Activists blockade genetically engineered feed processing plant

Auckland, New Zealand, Dec. 21-- Today police arrested four Greenpeace activists who stopped the production and distribution of genetically engineered (GE) animal feed by Tegel Foods Limited, the country’s largest supplier of chicken feed.

Eighteen activists, ten of whom were dressed as chickens, entered Tegels feedmill in Takanini, South Auckland at 6:30am this morning.

Two “chickens” chained themselves to an immobilized trailer carrying a billboard that blocked the entrance to the factory. The trailer caused considerable delay in the operations of the Tegel feedmill. The billboard read, “Tegel don’t be chicken, say no to GE.” Two other activists locked onto equipment to disrupt the production of the animal feed and they were also arrested.

The activists involved in the protest included international crew members from the Greenpeace flagship, Rainbow Warrior II, which arrived in Auckland on December 20.

The action today followed Greenpeace’s discovery that Tegel uses GE-contaminated soya meal in its animal feed.

Greenpeace condemned Tegel for using GE soya meal in animal feed and met with Tegel officials on-site, asking them to source GE-free soya meal.

“Tegel can easily follow the commitments that have been made around Europe and agree to using only GE-free soy in animal feed,” said Sarah Duthie, Greenpeace campaigner. “GE-free soy is already available from Brazil, a country that bans the growing of GE crops. Greenpeace is calling on Tegel to make a commitment today to source GE-free soy,” said Duthie.

When the activists entered the mill they labeled animal feed bags with, “Genetic Experiment, Warning: Contains Genetically Engineered Soy.” Climbers hung a banner off a mill silo reading, “Tegel Chicken Feed Not Wanted.”

“Tegel Foods Limited uses genetically engineered soya meal grown in the United States. The soya meal is used in animal feed which is supplied to Tegel poultry farmers,” said Duthie.

“Greenpeace opposes the irreversible release of genetically engineered organisms into the environment. As long as companies like Tegel continue to use GE ingredients in their animal feed the environment is exposed to the risks associated with GE organisms,” said Duthie.

Source: Global @ction globalaction@angelfire.com

Activists demand probe into federal aid to nuclear industry

By Danielle Knight

Washington, Dec. 19 (IPS)-- Anti-nuclear watchdogs and lawmakers here are calling for a federal investigation into an alleged attempt by the government to help the nuclear industry win approval for a controversial nuclear waste storage site in Nevada.

Environmentalists and lawmakers in Nevada have long argued against using Yucca Mountain in the deserts of southern Nevada as a permanent repository for 70,000 metric tons of high-level radioactive waste from nuclear reactors and weapons facilities across the country.

A newly leaked document from the Department of Energy has given opponents of the site new ammunition.

While legislation to store the waste in Yucca Mountain has been stalled in Congress, the Department of Energy (DOE) has been studying the site and has been compiling an independent report.

But according to opponents of the project, a leaked memo proves that the agency is biased in favor of the nuclear industry that wants the site approved.

The memo, given to reporters, states that the document “provides information that potential supporters can use in expressing support for a site recommendation.”

“This outrageous memo demonstrates that the DOE’s ‘impartiality’ in assessing Yucca Mountain’s suitability for a high-level radioactive waste dump is a joke,’’ said Wenonah Hauter, director of Public Citizen’s Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program.

Nevada senators Harry Reid and Richard Bryan, and representatives James Gibbons and Shelley Berkley, are joining advocacy groups in calling for the US General Accounting Office to investigate if the DOE and its contractors are secretly lobbying for the nuclear industry.

“It is imperative that science precedes politics and that the Department of Energy maintains the highest degree of integrity while conducting its evaluation process,’’ says Senator Reid.

On December 8, Senator Reid asked the DOE’s Inspector General to investigate the allegations of the DOE’s bias. On December 12, Energy Secretary Bill Richardson requested an investigation and said the report on Yucca Mountain would not be released until the investigation is complete.

But activists are pushing for the General Accounting Office, as an outside investigator, to look into the matter since the Yucca Mountain proposal represents an enormous subsidy for the nuclear industry, according to Michael Mariotte, executive director of the Nuclear Information and Resource Service, an advocacy group.

Storing the waste at Yucca Mountain is expected to cost the federal government about 50 billion dollars.

“Instead the money should be used for further investigations of what we should do with the waste,’’ says Mariotte.

Environmentalists across the nation are opposed to moving the waste from commercial reactors, which are concentrated in the eastern United States, to Nevada.

Dubbed “mobile Chernobyl’’ by activists, the transportation scheme would involve highly radioactive shipments passing through 43 states to get to the far western state.

According to opponents of the Yucca Mountain site, the plan not only poses dangers to those along the transportation route, but several scientists say the waste could likely contaminate the groundwater sometime in the future since the waste will remain dangerously radioactive for about 240,000 years.

Critics also warn that the waste could be released during an earthquake since Nevada ranks third in the nation for current seismic activity.

Several indigenous rights organizations have also joined environmentalists in opposing the site because Yucca Mountain is considered sacred by the Western Shoshone Native American tribe.

While environmentalists differ on what should be done with the waste, Mariotte says that it should remain stored at the reactor sites until the highly radioactive waste decays or until a site proven to be permanently safe is found.

A letter sent Tuesday by about 160 environmental organizations to the DOE urged Secretary Richardson to disqualify the Yucca Mountain site based on its unsuitability.

Since 1954, when the Atomic Energy Act allowed commercial nuclear reactors to generate electricity and held the federal government responsible for the spent nuclear fuel, scientists have been looking for a place to bury the waste.

In 1982, the Nuclear Waste Policy Act required that two sites be selected. But five years later, Congress told the Energy Department to study only Yucca Mountain. While the legislation to approve the Yucca Mountain site has stalled in Congress, lawmakers remain under pressure by the nuclear industry to give the project the green light.

Senator Reid worries that the political battle to keep nuclear waste out of Yucca Mountain will become harder if President-elect George W. Bush appoints Senator Bennet Johnson of Louisiana to the post of Energy Secretary.

Johnson, who while in the Senate had introduced legislation to store waste in Yucca Mountain, is one of three people Bush is currently considering for the cabinet position.

“Appointment of Bennet Johnson would be tantamount to a declaration of war against the environmental movement,’’ said Mariotte.