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East Bay | Environment & Forest Defense

Berkeley, CA - from Nuclear-Free Zone to UC's NUCLEAR SHIPPING LANE
by Midnight Matt ( parkguard [at] hotmail.com )
Thursday Oct 15th, 2009 11:53 PM
In 1966, the City of Berkeley passed legislation which made it a `Nuclear-Free Zone`. Now UC is counting on the laissez-faire attitude of Berkeleyans to move trucks carrying unprotected, irradiated waste from the historic Bevatron atom smasher right through Berkeley streets in broad daylight.

For a number of weeks now, trucks hauling large tarp-shrouded objects on flatbeds have been seen and documented traveling westward on University Ave toward I-80 in Berkeley, CA. Some of us suspected these were irradiated parts of the historic Bevatron nuclear accelerator being hauled through the streets of Berkeley, which has passed legislation ordaining itself a nuclear-free zone, w\ nothing more than an ordinary tarp for protection. Others doubted it.

NOW IT'S OFFICIAL. On the morning of October 14th, 2009, several trucks with the mysterious tarped-over payloads made their way down University Ave. just as they've done every other weekday morning. But this time there was a major difference. There were signs in the trucks' placard holders declaring the cargo, `Radioactive`. This is a major development. Whether it was because of the first YouTube posting, or the fact that Zachary Running Wolf and I brought it up during public comment at the most recent Berkeley city council meeting, plus my e-mailing the YouTube link to the mayor and council, or the formal complaint filed w\ the California Dept. of Toxic Substances Control by another concerned citizen, or all of the above, the University of California has now outed its dangerous cargo.

It would be unconscionable for the citizens of the Bay Area and anyone else concerned with the nuclear contamination issue to sit idly by. Contact the mayor\council of Berkeley and let them know you won't stand for nuclear proliferation in a self-proclaimed nuclear-free zone. Contact UC officials and let them know you won't allow any city to be turned into their private nuclear shipping lane. Better yet, join us in the streets as we confront and put a stop to this deadly cargo!