Wayne County: You Are the Next Radioactive Garbage Dump
Hello community!
 
We hope you all are staying safe and healthy as temperatures start coming down and the kids are back in school. This month's update has some exciting news, important events, and more excellent watchdogging from our newsletter author, Jessie Collins.
Exciting Community Event! - Save the Date
 
First off, we have some very exciting news! Please SAVE THE DATE for Saturday, October 12th from 5-8pm! As you know, this year marks CRAFT’s first Community Fellowship and we’ve had the absolute pleasure of working with six brilliant, generous, and hardworking individuals in this fellowship. On October 12th, we will hold an event celebrating the culmination of our work together as an offering to the community, so please mark it in your calendars and come out to party with us! 
Wayne County Nuclear Waste Hearing
 
One of the biggest problems with the nuclear industry is that no one knows what to do with the radioactive waste it creates. It is disastrously hazardous to the workers who handle it and the people who live where it is dumped, and it’s not getting any less dangerous any time soon. Michigan is getting a wake-up call to this reality as nuclear waste that was generated during World War 2 is being transported from New York to Wayne County.
 
A meeting about this decision will be held this Wednesday, September 4th, at 6:00pm at Wayne County Community College District (WCCCD). Several agencies will be represented with the attendance of many state and local officials. Please come out and voice your opposition to this decision!
 
Wayne County Community College District (WCCCD)
Ted Scott Campus, Room B121, 9555 Haggerty Rd., Belleville
 
The following people/entities are expected to attend:
Rep. Debbie Dingell
Wayne County Executive Warren Evans
Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE)
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
Republic Services, Inc.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Other state and local officials
And now, for updates from the newsletter!
 
1. Heard this one before? DTE is requesting another rate hike. Every year for the past TEN years, DTE Energy has increased its rates for DTE Electric and DTE Gas. This year, they want an increase of $456.4 million for Electric and $266 million for Gas. Meanwhile, DTE is paying for private jets to fly their executives around the country. In 2022, they spent almost a quarter of a million dollars for only 17 trips. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has been taking DTE to task for their outrageous requests when Michigan remains the second-worst state in the country for power outages.
 
2. Folks in every state – and maybe every country – are under a mistaken belief that Small Modular Reactors (SMR) are just waiting to solve their energy needs. Unfortunately, SMRs are not a reality yet, just unsuccessfully being developed. That’s right: they don’t exist. And yet, money and resources are being funneled into their development when carbon-free and lower-cost renewable technologies are available today. Oh, but how else will we increase our stockpile of 3,700 nuclear warheads in the US?
 
3. The Havasupai Tribe has issued an open letter calling out Energy Fuels Resources Inc. (EFRI) for its violations of indigenous territories with uranium mining and transportation of ore through Arizona. The dangerous handling of uranium ore endangers tribal members of the Havasupai and Navajo as well as Arizona citizens. EFRI has demonstrated a complete lack of regard for the health and safety of the land and all who live and depend on it in their pursuit of the almighty dollar. Read the full statement in this month’s insert.
 
Thanks for supporting us and a safer world powered by renewables.
We’re in this together!
 
Peace and Safety,
 
The CRAFT Team
Citizen's Resistance At Fermi Two (CRAFT) is an Indigenous-led, grassroots, organization, committed to an accessible, fair, and just energy future for all! CRAFT originally formed after the Christmas Day 1993 incident at the Fermi2 nuclear reactor that dumped 1.5 million gallons of untreated toxic, radioactive water into Lake Erie. We will continue to push for the closing of Fermi2, and for a safer world powered by renewables.
Submitted by admin on Mon, 09/02/2024 - 02:56