>>  meeting between the Army and "others from the DOT to discuss issues of
>>  importance to both groups."
>>  One of the results of the canceled DOT shipping exemption is that depleted
>>  uranium munitions shipments will be required to be labeled with both
>>  "Radioactive" and "Explosives" placards.
>>  Organizations involved in ending the exemption for unmarked, unlabeled
>>  radioactive ammunition will continue to ask for an immediate end of these
>>  secret shipments.
>>  The effort to stop the renewal of DOT-E 9649 had been initiated by four
>>  organizations, Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action, Poulsbo,
>>  Washington; Traprock Peace Center, Deerfield, Massachusetts; Military
>>  Toxics Project, Lewiston, Maine; and Nukewatch, Luck, Wisconsin.  Numerous
>>  other groups and individuals joined in an 18 month lobbying campaign
>>  against the exemption which allowed shipment of radioactive munitions
>>  without a "Radioactive" placard.  The Depleted Uranium Munitions Action
>>  Plan first appeared on the Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action website
>>  in November 2003.
>>  Documents regarding DOT-E 9649, may be viewed on the Department of
>>  Transportation Docket Management System website at http://dms.dot.gov. To
>>  access DOT-E 9649 statements, go to the bottom left side of the webpage,
>>  then link to Simple Search and
>>  enter 18576 for the Docket Number. 279 documents are currently posted on
>>  the website,  intended for public viewing. The DOT decision not to renew
>>  DOT-E 9649 is document No. 276.
>>


-- 
Paul Etxeberri

"Forests precede civilizations and deserts follow"   ---Chateaubriand