Tri-Valley CAREs
Communities Against a Radioactive Environment
Confronting Toxic Pollution
December 3, 2020
Source: The Independent
Tri-Valley CAREs will have a Virtual Community Meeting on Tuesday, Dec 8, on Site 300 in Tracy and the Main Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore.
We will bring discuss the Superfund cleanup and the proposed increase in bomb blasting planned for Livermore Lab's nearby Site 300. Presenters will include Marylia Kelley, Tri-Valley CAREs’ Executive Director, Scott Yundt, Tri-Valley CAREs' Staff Attorney, and Raiza Marciscano-Bettis, Tri-Valley CAREs' Bilingual Community Organizer.
Nuclear weapons activities at the Livermore Lab Main Site and its Site 300 high explosives testing range have resulted in hundreds of documented toxic and radioactive releases to our air, soil, groundwater and surface waters. These activities are ongoing and pose danger to our communities.
Both locations are federal "Superfund" sites. The EPA placed the Livermore Lab Main Site, an over one square mile site located on East Avenue in Livermore on its list of most poisoned sites in the country in 1987. Site 300, an 11 square mile experimental test site located southwest of Tracy joined the Superfund roster in 1990.
The EPA has calculated that the largest off-site groundwater contaminant plume could affect city water wells. If that occurs, it is estimated to result in an additional one cancer for every thousand Livermore residents drinking the water. The cleanup timeframe is multi-generational and will take 50 to 80 years or more.
Tri-Valley CAREs experts and staff will offer updates on the plan to increase the size of bomb blasts in the open air at Site 300. We will also discuss the government’s new environmental impact process that will determine which programs get authorized at Site 300 and how much pollution will spew into our communities.
Tri-Valley CAREs needs you for a citizen-led effort. We can be a motivating force by sending letters to the editor, reaching out to real estate brokers, sending memos, etc. Together, all of us in the community decide how clean is clean. We at Tri-Valley CAREs are open to hearing new strategies, and we ask for help to connect with other organizations that may be willing to include some of this information in their activities.
Join us to talk about community concerns, health effects, past actions at Site 300 and alternatives we recommend for the future. For more information visit, trivalleycares.org.
Raiza Marciscano-Bettis,
Livermore