CPTnet
8 December 2006

JONESBOROUGH, TN: Awareness of Depleted Uranium may turn swords into
plowshares

by Ellen Kling

On Sunday, 26 November 2006, when our Depleted Uranium (DU) delegation met
in several different Jonesborough, TN area churches, we extended invitations
to come to our vigil site (across the street from the Aerojet plant) during
services and Sunday school. Some people met with us the next few days,
asked questions and told us about health concerns in the community. We gave
brochures to people who stopped their cars at our vigil site.

A chemistry professor at East Tennessee State University came to the site to
talk about DU; he showed us a sample of "depleted" uranium. It was a
portion of a ballistics shell and very heavy (twice as dense as lead).

Linda Modica is a local contact person who has worked with the DU Campaign
and is active in getting information out to the public about the Aerojet
plant. She asked a photographer from the Johnson City Press to take photos
of our group and then wrote an article for the local paper.

Another welcome response to our "awareness" picture is the collaboration of
the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance. Some members came to our vigil
site, and the director of OREPA told us about the history of Oak Ridge and
its current project: testing and refurbishing nuclear missiles to maintain
and strengthen the US stockpile. This manufacturing is an undercover
operation and in direct defiance of the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

On Tuesday, six of us met with David Davis, newly elected Congressman for
this area of Tennessee. He asked us, "What is DU? Where is it used? Why
is it used?" John Mueller of our team spoke to him about the manufacturing
of DU and the conflicting opinions about its danger. Juanita Shenk talked
about visiting Iraq and told him of a study that reports a dramatic rise in
incidences of cancer, leukemia, and birth defects for the offspring of vets
after the first Gulf War. Jerry Park shared that the European Union is
against the usage of DU in weaponry, and Great Britain and the US Navy have
stopped using it. Congressman-elect Davis asked us if studies show that
Aerojet's usage of DU has affected the people living in the area. Cliff
Kindy responded with a reference to the Defense Appropriations Bill of 2007
that includes an amendment to study health concerns related to DU.

Our delegation was encouraged by the questions about our campaign and the
positive responses to our vision of replacing DU weapons production with
tools that will "make swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks."