Shoshone fight "Divine Strake" [View All]

[JuniperLea]

http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=7783

Western Shoshone winning converts
GOP Senator, shareholders offer support in crusades against Pentagon, mining company


Sam Lewin 4/25/2006

A Western tribe currently engaged in battles with two powerful opponents- the largest gold producer in the world and the Pentagon- - is now receiving moral and legal support from shareholders in the company involved in the former controversy and a Republican Senator concerned about the latter’s plan for a huge explosion.

The Western Shoshone tribe, which claims millions of acres in land spanning portions of four states, has already sued to prevent “Divine Strake,” a massive non-nuclear blast that the tribe worries could kick up radioactive matter still remaining in the region following a series of nuclear tests conducted over a forty-year period.

The tribe’s lawsuit, filed in federal court, names as defendants officials with the Defense Department, National Nuclear Security Administration and Defense Threat Reduction Agency.

Blast planners have countered that their research shows there is no danger of nuclear fallout. Senator Orrin Hatch is not so sure. The Utah Republican has sent a letter to the federal government seeking to confirm that the test is safe. "The more I look into this, the more upset I become," Hatch said.