It is against the law to dig a hole in your backyard and bury your household garbage in it. However, the U.S. Department of Energy has literally dug a huge trench in our collective backyard (the Hanford Nuclear Waste Site) and dumped more than 1 million gallons of high-level radioactive waste into this trench, which has contaminated 200 square miles of ground water – and the contamination is headed for the Columbia River.
Now we learn that Hanford holds the short straw and that the Department of Energy plans to haul in more than 23,000 additional truck loads of nuclear waste from all over the country without cleaning up the existing mess or establishing a system of ground water monitoring.
Do we have an opportunity to protest?
Yes, we do – by voting yes on Initiative 297 on Nov. 2.
It is our state, our ground water, our river. Let’s insist that the Department of Energy act responsibly in this matter.
I strongly support a yes vote for Initiative 297 on the November ballot.
LYSLE PICKARD
Everett
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