This involves three different types of environmental reviews and two different agencies. The Joint Public Notice, by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Washington State Department of Ecology, is at

http://www.nws.usace.army.mil/PublicMenu/documents/REG/NWS-2009-572-PN.pdf

Also see USACE News Release

http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2012/feb/14/army-corps-seeks-comments-on-proposed-navy-wharf

The deadline for comments is February 26, 2012. I think we should ask for a public hearing and a time extension because the Navy again failed to adequately notify citizens. So far I only know of one person who was notified.

The environmental reviews are for the entire second Explosives Handling Wharf and related buildings. We can discuss any aspect of the Draft EIS or Supplemental EIS in our comments. Environmental concerns are the most likely to be considered. The Navy’s website, with the Draft EIS and Supplemental EIS, is at https://www.nbkeis.com/ehw.

To ensure proper consideration of all comments, responders must include the following name and reference number in the text of their comments:

U.S. Navy (Bangor) NWS-2009-572

In order to be accepted, e-mail comments must originate from the author’s e-mail account and must include on the subject line of the e-mail message the permit applicant’s name and reference number as shown above.

First of the two groups of review: US Army Corps of Engineers

Environmental issues in accordance with Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (CWA) and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act are reviewed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. I believe the Section 10 review gives us the opportunity to raise new issues such as navigation concerns in Hood Canal, economic impact for the region and recreational concerns. These comments go to:

US Army Corps of Engineers

Regulatory Branch

Post Office Box 3755

Seattle, WA 98124-3755

Telephone (206) 764-3273

Attn: Ms. Catherine Blackwell, Project Manager

or by e-mail to catherine.m.blackwell@usace.army.mil

Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, see

http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/guidance/wetlands/sec404.cfm

Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act, see

http://www.fema.gov/plan/ehp/ehplaws/cwa.shtm

http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/guidance/wetlands/sect10.cfm

Also see http://apps.ecy.wa.gov/permithandbook/permitdetail.asp?id=36

Second of the two groups of review: Washington State Department of Ecology

Environmental issues in accordance with Section 401 of the Clean Water Act, with applicable provisions of State water pollution control laws and the Coastal Zone Management Act, are reviewed by the Washington State Department of Ecology. These comments go to:

WA Department of Ecology

SEA Program

Post Office Box 47600

Olympia, WA 98504-7600

Telephone (360) 407-6068

Attn: SEA Program, Federal Permit Coordinator

or by e-mail to ecyrefedpermits@ecy.wa.gov

Section 401 of the Clean Water Act, see
http://www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands/facts/fact24.html

Also see http://apps.ecy.wa.gov/permithandbook/permitdetail.asp?id=43

Contact: Glen Milner

Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action

www.gzcenter.org

Read About SANE ACT 2012

Read Seattle Times Article.

Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action held a peaceful vigil and nonviolent direct action at the main gate to Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor in Silverdale, Washington. Thegroup protested the U.S. government’s continued deployment of the Trident nuclear weapons system. Its continued reliance on nuclear weapons as an instrument of foreign policy is in contravention of both U.S. and international laws.

The Trident submarine base at Bangor, just 20 miles from Seattle, contains the largest concentration of operational nuclear weapons in the US arsenal. Each of the 8 Trident submarines at Bangor carries up to 24 Trident II (D-5) missiles, each capable of being armed with as many as 8 independently targetable nuclear warheads. Each nuclear warhead has an explosive force of between 100 and 475 kilotons (up to 30 times the force of the Hiroshima bomb).

On Saturday afternoon the group maintained a peaceful vigil on the roadside outside the base entrance. Nine protesters entered the roadway carrying banners and blocked all inbound traffic lanes. One banner had a quote from Martin Luther King Jr.: “When scientific power outruns spiritual power, we end up with guided missiles and misguided men.” One side of the second banner read “Care for Sailors & Marines: Peaceful Jobs for All.” The other side read “Enriching the Few at Everyone’s Expense: Occupy Trident.”

Trained peacekeepers from Ground Zero ensured the safety of all participants during the vigil and action, and communicated with base security personnel as needed.

Traffic into the main gate was turned away for approximately 26 minutes. Once Washington State Patrol officers arrived the protestors complied with the order to move off the State roadway. All were cited for “Pedestrian in Roadway Illegally” (a traffic offense) and released at the scene.

Those arrested were Louise Bollman, Larry Kerschner, Gabriel La Valle, Peggy Love, Jack Smith, Carlo Voli, Marion Ward, Robert Whitlock, and Alice Zillah. Arrestees’ ages range from 33 to 73 years.

The day planned in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. began in the morning at Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action where participants learned about nuclear weapons effects (with an emphasis on the Trident system) and U.S. nuclear weapons policy. They also participated in nonviolence training and discussed the implications of the Occupy movement in relation to the movement to abolish nuclear weapons.

Participants in the vigil and action included activists from the Kitsap Peninsula, Olympia, the Greater Puget Sound area, the Interfaith Peace Walk for MLK Day, and Occupy Seattle.

Ground Zero holds three scheduled vigils and actions each year in resistance to Trident and in protest of U.S. nuclear weapons policy. The group has been working to reverse the Navy’s plan to build a Second Explosives Handling Wharf at Bangor. Ground Zero is also working to de-fund the Navy’s plans for a next generation ballistic missile submarine, estimated to cost $99 billion to build.

For over thirty-three years Ground Zero has engaged in education, training in nonviolence, community building, resistance against Trident and action toward a world without nuclear weapons.

Contact: Leonard Eiger, Media and Outreach

Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action

www.gzcenter.org

subversivepeacemaking@gmail.com

(425)445-2190

Read Seattle Times Article.

The ten defendants in two separate trials were charged with being “pedestrians on Roadway Unlawfully,” a traffic infraction. On different occasions, May 7, 2011 and August 8, 2011, the activists blocked the entrance to Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor, symbolically closing the base as a statement against the U.S. government’s continued deployment of the Trident first strike nuclear weapons system.

The Trident submarine base at Bangor, just 20 miles from Seattle, contains the largest concentration of operational nuclear weapons. Each of the 8 Trident submarines at Bangor carries 24 Trident II (D-5) missiles, each armed with up to 8 independently targetable nuclear warheads. Each nuclear warhead has an explosive yield of between 100 and 475 kilotons (up to 32 times the yield of the Hiroshima bomb).

The defendants on trial January 4th were Anne Hall, Betsy Lamb, Brenda McMillen and Tom Rogers, who were arrested August 8, 2011. On trial on January 5th were Mary Gleysteen, Anne Hall, David Hall, Bernie Meyer, Shirley Morrison, Dorli Rainey and Alice Zillah, who were arrested on May 7, 2012.

Kitsap County District Court Judge James M. Riehl presided over the trials. All the defendants, except Bernie Meyer and Dorli Rainey who represented themselves, were represented by attorney William Joel Rutzick.

Rutzick attempted to demonstrate that the defendants were incorrectly charged, and therefore the charges should be dismissed. State Patrol officers, who had been present at both arrests, testified, and photos and video were shown by the defense to make its case.

Aside from the legal issues surrounding the charging statute, the primary reason for the defendants to be in the courtroom was to make their case against the continued deployment of the Trident first strike weapons system and the government’s continued reliance on nuclear weapons while neglecting to lead the way towards the global abolition of nuclear weapons.

Judge Riehl was attentive and conciliatory as he limited the extent of the defendants’ testimonies while allowing them to state their case, in which they spoke passionately, referring to precedents established by the Nuremburg Tribunal and humanitarian principles and law. The general question asked by defense counsel was “Why did you do what you did?”

Tom Rogers, a retired Navy officer who commanded nuclear submarines during the Cold War, testified that he had been responsible for nuclear weapons during his career, and that our country’s national security strategy based on the threat of nuclear annihilation is dangerous, militarily impractical, and unaffordable. He participated in the August action to bring public awareness and believes his actions were justified based on the Nuremburg principles.

Anne Hall, a Lutheran minister, said that she “wanted to close that base for as long as possible… wanted to make people aware of the immorality and illegality of what was going on in that base.” When asked “What part did religion have to do with your motivation?” by Rutzick, she said “my calling is to follow Jesus… it is an anathema to God to kill children…”

Dave Hall: “…my commitment is to love justice and it is an anathema to be willing to incinerate an entire city…” Bernie Meyer: “…what I did was a citizen intervention.” Alice Zilah: “Trident is a cold war era machine we can no longer afford. We can’t afford them on a financial level or a moral level.” Dorli Rainey: “[Our action at Bangor] is the only way we can get to the public to let them know the outrageous things being done in our name.” Shirley Morrison: “…these weapons are immoral and illegal…” Brenda McMillan: [Nuclear] “weapons are immoral, horrific.” Betsy Lamb: “[We] follow in the steps of Martin Luther King, Gandhi, Jackie Hudson, and Jesus himself… feel called to take these drastic steps.”

In his ruling Judge Riehl said that the defendants’ compelling testimony “rings true,” and that it has been “a long battle in this courtroom for people working on this issue,” and remarked how Anne Hall has been engaged in this struggle for 30 years. Although the judge believes “… the cause is just…” he said that he must “uphold the rule of law.” Consistent with both the rule of law and the circumstances surrounding the defendants’ actions he found them guilty of the traffic infraction, fined them the full $56, and mitigated that to $25.

The eleven defendants are participants with Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action, which holds vigils and nonviolent direct actions at the Bangor base each year around Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday, Mother’s Day, and the anniversaries of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

For over thirty-three years Ground Zero has engaged in education, training in nonviolence, community building, resistance against Trident and action toward a world without nuclear weapons.

Contact: Leonard Eiger, Media and Outreach

Join us as we honor Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legacy by Occupying Trident and working for the abolition of nuclear weapons.

For over thirty-four years Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action has engaged in education, training in nonviolence, community-building, resistance against Trident and action toward a world without nuclear weapons.

For more information on the January 14th event: See The Events Calendar, or contact Alice Zillah at (360) 357-7705.

As we move into a new year it is natural (and important) to reflect on the previous year. At Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action we had a full year in resistance to Trident and working to abolish nuclear weapons. It was a year of joys and sorrows.

We held our three major annual actions at Bangor, continued to support Disarm Now Plowshares, put out a quarterly newsletter (CLICK HERE to read the January 2012 issue) to keep everyone informed and engaged, had Dennis Kucinich visit Ground Zero Center and give a landmark speech, worked to stop the Navy’s plans for a Second Explosives Handling Wharf at Bangor, and more.

We lost our dear Jackie Hudson to cancer, and honored her well. At her memorial the approximately 150 participants tied at least that many origami cranes to the Bangor fence and held a vigil at the Bangor main gate in. The song, Jackie’s Waltz, lifted our spirits, and Jackie’s gentle (yet firm) admonition to “take just one step out of our comfort zones” follows us into the New Year.

As we begin this New Year there is a roll for each of us in this work for a better world for future generations. At each of our actions – on MLK weekend, Mother’s Day weekend, and Hiroshima/Nagasaki weekend – there are many ways to participate, from vigilers to Peacekeepers to arrest riskers. Throughout the year we can spread the message of nonviolence and nuclear abolition throughout our communities outside of GZ. And in this New Year we will continue to push back against the Bangor Second Explosives Handling Wharf, while we begin a campaign to stop the Navy’s plans for a new generation of ballistic missile submarines that would operate through the year 2082 (according to the Navy’s plans).

We are leaping out of the starting blocks with trials and our annual MLK events in January. Read further to get the details.

Thanks to all of you for your support and engagement in 2011. May we continue in the coming year to work together in the spirit of nonviolence toward a world at peace with justice and free of nuclear weapons.

Peace and Good Wishes,

Leonard

Dorli Rainey on Keith Olbermann

Transcript

KEITH OLBERMANN: Let’s go to Seattle, where Occupy protesters were pepper sprayed last night. Among them, political activist and Occupy Seattle supporter Dorli Rainey. It’s a great pleasure to have you on the program tonight.

DORLI RAINEY: Thank you, Keith. It is a pleasure to be here.

OLBERMANN: Now, before we get into last night, we have seen the pictures, so the obvious question is — how are you feeling today?

RAINEY: I am feeling great. I feel so energized. It’s amazing what a little pepper spray will do for you.

OLBERMANN: It seems to have that effect on people who know they are in the right. How did you get involved in all that last night? Can you tell us?

RAINEY: Well, first of all, I have been involved at all of these actions — civil rights, the women’s rights, and now this. So, this is a natural progression for me. And I was in D.C. with the October — the October 2011 group — from the 6th through the 10th of October, which was exhilarating to hear these great speakers that we had there. When I came back, I was totally overcharged to start working here.

So, yesterday — I was on my way to one of these boring transportation meetings when I got off my bus to change to another one, I heard tons of helicopters overhead. You could not hear yourself think. And I thought, “Well, it’s probably Occupy Seattle is doing a — an action there to help out Occupy Wall Street.” And I decided to go up there and check it out.

And sure enough, right in front of the Nordstrom store at the big intersection was — first of all, an army of police officers, bicycles, cars, lights, et cetera — and the people were in the center of that intersection blocking traffic all around. A lot of my friends were there. And my friends consist of all age groups, all colors.

OLBERMANN: Uh-huh.

RAINEY: No matter what some of the media say, that they are rats and crazy and druggies, et cetera. That is just not so. So, I stood out there with my friends, and we were just deciding that we had stayed there long enough and we might go on. Well, we’re not a secret society, and when somebody says mic check, everybody can hear it, and the cops also knew that we were on the verge of leaving. Just at that moment, the bike patrol came up and shoved bicycles into the crowd moving them to the center, and simultaneously they let go of the pepper spray. And in the pictures, you can see where the pepper spray came all over.

So, I got pepper sprayed and shoved and thanks heavens there was a wonderful, young Iraq veteran who stood next to me, and just he grabbed me as I stumbled with people who were pushing — people couldn’t see where they were going — the cops kept pushing with the bicycles, and the space we were in got smaller and smaller, so we were really pinned in. And that young man stabilized me. Otherwise, I would have been on the ground, trampled. And this really is not a good picture to think about.

So, after that, then some people helped me to go back to the bus and I went home. But the great thing is that I ride these buses an awful lot, and some of the people — I see them at least once or twice a week on the bus, “Hello, how are you?” And they said, “What happened to you?” And I had no mirror, so I must have looked a fright. And the bus driver said, “Hey, what happened to you?” I said, “I got pepper sprayed by Seattle’s finest.” And the other people piped up and said, “That’s terrible.”

And the wonderful thing that happened is this bus full of people started talking about Occupy. And they had never seen a real person that they could identify with who got pepper sprayed. And it became a really wonderful educational opportunity for me to convert a busload full of people to our way of thinking.

OLBERMANN: Is that your hope for what this is going to do for America? That, more than anything else, it’s going to educate people for what they are up against?

RAINEY: We have to do that, and the time is of the essence. We are seeing the FCC trying to take away the free internet. I remember Goebbels. I remember the time — I grew up over there. And I remember the shrinking of the print media. We had one newspaper. It was called Völkischer Beobachter — The People’s Observer. And it was the same from North Germany down to South Austria, same propaganda: “We’re winning the war. We’re sinking the U-boats and we’re into Scotland.” So — we were doing so well, it’s amazing how long the war lasted after we were winning it already. And I see the same thing happening here.

We have, really, no more free media that will bring you the issues instead of just the soft, fluff entertainment, the repeated stuff about some actress somewhere being pregnant or not pregnant or wanting to go get married and not. This should be on the entertainment pages, but not on the mainstream news media.

So, we have such incredible issues here, right here in our town. We live 20 miles from ground zero of the Bangor missile base. And in order to get any attention from any media, we go there and we occupy the street going into the missile base. And we get arrested there and nobody cares, nobody says anything, except the people who want to drive in and out of the base and earn their living there — they don’t much like us.

But we have — one of my heroes was a Catholic nun who spread her blood on a missile silo in Colorado and got incarcerated. And she did an action in Tennessee and got incarcerated. She — her name was Jackie Hudson. She recently died. And a lot of it was because of the mistreatment in the prison system in Tennessee. She used to say, “Whatever you do, take one more step out of your comfort zone.” And that is what I do. I take a step out of my comfort zone.

It was so easy to say, “Well, I’m going to retire, I’m going to sit around, watch television or eat bon-bons.” But somebody has got to keep them awake and let them know what is really going on in this world. Whether it’s J.P. Morgan doing the financing plan for our ill-fated tunnel, which is coming up, which the city council — some member even admitted they never read the environmental-impact statement, because it is boring.

OLBERMANN: Uh-huh.

RAINEY: Well, I read the whole dang thing and my eyeballs are still pink from reading it. And nobody talks about these things. They are not in the media. And the Chamber of Commerce pushes things like our tunnel, because they earn big profits when they start developing the properties around there when the tunnel — when the viaduct is done. And the taxpayers are on line for this. And so — I am an issues person, I always have been.

OLBERMANN: Uh-huh.

RAINEY: So, is what you wanted to hear? Do you have any questions?

OLBERMANN: No, you have answered all of my questions. And you are one of my heroes now. Dorli Rainey –political activist, Occupy Seattle supporter and one of those punk kids out there on the streets — an honor to have you on the program. Keep going one step outside of your comfort zone and we’ll try to do the same thing here.

RAINEY: Thank you.

OLBERMANN: Thank you.