Committee for the Rescue and Development Of Vieques

This notification (below) circulated today on the internet via the Federal Aviation Administration, to warn pilots about the danger zone on Vieques that will result from the detonation of bombs in the ex Navy practice area to take place tomorrow, Friday.

Over the past two years, the Navy has detonated dozens of tons of bombs left on Eastern Vieques during half century of military use of this island municipality. The denunciations and concerns expressed by the CRDV and other Viequense community groups as well as recent statements from the Puerto Rico Chemists Association, have fallen on deaf ears among the agencies responsible for the environmental and our people’s health.

We use this FAA notification, once again, and this cyber network, to energetically denounce the continued destruction of Vieques environment and the health of our families that results from US Navy practices here; practices that enjoy the complicity of the EPA, Federal Fish and Wildlife Service, PR Dept. of Natural and Environmental Resources, the PR Environmental Quality Board, the Governor of Puerto Rico and the Municipal Government of Vieques.

In the face of dangers posed by the constant detonations in the ex bombing range – an area mined with all types of explosives, including uranium projectiles – the federal and Puerto Rican agencies have allied with the Navy in its desire to eliminate the bombs by bombing us, clean our environment by expelling contaminants into the air and protect our health by increasing the level of military toxics in our geography.

We demand the government authorities change their position of blind support of the Navy’s decisions; it’s time they defend the citizens who pay their salaries and for whom they work – according to their respective ministerial duties.

View FAA notification.

Congresswoman Linda Sánchez in Vieques to hear about contamination and health

Military contamination and the horrible effects on the health of Viequenses will be principal topics of a community conversation with Congresswoman Linda Sánchez (D – Calif.), coordinated by the Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques at the historic Count Mirasol Fort on the island municipality. The activity will take place at 6pm and is part of efforts by the group to bring these topics to discussion among influential US politicians during the electoral processes.

Sánchez is on the powerful Congressional Judiciary Committee and was part of the congressional group that supported the movement to end US Navy presence in Vieques.

Civic leaders and community folk affected by cancer and other illnesses related to military toxics will offer testimony for the congresswoman who also is part of Senator Barack Obama’s campaign team.

The Viequenses demand action from the US Congress and the next president, for total and adequate environmental clean up and medical services for these people besieged for over half a century by US Navy and allied military practices.

This will be the second time in months that an Obama campaign delegation travels to Vieques to meet with the CRDV and hear the community speak.

Contacts: Nilda Medina/Robert Rabin 787 375-0525

Comité Pro Rescate y Desarrollo de Vieques
P.O. Box 1424 Vieques, Puerto Rico 00765
Tel. (787) 741-0716 Fax (787) 741-0358 Email: bieke@prdigital.com

Arriving on the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico recently, it was clear we had come to an extraordinarily beautiful place. The beaches are gorgeous, the water is crystal clear, the tourist hotels and restaurants are laid-back and the tropical vegetation and terrain are stunning, especially in the fiery light of sundown.

Looking below the surface here, though, we found a lingering and ugly controversy involving allegations of environmental contamination by the U.S. military and elevated health risks to long-time residents. In the words of a lawsuit filed by more than 7,000 plaintiffs against the U.S. government, “residents of Vieques experience a 30% higher rate of cancer, a 381% higher rate of hypertension, a 99% higher rate of cirrhosis of the liver and a 41% higher rate of diabetes than the rest of Puerto Rico.”

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The U.S. Navy continues bombing Vieques. In order to minimize costs and maximize profits, the Navy and contractors in charge of the “environmental clean up” of Vieques, have detonated tons of explosives here over the past two years. In this process, they release enormous quantities of military toxics into the air, in an environment already overcharged with heavy metals and other dangerous chemical substances produced during half century of bombing and other military practices on Vieques.

On Cape Cod, Massachusetts’ wealthy, white community, the state courts ordered the military to use specialized “detonation chambers” to avoid air contamination during clean up of explosives at the Mass Military Reserve. In recent years we have demanded the use of these special chambers in Vieques to limit the contamination in the process of destroying the tens of thousands of bombs and other explosive artifacts left on Vieques soil and waters by the US military.

However, as one can see from FAA message we include, today the US Navy detonated more explosives on the east end of Vieques. The trade winds of our region move particles of contaminants from ex bombing zone on the east end, toward the population area, approximately eight miles down wind. According to the Puerto Rico Health Department and the University of Puerto Rico’s School of Public Health, Vieques is among the communities with the highest cancer incidence in the whole archipelago.

This past Thursday, in a meeting here with high officials of the presidential campaign for Senator Barak Obama, we brought up our concerns about the open detonations and other negative aspects of the decontamination process on Vieques. In coming days, we will send a message to the Hillary Clinton campaign about this topic. Both candidates have made public statements recently, calling for an appropriate clean up in Vieques. Interestingly, the candidates in the up coming Puerto Rican elections have not even mentioned Vieques.

Stop the detonations!

For more information, please contact the Committee for the Development and Rescue of Vieques.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico: The U.S. Navy has set aside US$200 million (129 million) for the removal of military waste in Vieques island, just east of Puerto Rico’s main island, authorities announced Tuesday.

The money will be used in the next seven years to remove explosives in the island’s eastern region, the site of most previous military training exercises, said Richard Mach, with the Navy’s environment office.

More than 9,000 acres (3,600 hectares) of the almost 23,000 acres (9,300 hectares) that the Navy occupied for several decades will be scanned for contaminants, he said.

The Navy previously used Vieques as its main Atlantic training site, combining air, sea and land maneuvers. It ended them in 2003 following years of local protests after an errant bomb killed a civilian guard.

About 775 acres (315 hectares) have been cleared since the cleanup began in 2005, with officials uncovering nearly 15,000 live munitions and recycling about 1,900 tons (1,724 metric tons) of scrap.

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