Reading Room

Thursday, July 19, 2007  
HER VOICE: Public Health Intern Sheyda Sabetan

By: Sheyda Sabetan
Published In: The Independent

Lab Clean-Up

Sheyda Sabetan

Pleasanton



The Livermore Lab has been conducting experiments since 1955 that contaminate the soil, air, and groundwater, and put our community?s health at risk. Concerned members of our community must seize this opportunity to improve health prospects for future generations.



The Lab?s bomb component testing ground, Site 300, is located southwest of downtown Tracy. Many contaminants are cancer-causing substances left from radioactive explosions. Livermore Lab is continuing to expand these polluting experiments.



Tri-Valley CAREs is the watchdog organization for the Lab, and, while interning there, I quickly became alert to the harmful repercussions these experiments have. This may seem like another item on the cancer-causing list, but we can actively prevent this contamination from continuing ? and achieve proper cleanup of the toxic materials already in our soil and water.



The Lab?s 2008 clean-up proposal is inadequate and under review. This plan will be the deciding factor in determining ?how clean is clean?? for final standards. Under their current design, the Lab will ?clean up? many of its contaminants, but leave in the environment as much as they can get away with. As a health-conscious college student, this is not good enough for me ? and should be equally unacceptable for every family in this area.



I urge you to express your concern and recommendations for a comprehensive clean-up by submitting written comments to the Department of Energy. Each recommendation will be taken into account for the revision of the clean-up plan. Comments are accepted until July 25th, 2007. Refer to http://www.trivalleycares.org/ for details.




This site may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Back to TVC in the news...