Group to protest nuclear weapons

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Aug 4, 2006 | by Lea Blevins, STAFF WRITER

LIVERMORE -- Activist group Tri-Valley CAREs plans to join peace, faith, environmental and indigenous groups across the country to protest nuclear weapons on the anniversaries of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings.

This year marks the 61st anniversary of the bombings -- Hiroshima on Aug. 6 and Nagasaki on Aug. 9.

Tri-Valley CAREs (Communities Against a Radioactive Environment) will hold a peace camp at Del Valle Regional Park on Saturday, a protest and march at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory on Sunday and another protest outside Bechtel Corp. offices in San Francisco on Wednesday.

The protest is to encourage an end to nuclear weapons and war, focusing on facilities run by Bechtel, which has been involved with nuclear research and is one of the operators of the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.

The peace camp will open check-in at noon Saturday and will include discussions, music and reflection. Tri-Valley CAREs organizers are hoping the camp event will prepare demonstrators for protests on Sunday and Wednesday.

"That's really to build a positive community of peace and also get people prepared," said Outreach Director Tara Dorabji. "We're really excited."

On Sunday, protesters will gather at 8 a.m. near the intersection of Vasco and Patterson Pass roads, along the Livermore Lab's perimeter.

Speakers will include Hiroshima survivor Keiji Tsuchiya, Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg and author Norman Solomon. The event also will include a march to the lab's gate.

Lab spokesman David Schwoegler said the lab prepares for these types of events by beefing up security to assure that no employees or demonstrators are at risk.

"Our primary concern is safety," Schwoegler said. "It's frustrating because it's costly."

He estimated that $25,000 to $40,000 is lost each time there is a protest because of the added security.

Agencies involved include lab officers, University of California police, Livermore police, the Alameda County Sheriff's Department, California Highway Patrol and Sandia National Laboratories officers.

Schwoegler questioned demonstrators' choice to protest the Livermore Lab because no one at the lab deals with the national policy issues they are addressing, he said.

The public is welcome to attend the peace camp and protests. For more information, go online to http://www.trivalleycares.org.

Staff writer Lea Blevins can be reached at lblevins@angnewspapers.com or (925) 416-4819.