COM 0212.339 1996-1998 - Laserfiche WebLink

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J !lay 2, 1996 a~7 ~~i 6 3 ~4 Dear Council Representatives: pis CCU~~ dr`~ COUNTY ui= HAWAII We are a large extended family'°of Hawaiian ancestry and we are writing to you about our concerns and feelings about the proposed irradiation plant. WE DON'T WANT IT! We are people who usually don't get involved in political problems. We are the people who clean your houses, fig: your cars, work in your orchards, sell you your groceries and your clothes. You act like we don't matter because we don't have a lot of money. Y'ou acted that way at the finance committee hearing when you ignored what most of the people wanted, and you voted the way the people with the money wanted. If you voted the way you did because you didn't hear from enough people or they didn't speak loudly enough or give you enough reasons: Now you are hearing from us, we're saying it loudly, and we'll give you reasons. WE DON'T WANT IT! Although we are not scientists, we have plenty of experience with a wide variety of people, and do not know one single person who does not make mistakes. Therefore, we know that the people who will work in the plant will make mistakes, because they are only human. Those mistakes can cause more cancer and birth defects on this island. Some of us have had cancer and some of our children have had birth defects and no one could tell us why. If there are more cases of cancer and more birth defects because the radioactive materials for the irradiation plant are not transported, stored, or disposed of safely, we probably won't know, because the nuclear industry has a long history of dishonesty and cover-up. Whether or not we know why, though, won't stop the pain and the suffering of a sick child or dying parent. So: WE DON'T WANT IT! Some of us are mechanics. And even those of us that are not mechanics own machines. We have a hard time thinking of any machine that has always worked the way its supposed to. So we are sure that this machine will break down, too. And if the machine breaks down at the same time that a person who works at the machine makes a mistake, this island and all the people on it could have their lives threatened. But because we can't see the radiation, we wouldn't know and we wouldn't have any way to protect ourselves. So: WE DON'T WANT IT!