Additional Announcements
February 20, 2006
A. Information Needed by Staff
1. The National League of Cities Annual Congressional City Conference will be held Monday thru Wednesday, March 12-14 in Washington DC. There are still a few seats available on non-stop frights on Sunday, March 11 leaving at 9:50 a.m. and returning on Wednesday, March 14 at 8:00 p.m. D.J. Baxter will be attending and is willing to coordinate congressional visits with any Council Members that may be attending the conference. Council Members Saxton, Buhler and Christensen have declined. Are any other Council Members interested in attending this conference? There were maybes on Van, Carlton and Søren.
2. Historic Briefing. Ms. Gust-Jenson said this was scheduled based on the Council’s request from a long time ago when you were funding the additional historic studies. She said the briefing was going to be presented by a woman from Georgia. She said she was going to give information on the nuts and bolts of historic districts, conservation districts and the value of creating the districts and the efforts of cities to balance how much of their city to put in the districts. Ms. Gust-Jenson said the presenter said in order to give the Council a good briefing it would take her two hours. She asked what the Council wanted her to do. Council Members were in favor of a half hour presentation and a half hour of questions.
February 20, 2007
City Council Announcements
February 20, 2007
A. Information Needed by Staff
1. Attached is a draft of resolution language expressing opposition to the Divine Strake testing at the Nevada Test Site. The Mayor has indicated that he would like to sign a joint resolution with the Council. Do Council Members support this language and wish to sign the joint resolution? All Council Members wanted to sign the joint resolution. The Council wanted the resolution scheduled for Thursday’s Work Session.
RESOLUTION OPPOSING DIVINE STRAKE
WHEREAS, nuclear weapons testing – both above and below ground - performed at the Nevada Test Site has been shown to have disbursed radioactive material throughout the state of Utah and across the United States;
WHEREAS, many citizens of Salt Lake City living downwind from four decades of such tests have suffered health effects or, in the worst cases, loss of life as a result of the nation’s nuclear testing program; and
WHEREAS, the proposed detonation of 700 tons of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil at the Nevada Test Site could stir up radioactive debris from 928 atomic bomb tests conducted in the past, sucking it up into a predicted 10,000 foot high mushroom cloud, and dispersing the radioactive debris into the atmosphere where it could deliver a potentially damaging radiological dose to Salt Lake City citizens, according to the environmental assessment conducted by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (“DTRA”);
WHEREAS, two environmental assessments conducted by the DTRA contradicted each other and failed to adequately address the safety concerns of Salt Lake City citizens and its elected officials;
WHEREAS, the model used by the DRTA in the environmental assessments to measure particulate matter and dispersion of that matter is based on outdated models from the 1970s that assess visibility of radioactivity and not potential effects on health;
WHEREAS, experts with air quality regulatory agencies in Utah and Nevada have demonstrated that the Divine Strake test analysis did not consider that particles of dust as small as 2.5 microns would become airborne from the test and that these smaller radioactive particles could be suspended in the air longer and travel hundreds of miles before falling;
WHEREAS, a full and thorough Environment Impact Statement to analyze all potential effects of testing has not been conducted;
WHEREAS, the Department of Defense budget report said that the purpose of the test is to “identify the smallest possible nuclear yield necessary to destroy underground bunkers;”
WHEREAS, the effects of such renewed testing at the Nevada Test Site on the citizens of Salt Lake City due to potential disbursement of radioactive fallout has not been fully studied nor publicly explained;
WHEREAS, the citizens of Salt Lake City expect and demand that the DRTA and the Department of Defense will exhaustively research and explain any possible negative effects from any renewed testing at the Nevada Test Site;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Salt Lake City Council and Mayor urge the Defense Threat Reduction Agency and the National Nuclear Security Administration to cancel the Divine Strake testing at the Nevada Test Site.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this
resolution be sent to DTRA and NNSA and to the members of Utah’s congressional
delegation.
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Ross C. “Rocky” Anderson Van Blair Turner, District Two
Salt Lake City Mayor Salt Lake City Council Member, Chair
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Jill Remington Love, District Five Carlton J. Christensen, District One
Salt Lake City Council Member, Vice Chair Salt Lake City Council Member
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K. Eric Jergensen, District Three Nancy Saxton, District Four
Salt Lake City Council Member Salt Lake City Council Member
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David L. Buhler, District Six Søren D. Simonsen, District Seven
Salt Lake City Council Member Salt Lake City Council Member