The struggle to save Ward Valley from a nuclear waste dump shifted in spring 1997 from an environmental focus to a battle to protect land that is sacred to the Mojave, Chemehuevi, Quechan, Cocopah, and Colorado River Indian Tribes who live along the nearby Colorado River.
Ward Valley is sacred because it is close to Spirit Mountain, where the Tribes were created long ago, and because it is the home of KAH-PET, the desert tortoise, which is a brother to the Mojave people. The tortoise plays a significant role in the Creation tale and ties the people to the land spiritually.
In addition, the largest concentration of giant intaglios in North America lies on terraces along the Colorado River between Lake Mead and Yuma. Intaglios are ancient figures carved in the landscape long ago, so large that their full effect can only be appreciated from the air. Two of them lie on facing sides of the Colorado River south of Needles, California, only 20 miles from Ward Valley. Sacred land indeed.
Finally, Ward Valley supports the last remaining healthy population of desert tortoises, which are protected by the Endangered Species Act as a threatened species.
Following the lead of the five Tribes, the Ward Valley Coalition consensed at its April 1997 Spring Gathering to oppose any further destruction of the land in Ward Valley. That means we oppose government plans to drill core samples to test whether putting radioactive waste in unlined trenches would contaminate the aquifer beneath Ward Valley and the Colorado River. Enough evidence already exists to prove that the dump would leak. But whether it leaks or not is beside the point; its mere existence would desecrate sacred land and the sacred tortoise.
The drilling could occur in late summer or fall 1997, and we plan to resist it with nonviolent direct actions. We have an Emergency Response Network telephone tree to notify supporters when it is time to come to the land.
If you would like to join our Emergency Response Network, volunteer to maintain our camp on the site of the proposed dump, receive our newsletter, or send a donation to help fund our work, please contact Save Ward Valley, 107 F Street, Needles CA 92363. Phone: (760) 326-6267. Fax: (760) 326-6268. E-mail: <savewardvalley@bbs.rippers.com>.
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