Additional Information~Please Re-Send this alert to your lists! Please Forward
Widely!

URGENT ACTION ALERT!! DEADLINE IS NEAR!
YUCCA MOUNTAIN, SACRED TO THE SHOSHONE & MAJOR FAULT ZONE, IN IMMINENT DANGER!
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY MOVES PLANS FORWARD TO TURN YUCCA MOUNTAIN INTO NUCLEAR
WASTE REPOSITORY.
SEND YOUR LETTER IN TODAY! PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD DEADLINE JANUARY 10, 2008.
SAMPLE LETTER & TALKING POINTS ARE LISTED BELOW.

Public hearings have not been well attended, statements mostly in favor of the
plan to put all of the nuclear waste in the country in this one sacred place.
Activists were told that if we do not go on record with a statement, we will
have no legal recourse later on. Local papers & media spin have recently stated
that opposition to the nuke dump had dropped off since the passing of Corbin
Harney, Western Shoshone spiritual teacher who dedicated his life to protecting
Mother Earth, bringing people together, and stopping all nuclear contamination.
The nuclear reps are confident to the point of acting like it's a done deal.
WE KNOW THIS IS NOT TRUE! LETS PROVE THEM WRONG. MAKE YOUR COMMENT NOW & TAKE
ACTION!!

Yucca Mountain has been and continues to be a sacred and beloved site for
thousands of years to the Native Shoshone tribes. It is an herb gathering site,
for
rituals, and as a part of their stories. Yucca Mountain is known in Shoshone
language as Snake Mountain. It is said that the snake was headed north when it
froze where it is. Further more it is said that it will move again and "flip
around". Geologists say that there are thirteen different fault lines running
through it.

Using the Yucca Mountain site to 'dispose' of nuclear waste is a very risky and
therefore an unexceptable choice as a
nuclear waste repository. There are serious risks associated with the
'disposing' and transportation of nuclear waste. One of the most deadly waste
materials
on earth, nuclear waste should be stored on-site, in retrievable casks, and not
transported across the country. There is an extremely high liklihood that
there will be adverse impacts to the drinking water supply, impacts from truck
transport of nuclear waste, socio-economic impacts, impacts to cultural
resources, and environmental justice issues.

A nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain is illegal and in violation of
human rights. There is ongoing litigation involving the United States’ violation
of the 1863 Treaty of Ruby Valley with the Western Shoshone which clearly
defines territorial borders for their nation of Newe Sogobia as well outside
the
proposed land withdrawal. This treaty was fully ratified by Congress, and is
legally “the supreme law of the land”. In April of 2004, the United Nation’s
Committee to End Racial Discrimination upheld the Shoshone claim in a record
decision, and their declaration clearly identifies the Yucca Mountain Repository
as one of several ongoing serious human rights violations by the United States
against the Western Shoshone Nation. Corbin Harney condemned the government's
actions, particularly the Department of Energy saying, "It is with blatant
disrespect that the DOE continues to violate our Mother Earth as well as
disregard
the Treaty of Ruby Valley." The truth "from the beginning," he once said, is
that "the people are going to have to wake up to the problem and get a cleaner
source of power, wind or solar, that doesn't have waste.

"The eyes of the elders are on us. The fate of the unborn is rolling toward
the cliff, the voice of Corbin Harney is ringing in my ears, "It's on your
shoulders now...". ~ B Dyken.


SAMPLE LETTER BELOW. Please! Consider adding into your letter the following
well-researched points!
Healing Ourselves & Mother Earth (HOME)* is a widely recognized organization
that has participated in the Yucca Mountain hearing and comments process for
many
years. They have submitted the following major comments to the Department of
Energy. These are section titles only, please refer to www.h-o-m-e.org for the
back-up facts & additional info.

Draft Repository Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement
Inadequate analysis of groundwater impacts to California
Unprecedented nomination of Death Valley Regional Water Groundwater Flow System
for National Nuclear Sacrifice Zone
Inadequate analysis of effects of groundwater pumping on groundwater migration
Inadequate analysis of socio-economic impacts
Inadequate analysis of impacts to the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe
Inadequate analysis of Land Ownership issues
Transportation, Aging, and Disposal (TAD) Canisters
Inadequate analysis of proposed repository capacity
Inadequate analysis of MRS-type storage for newer hotter irradiated nuclear fuel
Inadequate analysis of potential hazards from military overflights and airspace
jurisdiction
Inadequate analysis of baseline soil and water data for future comparison

Draft Rail Corridor/Alignment Supplemental Environmental Impact Statements
Inadequate analysis of reasonable alternatives to the Caliente Rail Corridor
Potential truck transportation of nuclear materials on California Highways 127
and 178
Inadequate analysis of California impacts from the movement of construction
equipment
Inadequate analysis of severe accidents and acts of terrorism
No final federal Environmental Protection Agency compliance standard
NEPA Procedural Concerns regarding availability of hearings and SEIS
documentssection titles of HOME's* comments to the draft Yucca Mt. Supplemental
Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS), available at www.h-o-m-e.org. It is a
pdf file, 1.4 mgs with great pix of desert floods and Shoshone dancing girls.
Please fell free to use any and all, and submit your own comments ASAP!!

---------------------------------------------------

SAMPLE LETTER:



January 8, 2008

Jane R. Summerson
M. Lee Bishop
Environmental Impact Statement Office
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management
1551 Hillshire Drive
Las Vegas, NV 89134

Re: Comments on draft Repository Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement and
draft Nevada Rail Corridor/Alignment Environmental Impact Statement

Dear Ms. Summerson and Mr. Bishop,

In preparing my response to the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) draft
Repository Supplemental
Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) and draft Nevada Rail Corridor/Alignment
Environmental
Impact Statement, I have identified several issues regarding both documents that
should be
addressed by the DOE in the course of developing both Final Environmental Impact
Statements
(EIS).

Using the Yucca Mountain site to 'dispose' of nuclear waste is a very risky and
therefore an unexceptable choice as a
nuclear waste repository. Geological fault lines that run through and near the
Yucca Mountain area. Yucca Mountain is extremely unstable to be used as a site
for nuclear storage with the unpredictable weather and geological changes that
are expected in that area.

Yucca Mountain has been and continues to be a sacred and beloved site for
thousands of years to the local Native American tribes. The Timbisha tribe and
other
Western Shoshone tribes have conducted spring renewal ceremonies on Yucca
Mountain for an unknown time, and continue to do so into the present on the
western portion they are still able to access. The SEIS also fails to mention
the ongoing dispute and litigation involving the United States’ violation of
the 1863 Treaty of Ruby Valley with the Western Shoshone which clearly defines
territorial borders for their nation of Newe Sogobia as well outside the
proposed land withdrawal. This treaty was fully ratified by Congress, and is
legally “the supreme law of the land”. In April of 2004, the United Nation’s
Committee to End Racial Discrimination upheld the Shoshone claim in a record
decision, and their declaration clearly identifies the Yucca Mountain Repository
as one of several ongoing serious human rights violations by the United States
against the Western Shoshone Nation.

There are serious risks associated with the 'disposing' and transportation of
nuclear waste. One of the most deadly waste materials on earth, nuclear waste
should be stored on-site, in retrievable casks, and not transported across the
country. There is an extremely high liklihood that there will be adverse
impacts to the drinking water supply, impacts from truck transport of nuclear
waste, socio-economic impacts, impacts to cultural resources, and environmental
justice issues.

A nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain creates a false sense of security
for using nuclear energy while we should be focusing on alternative renewable
energy sources.

Overall, the research on this site clearly shows that storing nuclear waste in
this area is not safe or ethical and I do not wish to
see this project carried out. For these and other reasons, Yucca Mountain is
unacceptable as a nuclear
waste repository.


Sincerely,

(your name here)

-----------

* HOME is a California §501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, founded in 2000 to
conduct independent research and public education on issues of military and
civilian nuclear industries and their impacts on health and habitat,
particularly in the Nevada Test Site and Yucca Mountain region.

Also stay posted at Western Shoshone Defense Project: http://www.wsdp.org/



We are one people. We cannot separate ourselves now. ~Corbin Harney

http://www.blackmesais.org