Desert blastTest explosion foes 'down to the crunch'

Today is the deadline for comment on the Nevada Test Site blast; many feel it will again stir up radioactive dust

By Judy Fahys
The Salt Lake Tribune

The crusade to stop the Divine Strake test explosion reached fever pitch this week with today's deadline for public comment.
The federal government already had received about 3,000 comments late Tuesday. But still more ordinary Utahns and politicians vowed to speak out against the proposed detonation of 700 tons of conventional explosives at the Nevada Test Site.
St. George resident Michelle Thomas said she was gratified with the response she's seen from fellow Utahns and, more recently, national media.
"We are down to the crunch," she said.
Officials at the Defense Threat Reduction Agency and the National Nuclear Security Administration will continue to take comments e-mailed or mailed through today. While the comments are supposed to address technical issues associated with the agencies' environmental assessment, many already submitted focus on how people feel about the test, said Nevada Test Site spokesman Darwin Morgan.
The federal agencies say the detonation of 700 tons of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil in a deep pit on a Nevada desert hilltop is necessary for national security. The resulting earthquake-force explosion will help the agencies learn how to destroy the deep, underground bunkers enemy nations use for defense.
But Morgan's agency has been barraged with criticism about Divine Strake, from its odd name to the three environmental studies that have fallen far short of addressing public concerns about the test.
The Nevada Test Site, ground zero for 928 nuclear tests dating from 1951 to 1992, still has soil tainted with atomic fallout. Topping the public's complaints are the likelihood that a mushroom cloud of that radiation-contaminated debris will drift to Utah and beyond. Blast opponents also fear Divine Strake signals the start of a new era of nuclear testing. Agencies behind the test also took hits for having public information forums rather than full-blown public hearings.
Opponents may be taking a lesson from the successful public attack on permits for the Skull Valley Goshutes' high-level nuclear waste site. Political leaders rallied critics of the waste site, who sent in more than 5,000 comments against that proposal, which was later rejected in a pair of decisions by the U.S. Interior Department.
In Utah, many local and state politicians have officially expressed their opposition to Divine Strake. The leaders of St. George and Springdale, along with commissioners in Washington and Kane counties, have passed resolutions against the test.
A resolution opposing Divine Strake by the Utah Senate, co-sponsored by 20 of 29 senators, is set for debate Thursday morning.
Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. held two public hearings of his own and promised the four hundred people who attended he would include a transcript of their comments with the state's official response to the test. The Republican governor also taped a public service message as part of a KTVX-Channel 4 campaign against the bomb test.
"He is hopeful a unified voice from Utah and surrounding states can help stop Divine Strake," said Huntsman spokesman Mike Mower.
In addition, Utahns in Congress also planned comments on the test explosion.
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said the federal government's highest priority should be ensuring that no one is hurt by this test. "I urge everyone concerned to take the opportunity to write, if they haven't already," Hatch said Tuesday.
Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, restated his concerns that the test is dangerous and unnecessary, and he called for an in-depth environmental impact statement.
"Given the government's past track record of dismissing health and safety risks to the public - despite scientific data showing otherwise - it will take a more rigorous environmental review to assure me and many Utahns that there's nothing to fear from this test," he said.
Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, said he had met with Pentagon and Energy Department officials and pressed them to move the test to another location.
fahys@sltrib.com