Where I Stand: Don’t stand by silently

Saturday, Jan. 13, 2001 | 10:43 a.m.

Publisher's note: My late husband, Hank Greenspun, used his Where I Stand column to speak his mind on quality of life issues, especially when our state and local leaders were too timid to speak theirs. Hank never let a majority of thought cower him when it came to issues like clean air, clean water, decent jobs, civil rights and a host of other issues that helped make the lives of Las Vegans better than they otherwise would be. On the issue of nuclear waste -- high level or low level -- Hank was unbending because he knew the devastation that would result should Nevada become the long-term dumping ground for the nation. In the following column from 1979, Hank shares his views about the low-level waste dump at Beatty. It is abundantly clear from his thoughts 22 years ago that not much has changed regarding the timidity of our elected leadership. What has cha nged is the nature of the risk which Nevadans now face from the federal government's efforts to bury high-level waste just a few miles from Las Vegas.

Whether it was a governor in 1979 or our current governor, the call is the same. Step up and step out to fight for Nevada and do it now. I miss Hank all the time. It is times like this, though, that the entire state should miss him, too. -- Barbara Greenspun

MASS GENOCIDE in Nevada.

When mass murders and cremations were being carried out in Germany and East Europe, 95 percent of the population pleaded total ignorance of the monstrous events that were taking place.

Three percent said they merely were following orders, like good soldiers, and 1 percent in the villages of Auschwitz, Belsen-Bergen and Dachau said it was helpful to the economy. It created jobs for doctors and scientists and started a new industry -- making lampshades from the skins of human beings.

Some years back this editor wrote a front-page editorial suggesting a moratorium on the nuclear detonations at the Test Site until we learned what happened in the sudden deaths of thousands of sheep in southern Utah without warning or discernible cause.

I questioned whether radiation or other contaminants could have been the cause. I was bombarded with protests that I was jeopardizing some of the jobs at the Test Site and that I was hurting the economy of Southern Nevada.

My doubts were sincere and credible, because at the time I had access to top scientific and nuclear physics thinking, which evidenced real concern about contamination of the atmosphere and underground water supplies.

It is at least a decade later that a bill has been introduced by senators Edward Kennedy and Orrin Hatch calling for federal compensation to cancer victims who lived downwind of the Test Site during these explosions.

Referring to the victims in five Nevada counties, 17 Utah areas, and residents of Arizona, the senators say:

"They were victimized without their knowledge or consent within their own farms, homes and communities."

The bill states: "Federal negligence combined with ignorance about the enormity of radiation effects were the twin killers in question."

The compensation would include ranchers who lost 17,000 sheep and untold numbers of cattle.

Some inhabitants could never be compensated because there is no way of assessing remuneration for children who contracted leukemia or cancer from drinking milk from contaminated dairy farms during those years. What are the costs in torment and heartache to parents who watched precious little ones waste away and die in the pain that these dread diseases bring?

With hindsight and additional knowledge, we cannot stand by silently when the same conditions exist and the poisoning of the atmosphere and underground water supplies still continue.

After six months of investigations into the Three Mile Island nuclear disaster, the latest reports say that there are still no adequate reasons for the incident or adequate help to ascertain the effects or the remedies that will solve the problem of future disasters.

Nuclear power and waste storage is still in the experimental and developmental stage. It functions in a trial and error vacuum with questionable expertise on both sides of the issue.

If there is error, far better to give the benefit of any doubt to the safety and health of citizens than to err on the side of polluters and profit-making companies.

The lawsuit filed by the Sun to enjoin and restrain Nuclear Engineering Co. from further dumping of waste of the Beatty dumpsite states:

"One of the cherished values of human existence is to be free to seek and find a secure environment within which to enjoy the pursuits of life."

NECO, through its negligent and reckless activity and through the mere presence of its Nevada operation, has deprived us of the opportunity to enjoy a secure and healthy environment for ourselves and our children.

The same company that operates the Beatty dumpsite has been shut down in other states by emergency actions of the state and judicial authorities, for identical abuses and hazards to the health and safety of the citizens of those states.

Gov. Robert List does not have to go through lengthy hearings to take action. He can shut them down immediately and hold hearings later. Make NECO prove that its operation is safe and does not present a clear and present danger to health.

If the company can justify its right to operate and prove the safety of the operation beyond any reasonable doubt, the governor can then give consideration to the reopening of the site.

The assurances of nuclear regulators in the '50s and '60s that lulled us into acceptance of the projects are not good enough today.

As the Nevada State Journal stated in a recent editorial:

"But Nevadans have paid too high a price from radiation already. They must have solid guarantees that their health will not be further endangered."

"Until the federal government shakes itself awake and begins to require safety guarantees, Nevada should say 'no' to nuclear waste."

With each day that passes, the perils proliferate and the only promise to present and future generations of Nevadans is genocide.

If the governor is more concerned with the rights of Nuclear Engineering Co. than the rights of the people to live in a safe and secure environment, he does not belong in the office of governor.

He should act now, or, we should run him out of office.