Magazine Article

Indigo Girls Honor the Earth

Lazore, Danielle M

1998

Overview

According to the information booklet on the tour, there are 111 nuclear reactors in the U.S. and all of their nuclear waste storage facilities are full or near capacity. Many communities, mostly native communities and communities of color, have been polluted for decades and now, the storage of nuclear waste on their homelands must be prevented. An article by Mary Olsen, Nuclear Information and Resource Service, states that \"high level nuclear waste is the most dangerous substance ever created by humankind, remaining deadly for 250,000 years. Approximately 35,000 metric tons of this waste sits at the 111 nuclear reactors across the country.\" With this knowledge, the U.S. wants to relocate this waste across hundreds of miles of roadways and railways. It will be traveling through the communities of thousands of people. Not only is the transportation of this waste a mortal health hazard, its storage at Yucca Mountain would be violating the 1863 Treaty of Ruby Valley. This treaty gave the western Shoshone full sovereignty and has already been violated by the initial study of Yucca Mountain. If HR 1270, now before Congress, is passed, it will be in further violation of Shosone's sovereign rights.

• Publisher: Cultural Survival, Inc
• Subject: Cook, Katsi / Culture / Environment / Environmental impact / Indigenous people / LaDuke, Winona / Law / Legislation / Minority & ethnic groups / Native Americans / Olsen, Mary / Politics / Radioactive wastes / Ray, Amy / Saliers, Emily / Trudell, John / Water pollution