Post by Kephrem on Feb 21, 2006 16:20:38 GMT -5
News from Vieques
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Activists visiting Vieques from the US witnessed today the environmental
destruction caused by open detonation of bombs, method used by the US Navy
as part of their decontamination process here. Carlos “Prieto” Ventura,
captain of the boat that took the delegation to the ex bombing range on
Vieques, reported the group heard six very strong detonations and saw huge
clouds of dust as well as a very large fire caused by one of the explosions.
“We felt the expansion wave of the detonation in the boat anchored close to
Conejo Key, where the USS Killen is sunk,” expressed the Vieques fisherman
and marine biologist. Ventura said it was just like the “bombing during
military maneuvers we used to see.”
Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques (CRDV) spokespersons
indicated they had denounced on several ocasiones, the methodology of open
detonation due to the large amount of dangerous contaminants dispersed into
the environment in this area where the Navy dropped millions of pounds of
explosives. The Viequenses demanded the Navy use special detonation
chambers being used in decontamination efforts in places like
Massachussetts. “The Navy’s attitude exemplifies the environmental racism
characteristic of the military,” said Nilda Medina (CRDV), referring to
Navy’s refusal to use cleaner and safer technologies used in white, affluent
communities in the US.
The activists who saw and felt the detonations are part of a delegation of
the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) that includes, John Lindsay-Poland,
Coordintor of the FOR Committee on Latina America and the Caribbean in San
Francisco, California; lawyer Wanda I. Resto, Coordinator in Washington DC
of the FOR office on Vieques; Susan Falkoff, community co-president of the
Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) at the Watertown, Mass., Arsenal, where
she has worked on decontamination issues for 20 years; y Myrna
Hayes,community co-president of the Mare Island Shipyard (California) RAB
since its beginnings in May of 1994.
The trip to Vieques, coordinated by the CRDV and the Caribbean Project for
Justice and Peace, is designed so community leaders can share their
experiences in the struggles for environmental clean up and discuss
strategies to strengthen community participation in these processes that are
crucial for health and the environment.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Activists visiting Vieques from the US witnessed today the environmental
destruction caused by open detonation of bombs, method used by the US Navy
as part of their decontamination process here. Carlos “Prieto” Ventura,
captain of the boat that took the delegation to the ex bombing range on
Vieques, reported the group heard six very strong detonations and saw huge
clouds of dust as well as a very large fire caused by one of the explosions.
“We felt the expansion wave of the detonation in the boat anchored close to
Conejo Key, where the USS Killen is sunk,” expressed the Vieques fisherman
and marine biologist. Ventura said it was just like the “bombing during
military maneuvers we used to see.”
Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques (CRDV) spokespersons
indicated they had denounced on several ocasiones, the methodology of open
detonation due to the large amount of dangerous contaminants dispersed into
the environment in this area where the Navy dropped millions of pounds of
explosives. The Viequenses demanded the Navy use special detonation
chambers being used in decontamination efforts in places like
Massachussetts. “The Navy’s attitude exemplifies the environmental racism
characteristic of the military,” said Nilda Medina (CRDV), referring to
Navy’s refusal to use cleaner and safer technologies used in white, affluent
communities in the US.
The activists who saw and felt the detonations are part of a delegation of
the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) that includes, John Lindsay-Poland,
Coordintor of the FOR Committee on Latina America and the Caribbean in San
Francisco, California; lawyer Wanda I. Resto, Coordinator in Washington DC
of the FOR office on Vieques; Susan Falkoff, community co-president of the
Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) at the Watertown, Mass., Arsenal, where
she has worked on decontamination issues for 20 years; y Myrna
Hayes,community co-president of the Mare Island Shipyard (California) RAB
since its beginnings in May of 1994.
The trip to Vieques, coordinated by the CRDV and the Caribbean Project for
Justice and Peace, is designed so community leaders can share their
experiences in the struggles for environmental clean up and discuss
strategies to strengthen community participation in these processes that are
crucial for health and the environment.