Ward Valley Low Level Radioactive Waste site - Draft Letter to Gov. Davis

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

Below is a Draft Letter to Governor Gray Davis,  regarding the Ward 
Valley Low Level Radioactive Waste Site. The intent of the letter is to 
provide the Governor with letters from as many Health Physics and 
Radiation Protection professionals, promoting the need for the site in 
California. I am requesting that the letter below be used as a guide in 
formulating your own responses. It is imperative to let the Governor 
know that these issues are manageable, and that his support is needed. 
There is already a considerable effort underway from those who oppose 
this site. Your help is needed to get numbers of responses documented 
that support the site.

Thank you all ...

Sandy Perle
President-Elect, SCCHPS

---------------

February 12, 1999

The Honorable Gray Davis
Governor of the State of California
State Capital 
Sacramento, CA 94814

Dear Governor Davis:

I am a member of the Health Physics and Radiation Protection 
professional community in California.  I am aware of California's need for 
the Ward Valley Low Level Radioactive Waste site and support the 
licensure and the development of that site.  As you know, California 
leads the nation in complying with the directives of the Low Level Waste 
Policy Act.  The license review by the California Department of Health 
Services has been a long process, highly scrutinized, and based on 
concrete scientific principles and risk assessment.  The Department of 
Health Services has determined that the site is safe and has issued the 
license, and it has been upheld by California's Courts.  We hope you will 
stand by these administrative and judicial decisions and request the 
federal government to promptly transfer to the State of California, the 
one-thousand acres in Ward Valley.  The license has faced numerous 
obstacles, law suits and intervenors.  It has withstood the scrutiny of 
public comment periods, court challenges and most notably a lengthy 
review by the National Academy of Sciences(NAS).  The conclusion of 
the noted NAS scientific panel is that this site is safe.  I concur.  The 
only impediments to the license are political and I trust that your 
decision will transcend politics. 

Lack of a site to dispose of low level radioactive waste jeopardizes 
California's position as a leader in science, environmental protection, 
medical research and cutting edge technology as we enter the 21st 
century.  I am concerned about the potential loss of access to the South 
Carolina disposal site and the resulting impacts that this will have on 
California.  We believe you are committed to making sound decisions 
based on the facts and based on what is best for all of California.  As a 
scientist and expert in radiation protection, I support the development of 
the Ward Valley site.  I  respect your position that you will use the 
wisdom brought by good science and proceed with the decisions about 
Ward Valley.
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