Mexico City, August 6th, 1996.
Activists from the environmental pressure group Greenpeace chained themselves to the entrance of the US Embassy, to protest the constuction of a low-level radioactive waste dump in Sierra Blanca, Texas, to be sited a mere 32 kilometers from the Mexican border. At the same time, 2 more activists hung a banner from the roof of the building reading: MEXICO IS NOT A WASTE DUMP, STOP SIERRA BLANCA.
While the 8 activists blocked the doors of the Embassy, another group from Greenpeace marched down the central Avenida Paseo de la Reforma, with a parody of the famous "Statue of Liberty". With its right arm held high, the statue carried a bag of garbage, while covering its nose with its left hand in a gesture of repugnance at waste dumped onto Mexican territory.
"Today in Texas, the process of public hearings with regard to the permit for the construction of the low-level radioactive waste facility in Sierra Blanca begins", said Monique Mitastein, Executive Director of Greenpeace Mexico.
"With this peaceful protest we want to express to the US government our opposition to the construction of the dump, which represents an environmental risk to the border region in the north of Mexico and for the millons of people who live there", she added.
According to the Texas Low Level Radioactive Waste Authority, 70% of the waste going to Sierra Blanca would come from nuclear power plants. Thus, the Sierra Blanca dump would contain radioactive elements with half-lives of hundreds, thousands and millions of years.
In the US there are 109 nuclear reactors that have accumulated an enormous quantity of radioactive waste which is currently stored on-site. If approved, Sierra Blanca could become the principal receiving facility for radioactive waste stored in US nuclear plants, at only 32 kilometers from the Mexican border.
Requirements for the construction of a dump such as the proposed Sierra Blanca facility, according to Texas regulations, prohibit construction in areas of seismic activity, geological faults and wind or rain erosion. However, an independent study carried out by Radioactive Waste Management Associates (RWMA) recognizes that the proposed site suffers erosion problems, seismic instability, geological faults, and a high risk of radioactive contamination of the subsurface due to the porousness of the soil. In addition, the study identifies the proximity of the the dump to the Rio Bravo as a grave threat to the millions of people living in the border zone.
On April 13th, 1995, the strongest earthquake to hit Texas in 60 years (5.6 on the Richter scale) occurred, precisely in the western part of the state, in Sierra Blanca. In 1931, in the same region, the largest earthquake in Texan history took place. RWMA specialists warn that an earthquake could result in radioactive contamination of the subsoil due to filtration. Between 1923 and 1993 64 earthquakes registering 3 or more on the Richter scale were recorded, within a 220 mile radius around the proposed site of the Sierra Blanca nuclear waste dump.
Greenpeace said "that the Sierra Blanca nuclear waste dump confirms yet again the practices of environmental racism of the US government against minority populations, in this case, against the poor Mexican-american communities that live in the area". The project furthermore violates the spirit of the Peace Resolution signed between the US and Mexican governments which was designed the protect the border environment.
Finally, Greenpeace called upon the Mexican government to, through the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, play a more active role in opposing the Sierra Blanca dump.
Along with Greenpeace, the town councils of Ciudad Juarez, Chih. and Cuidad Acu$a, Coah., the Local Congresses of Chihuahua and Coahuila and the Senate Commissions on Border Issues and Ecology participated in the public hearings taking place in Texas.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Greenpeace Mexico:
e-mail: greenpeace.mexico@green2.greenpeace.org
phone: ++ 525 536 4160
