CPTNET
January 19, 1998
Chequamagon National Forest, WI: International Inspection Team Refused Entry
to U.S. Nuclear War "Trigger" Site

by Doug Pritchard

On Jan. 18, 1998 an international citizens' inspection team was prevented
from entering the U.S. Navy's strategic communications facility known as
Project ELF in Chequamagon National Forest, Wisconsin. Twenty-two citizen
inspectors from the U.S. and Canada were arrested for trespassing as they
entered the site.

Twelve of those arrested were members of Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) - a
violence reduction initiative of the historic peace churches (Mennonite,
Brethren, Quaker).

Eighty other citizens shut down the main gate into the facility and posted
signs such as "ELF is a Crime Wave" and "Closed Due to Lack of Enemies".

This was the first ever citizens inspection of a nuclear weapons facility in
the U.S. Nine such citizen inspections have already been conducted in
Europe.

Fifteen prominent U.S. lawyers, including former Attorney-General Ramsey
Clark, recently issued an open letter stating that "there is a right and
responsibility for U.S. citizens to inspect such facilities to determine
whether their operation is a violation of international and domestic law".

The inspection team believes that the Navy's Extremely Low Frequency (ELF)
transmitter operates in violation of international laws banning weapons of
mass destruction. The ELF transmitter's sole purpose is to send signals to
the Navy's Trident submarines when they are deeply submerged in ocean waters
within striking distance of other nations. Each Trident is capable of
carrying up to 120 nuclear warheads, every one of which is 5 to 25 times more
powerful than the atomic bomb that obliterated Hiroshima.

In July 1996 the International Court of Justice ruled that first strike
nuclear facilities, such as the ELF/Trident system, are illegal under
international law.

The CPTers arrested were: Nait Alleman, age 22, from Harrisonburg VA; Kay
Bond, 53, Grand Rapids MI; Jamey Bouwmeester, 23, Elgin IL; Chris Buhler, 24,
Waterloo, Ont., Canada, Kryss Chupp, 38, Chicago IL; Ann Herman, 64,
Binghamton NY; Jake Kaufman, 26, Boulder CO; Claire Miller, 45, Norfolk VA;
Doug Pritchard, 49, Toronto, Ont., Canada; Sydney Stigge, 21, Newton KS; Lynn
Stoltzfus, 25, Glendale AZ; Josh Trost, 23, Grinnell IA.