6702-92 Protesting nuclear waste dumping sites

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RZ -6%-oY NO. 6 7 0 2- 2 BY: Boscia, Gallagher, George, Gibbons, Roth, Seelie, Smith AN EMERGENCY RESOLUTION protesting the establishment of a nuclear waste dumping site for six midwestern states. WHEREAS, the plan to dispose of low-level radioactive waste from eleven nuclear power plants located in six states (less than 5% of this low-level radioactive waste comes from hospitals, research facilities or universities) into a dump in one of the six midwestern states, poses an unacceptable risk to the Great Lakes ecosystem and to all the residents of those midwestern states, and WHEREAS, the low-level radioactive waste that will be put into this'dump are very highly toxic and long-lived radioactive materials, including all wastes from nuclear power plants except the high-level radioactive fuel rods, and WHEREAS, low-level radioactive waste does not mean low risk, as low-level radioactive waste contains some of the most lethal long-lived substances on the Earth which can accumulate in the food chain, causing cancer, mutation, and .birth defects, and WHEREAS, no proven safe technology or engineered structure exists to store those wastes for the length of time they are danger- ously radioactive and must be isolated from the environment, and WHERE~S, an immediate moratorium should be placed on any and all phases of the low-level radioactive waste dump siting and legislative processes, and the state government of Ohio should be encouraged to work with the governments of other states to revise the 1980 Low-level Radioactive Waste Policy Act, the 1985 Amendment and the 1954 Atomic Energy Act in an effort to determine other alterna- tives for the disposal of this waste and to formulate a responsible radioactive waste policy, and WHEREAS, this resolution constitutes an emergency measure providing for the immediate preservation of the public health, safety and welfare, and for the usual daily operation of a municipal depart- ment in that there is no safe technology for disposal of low-level radioactive waste and the proposed radioactive dump poses a signifi- cant threat and at unacceptable risk to the health, safety, welfare and the environment of the residents of the midwestern states; now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY OF LAKEWOOD, STATE OF OHIO: Section 1. The Mayor and the Council of the City of Lake- wood do hereby strongly protest and oppose the establishment of a nuclear waste.dumping site for six midwestern states and do call upon Governor George V. Voinovich to declare an immediate moratorium on all phases of radioactive waste dump siting and to work with Congress and the governors of other states in an effort to formulate a respon- sible radioactive waste policy. Section 2. That the Clerk of Council be and she is hereby directed to forward a certified copy of this Resolution to Governor George V. Voinovich, to State Representative Madeline A. Cain and State Senator Anthony C. Sinagra, U.S. Representatives Mary Rose Oakar and Edward F. Feighan, and to U.S. Senators John H. Glenn and Howard M. Metzenbaum and such others as the Clerk may deem to have an interest in the passage of this resolution. SectiOn 3. That the Clerk of Council is further directed to forward a copy of this Resolution to the Earth Day Coalition, 3606 Bridge Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44113. Section 4. It is found and determined that all formal actions of this Council concerning and relating to the passage of this resolution were adopted in an open meeting of this Council, and that all such deliberations of this Council and of any of its commit- tees that resulted in such formal action were in meetings open to the public in compliance with all legal requirements.