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October 18, 2013 by Nukewatch Leave a Comment

German Bomber Base, With 20 US Nuclear Weapons, Shut Down by Ambitious Blockaders

Nukewatch Quarterly Fall 2013
By John LaForge

BÜCHEL AIR FORCE BASE, Germany — Over 750 people converged here at the government’s largest air force base to condemn the deployment of 20 US nuclear weapons, in open violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty which prohibits a nuclear state from transferring nuclear weapons to a non-weapon state, and prohibits a non-nuclear state from receiving such weapons. In a show of organized popular rebellion, 150 hearty war resisters blockaded traffic at all nine base entrances for 24 hours.

It was the first time in 16 years of resistance to the base’s “sharing” of US H-bombs (used onboard Germany’s Tornado jet bombers), that the base had been completely closed to traffic by a protest. The Pentagon also “shares” the B-61 gravity bomb with Belgium, The Netherlands, Italy and Turkey.

In spite of the civilian lockdown of this large military complex, no arrests were made by any of the hundreds of civil and military police who turned out.

Peace activists who converved on Büchel quoted the University of Illinois professor of law and author Francis Boyle.

The action began Sunday, August 11, with a large “Happening” at the base’s main gate, or “Haupttor,” after which eight separate groups carrying overnight camping gear drove off to far-flung gates for the 24-hour blockade. The protest ended at noon the next day without injury to either the resisters or the shut-ins. The complicated blockade was named “Instruments for Disarmament: Rhythm Beats Bombs” after Germany’s 30-year-old radical orchestra and choir “Lebenslaute” (life sounds) offered to join in the annual protest of the US nukes.

The only leak in the ambitious base-wide blockade was through a previously unidentified entry, or ‘Tor,’ which was found by protesters for the first time late on Sunday. Organizers reported that tracks in the dirt road indicated that the Air Force had been using the secret entry to dodge the lockout for several hours. The rough, remote, dirt track access was instantly dubbed “gate No. 7,” and after two hurried cellphone conferences 12 volunteers from other blockades gathered their gear and hurried to stop the leak.

Soldiers sneak past blockaders 

Just one more small break in the shut-down took place at 6:40 a.m. Monday, when about 150 camouflaged troops were rushed through a small door-sized opening in the high fence that surrounds the base. Known as “gate 6” by anti-nuke campaigners, the mostly unused, garden path-sized wire door was itself obstructed by the heavy coils of razor wire that had been placed inside all nine gates in advance of the weekend confrontation. Eye witnesses blocking gate No. 5 only 50 meters away reported that the troops ran from four large cargo transports down a steep, wooded embankment, some falling down, toward the fence and had to struggle to slash away the razor-wire before squeezing through the “kitty door.” The occupiers at gates 5 and 6 were initially unable to call for help in blocking the troop movement when their cell phone coverage was suddenly cut off. After flashing her press credentials Gina Willrich of Bikes Against Bombs, Germany’s anti-nuclear motorcycle group, was able to snap photos of the soldiers embarrassingly sneaking into their own base.

The radical orchestra “Lebenslaute” (Life Sounds) performed Aug. 11 at the main gate into Büchel Air Force Base where over 700 people converged to protest Germany’s use of US nuclear weapons there.

Because of the action’s comprehensive planning, each of the separate occupation sites was supplied in advance with lights, tents, toilets, tables and water. Two hot meals were delivered over the course of the day-long encampments where blockaders slept in sleeping bags set out like sardines across the access roads directly in front of the high steel gates.

Organized teams of like-minded and international campaigners — including representatives of Germany’s major peace organizations — took responsibility for the eight, and ultimately nine entrances. The unnumbered main gate was successfully closed overnight by about 80 resisters — self-named “Rhythm Beats Bombs” — who made use of the large stage and rock concert-style speaker system erected for the weekend events. “Tor” No. 1, the “Women’s Resistance gate,” was overtaken by women from Germany and England, and the British visitors used some of the long hours of the occupation to report on their own development of unprecedented blocking actions against the Pentagon’s nuclear-armed Cruise missile bases built in England in the 1980s.

Gate 2, the “Inter-religious gate,” was successfully closed by over 15 ethicists of various denominational stripes; gate 3 belonged to members of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) — winners of the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize — who spent time explaining the economic, industrial and political connections between nuclear power and nuclear weapons; gate 4 was “Poetry gate” and featured dramatic readings of anti-nuclear verse and classic appeals from the nuclear abolition movement.

Musicians confront nuclear madness with “life sounds” 
A quintet from the orchestra and choir “Lebenslaute” (life sounds) performed a musical blockade.

“Lutzerather Tor,” another unnumbered gate (named for a nearby village) which is second in size and traffic load only to the main entrance, was overwhelmed by 58 members of Lebenslaute (28 all night) which entertained the visibly amused guards on the other side of the fence with hours of classic compositions. Your Nukewatch reporter was happy to join this band of musical resisters, rehearsing with them during the week prior to the action and playing 2nd cornet in its concerts and the overnight blockade.

 

At the “Women’s Resistance Gate” blockaders heard from comrades who travelled from England.

Gate 5, and the adjoining previously mentioned tiny gate 6, only 50 meters away, was noisily occupied by Bikes Beat Bombs, which brought a touch of Marlon Brando and “The Wild Ones” to the mostly organic, vegan and vegetarian rigor of Germany’s anti-war Left.

Why a national news blackout? 

In assessing the 24-hour blockade, Nuclear Weapons-Free Now Campaign Council member Marion Küepker of Hamburg, noted one disappointment, saying, “The national media’s black-out of the unprecedented base shutdown was a surprise.” Only local and regional news organizations have so far reported on the event.

At Büchel’s main gate following the day-long action that covered the entrance, 80 blockaders woke to the surprising absense of arresting officers.

“The presence of high-profile individuals could explains the hands-off position taken by the police. This was the first-time that office-holding members of well-established NGOs joined a partly ‘illegal’ nuclear weapons protest,” Küepker said. By not making arrests, the military also avoids the political trials that focus a lot of attention on the US weapons,” Küepker said.

Of course, the action’s successful base closure put Germany’s Air Force on notice that public opposition and resistance to the government’s embrace of the US bombs is bold enough to put it in its place, restricted to base — at least for the weekend.

Filed Under: Direct Action, Newsletter Archives, Nuclear Weapons, Quarterly Newsletter, US Bombs Out of Germany

October 18, 2013 by Nukewatch Leave a Comment

Activists at New Kansas City Plant Seek Nuclear-Weapons-Free World

Nukewatch Quarterly Fall 2013
By Jane Stoever

KANSAS CITY, Missouri — On July 13, about 80 people rallied, sang and spoke out against a new facility in the US nuclear weapons complex under construction here. Twenty- four of the protesters walked onto the property, were quickly arrested and detained by local police, and then released over the next few days. 

The five-building “Kansas City Plant” will by next year replace the current, 70-year-old Kansas City Plant, where 85 percent of the non-nuclear parts for US nuclear weapons are made or procured. 

During a brief ceremony, the protesters pledged to strive for peace and seek to be peacemakers in daily life, to persevere in nonviolence of the mind and heart, and work to abolish war and the causes of war from the face of the Earth. 

With the assembly singing “Open the Door,” which was written for the occasion, 24 people stepped onto federal property through a mock door marked “Open the door to a nuclear-weapons-free world” — the slogan of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. 

Anti-nuclear activists crossed the line at the Kansas City Plant, July 13.

The 24 who crossed the line were Rev. Carl Kabat, Chrissy Kirchhoefer, and Anneliese Stoever all of St. Louis, William Antone, of Washington, D.C., Sr. Cele Breen, Jim Everett, Lauren Logan, Sr. Theresa Maly, Rev. Lu Mountenay, Brother Louis Rodemann, Nehemiah Rosell, Kelsey Schmidt, Ann Suellentrop, Georgia Walker and yours truly, all of Kansas City, Frank Cordaro, Ed Bloomer, and Jessica Reznicek of Des Moines, William Bichsel, of Tacoma, Washington, Cassandra Dixon of Wisconsin Dells, Paul Freid of Lake City, Minnesota, Betsy Keenan of Maloy, Iowa, Janice Sevre-Duszynska of Lexington, Kentucky, and Rev. Jerry Zawada of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 

The line-crossers were arrested, fingerprinted, photographed and then detained by Jackson County Police. Some were released on July 13, some July 14, and some not until July 15. The resisters were given several different trial dates, but attorney Henry Stoever said he would try to secure a single trial date for them all. 

Rev. Zawada, when asked why he crossed the line, said, “It’s the children! And the future of the world. People are blind and deaf to the fact that we’re producing these horrible bombs and creating an atmosphere of fear. It threatens the whole world.” He quoted a declaration from the late Rev. Richard McSorley: “It’s a sin to build a nuclear weapon.” Zawada also said he wanted to accompany Rev. Kabat in this action. Kabat has spent 17 years in prison for acts of civil resistance to nuclear weapons. Referring to Kabat and the worldwide community of people seeking a nuclear weapons-free world, Zawada said, “It takes passion and perseverance.”

Sr. Maly reflected, “I hope people that have positions of power, the ability to make decisions about nuclear weapons, hear our message.” 

In court September 4, those who pleaded “guilty” were sentenced to community service, and those who entered “not guilty” pleas were told that trial dates would be set later. Some activists refused the order for community service. 

—  Jane Stoever is a PeaceWorks-KC board member and volunteer at the Holy Family Catholic Worker.

Filed Under: Direct Action, Newsletter Archives, Nuclear Weapons, Quarterly Newsletter

March 2, 2013 by Nukewatch Leave a Comment

Authorities Dismiss Coldwater Creek Cancer Cluster

February March 2013 Nukewatch Quarterly

When it comes to understanding the incredible concentration of cancers, birth defects, and other serious ailments related to a Manhattan Project-era radioactive waste dumping ground in north St. Louis County, Facebook has proven a far better resource for current and former residents than the State of Missouri.

A report released by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services in March concluded that elevated cancer rates near Flourissant, Missouri, are probably not linked to the radioactive waste dumped in the area from 1947 through the 1970s. Researchers studied the prevalence of 27 types of cancer among those who lived within six zip codes surrounding Coldwater Creek from 1996 to 2004. Though epidemiologists did identify an elevated incidence of some cancers among the population, they attributed those higher rates to socioeconomic factors such as smoking, lack of exercise, poor diet, and diabetes.

Flourissant natives Janell Rodden Wright and Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach, who are part of the Facebook group that connects residents of the Coldwater Creek area affected by illness, called the study “completely uninformative” in a recent piece published in the St. Louis Beacon. They point out that according to the American Community Survey from 2007-2011, over 75% of those who live in one of the zip codes studied moved there after 1990 – when clean-up efforts were already underway. The study did not account for any cases of cancer in those who were diagnosed after they moved outside the area, which Wright and Schanzenbach say is the case with most of their classmates. State cancer registries only record a patient’s address at the time of diagnosis. Also ignored by the Department of Health report were the many cases of cancer among current residents diagnosed after 2004, as well as many non-cancer health issues.

When Wright, Schanzenbach, and their childhood friends swam in Coldwater Creek near their homes in Flourissant, MO, in the 1970s and 1980s, they had no idea they were immersing themselves in water tainted with radioactive waste. In fact, until Wright and her classmates began to investigate the strange prevalence of rare cancers and other diseases among their peer group in 2011, they had no idea the area where they grew up had served as a dumping ground for radioactive waste produced by Mallinckrodt Chemical Works at its downtown St. Louis plant, which purified uranium that the U.S. used to create atomic bombs in the 1940s.

Wright became suspicious when two of her friends were diagnosed with appendix cancer within a few months of each other. Both were told this disease is very rare, afflicting one in a million people. She reached out to others who grew up in the area through Facebook, and the results are astonishing. Among those who had lived within a four square mile area near the creek, over 2,000 cases of cancers, autoimmune disorders, thyroid disease, birth defects (including three cases of conjoined twins), and health issues among children (including seven children of Wright’s classmates who had their thyroid removed before age 10) have been reported. Twenty-two cases of appendix cancer have now been reported.

The group’s google map showing the residence or former residence of those who have died or fallen ill shows an alarming cluster of cases around Coldwater Creek and the St. Louis Airport Site (SLAPS), Hazelwood Interim Storage Site (HISS), Futura Property, and West Lake Landfill where waste was dumped or stored. Once elevated levels of radioactive materials were discovered in Coldwater Creek in 1989, the Army Corps of Engineers was charged with its clean-up, which they report is nearly complete. As Nukewatch reported in the Winter 2012 article “Cold War Era Dumps Heating Up St. Louis,” the West Lake Landfill, where 20 acres of radioactive waste was illegally dumped in 1973, contains over 15 feet of radioactive waste, and its temperature is rising at an alarming rate. The landfill’s neighbors complain of terrible smells and emissions that burn eyes and cause headaches. Current and former residents of the Coldwater Creek area had hoped that a conclusive cancer cluster study would help them qualify for the same “downwinder” status granted to those affected by atomic bomb testing in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah, which would have given them access to medical assistance.

Three separate groups of affected residents have brought lawsuits against Mallinckrodt Chemical, which is now owned by Covidien Pharmaceuticals, seeking damages comparable to those awarded to the company’s former St. Louis plant workers, who are eligible for coverage of medical expenses plus $150,000. On March 27, a federal judge dismissed seven of the suits’ eight claims. The single remaining claim will require residents to prove their injuries occurred no more than five years before the suits were filed, based on Missouri’s statute of limitations laws. Still, the groups’ lawyers are optimistic that justice will be served. In a statement released after the judge’s dismissal, lead counsel Marc Bern said, “We expect to prevail for these innocent victims and end this terrible nightmare for so many people.”

Though their plight remains unrecognized by the government, those affected by the Coldwater Creek radiation are taking grassroots action to uncover the truth and serve as resources for each other. Their Facebook page, “Coldwater Creek – Just the Facts Please,” is a testament to the power of grassroots organizing: its members share legal and medical resources, coping strategies, action alerts, and an unwavering commitment to helping each other deal with an enormous tragedy that comprises only a very small portion of the U.S. government’s atomic bomb legacy.

Sources: KSDK News, St. Louis, Feb. 1; St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Mar. 21, Mar. 29; St. Louis Beacon, Mar. 26

Filed Under: Direct Action, Environment, Newsletter Archives, Nuclear Weapons, Radiation Exposure, Radioactive Waste

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