COLORADO RIVER NATIVE NATIONS ALLIANCE
Fort Mojave * Chemehuevi * Quechan * Cocopah * Colorado River Indian Tribes
500 Merriman, Needles, Ca 92363 (760) 629-4591FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 15, 1998Contact:
Nora Helton, Chairwoman, Fort Mojave Indian Tribe (760) 629-4591
Tracy Rice, Rainbow PUSH (310) 889-1111
Bradley Angel, Greenaction (415) 248-5010REVEREND JESSE JACKSON, BONNIE RAITT, MIKE FARRELL JOIN TRIBAL LEADERS TO SAVE WARD VALLEY, THE COLORADO RIVER & SACRED INDIAN LAND FROM A NUCLEAR DUMP PRESS CONFERENCE MONDAY, JUNE 15, 1998
WESTWOOD FEDERAL BUILDING
11000 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles
9:45 a.m.: Traditional Native American Singers
10 a.m.: Press Conference with Reverend JacksonLos Angeles, CA -- As the decade long fight to stop the radioactive waste dump proposed for Ward Valley reaches a climax, Reverend Jesse Jackson, Reverend James Lawson Jr., Bonnie Raitt, Mike Farrell, and Jim Bickhart, aide to Speaker of the Assembly Antonio Villaraigosa, will join tribal leaders from the Indian Nations along the Colorado River and environmental and religious leaders in calling on the White House and U.S.Interior Department to stop the dump once and for all. Rev. Jackson will speak at a press conference on the steps of the Westwood Federal Building, 11000 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, Monday, June 15, 1998 at 10 a.m..
Ward Valley and the Colorado River have profound sacred significance to the area's Indian people. The plan to dump highly radioactive wastes from nuclear power plants in unlined dirt trenches above an aquifer with pathways to the Colorado River threatens the sacred site and the homelands of the Indian Nations, but also poses a direct threat to the Colorado River, water source for over 20 million people in Southern California, Arizona and Mexico.
"It is a sin to locate this dump on land that is sacred and traditional homeland of the Indian Nations who have lived in the region for time immemorial," said Reverend Jesse Jackson. "It is a violation of basic civil rights and religious freedom to propose dumping radioactive waste in a place of worship central to a people's spiritual well-being."
"The Colorado River Indian Tribes are grateful that Reverend Jackson is uniting with the five tribes of the Colorado River in our struggle to save Ward Valley, the Colorado River and sacred Indian land from the nuclear waste dump. We demand environmental justice," said Daniel Eddy Jr., Chairman of the Colorado River Indian Tribes.
An all-night spiritual gathering will be held at "ground zero" at Ward Valley, Tuesday, June 16th. Ward Valley is 22 miles west of Needles, California, Water Road exit off Interstate 40. A U.S. District Court hearing in Washington D.C. will be held June 17, 1998 on the State's lawsuit to force the Interior Department to transfer the federal land at Ward Valley for the dump.