The National Coordinator witnessed the solidarity of the Indigenous elders in their opposition to the plans of the U.S. government, the State of California, and U.S. Ecology (a private nuclear waste company) to build a low-level radioactive waste dump on land that is viewed as holy ground to the Fort Mojave and other Colorado River Indigenous Peoples. The site is approximately 22 miles from Needles, California. The Fort Mojave Tribal headquarters is located at Needles.

The IEN National Coordinator felt first-hand the sacredness of the site. The site is also the home of the desert tortoise which is on the endangered species list. A sacred fire provided guidance and warmth to the Ward Valley spiritual encampment, especially to the participants during the chill evening nights. The elders offered prayers in their language. There is no doubt that this place MUST BE PROTECTED against the insane plans to build a nuclear dump there.

Presently, the site is on land managed by the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM). This is public land. Against the demands of the Fort Mojave Nation, other Colorado River Tribes, support groups, and public opinion; Bruce Babbit, Secretary of the Interior, has agreed to support legislation to transfer the BLM land to the State of California for use as a radioactive waste dump. Congress and the Clinton Administration hope to transfer the land very soon. The Ward Valley transfer provision is one of the "nasty" amendments (riders) in the Budget Reconcilation bill. We must demand that Clinton remove the Ward Valley provision, however, this doesn't seem likely.

If Clinton approves this stealth amendment, it would also exempt the dump from all environmental laws and prevent the public from challenging the dump in court.

Ward Valley is just 18 miles from the Colorado River and there is evidence that deadly radionuclides could find their way into the river. The Colorado River provides precious water supply to the cities of Los Angeles, San Diego, many other towns, and agricultural lands downriver and including Mexico.

The plans are to bury long-lasting and highly dangerous radioactive wastes from nuclear energy plants in shallow, unlined trenches. The proposed site is right above a major aquifer. Scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey sent a report warning that leaking radionuclides could contaminate the Colorado River. The National Academy of Sciences recommended that further tests be conducted to determine the safety of the site.

Despite all this, the State of California and Congress are still going ahead for the dump. They all know that U.S. Ecology has a track record of leaking dumps. It has been recently been revealed that U.S. and State officials have covered-up a report that found tritium and carbon-14 in unexpected depths in Beatty, Nevada, the site of another U.S. Ecology waste dump with terrain similar to Ward Valley. This report proves that scientists don't fully understand how radioactive material migrates in arid terrains and discounts the belief that the desert is the safest place to bury radioactive waste. Due to the alarming nature of these findings, two members of the National Academy of Science panel are now expressing new concerns about the safety of the facility.

Powerful nuclear energy lobbying groups are pushing Congress for a cheap gravesite for radioactive wastes and a way to transfer liability for nuclear wastes to the taxpayer. Shallow burial sites of this wastes could result in costly clean-up costs and extreme health risks to nearby communities and downriver populations that drink or use the water.

Fort Mojave Tribe is the nearest Indigenous population. Both the site and the desert tortoise are very sacred to them. The Fort Mojave and the Chemehuevi Tribes both have claimed the site as having religous and cultural value to their people. IEN requests that as many people immediately contact President Bill Clinton to veto the Budget Bill if it contains the Ward Valley rider. Other riders that must be removed in the Budget Bill are the riders that would allow oil drilling in the Artic National Wildlife refuge, the transfer of the Mojave Desert National Park to the BLM, a moratorium on Endangered Species listings, and removal of The Marbled Murrelet Extinction rider that would affect the protection of marbled murrelet in the logging areas of California's ancient redwoods Headwaters Forest.

• At Noon will be a Unity Gathering to Oppose the Dump.
• At 2:00 p.m. will be a March to Senator Feinstein's Office.
• At 5:00 p.m. will be a "Spiritual Gathering Vigil" at the Federal Building.

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