Dr Rokke - Report on DU Cleanup
Dr. Rokke,
Thank you again for contacting us with your information and expertise about
depleted uranium. We intend to put up as much of a fight as possible to get this
equipment out of our community. I especially appreciate you talking to Keith
from the ILWU. How did that go, by the way? Regardless of how he responded, we
intend to get this info out to the public and the longshore workers. I've given
your contact info to The Olympian and we're also listing you as a contact on our
next press release.
I'm currently working with some folks to produce a leaflet to give to the
longshore workers who will be handling the equipment tomorrow. We're trying to
get the leaflet copied by 11 tomorrow. The information you sent me has been very
helpful, but to be honest I'm having trouble wading through all the military
jargon and getting to the facts. We have a few specific questions we'd like to
get a statement and some facts about before we get the information to the port
workers.
Most of the vehicles being unloaded are Strykers. We know that they use depleted
uranium munitions, but do you know if they use depleted uranium in their armor?
A lot of the manuals talk about decontamination, and the army has said that the
vehicles have been decontaminated in Kuwait. Do you have some information or a
statement we could include about the inadequacy of this decontamination?
What kind of equipment and training is or should be provided to the military to
handle this equipment? (this is addressed in some of the regulations, but we're
having a hard time getting a clear picture)
Is there anything else that port workers should be aware of?
Thanks again for working with us on this. You can e-mail or call me tomorrow
morning.
-Andrew Yankey
Port Militarization Resistance