Thousands in Vieques Bring Health Claims
by Sonia Ivette Dueño
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus
on July 24 signed on
in support of health and property claims brought to the
Secretary of the Navy by nearly seven thousand Vieques
residents represented by a Mississippi law firm.
What Will the Navy Spend to Clean Up Vieques?
The Fellowship of Reconciliation
obtained a Navy document prepared in early 2003
outlining the Navy’s
planned budget for cleanup in Vieques. For the western
side of the island, where 17 sites are still formally
under investigation and an open detonation site had
unexploded ordnance, the Navy said it would spend
$9.77 million during the next four years. On the
eastern side, the Navy said it plans to spend just
over $17 million in the next four years, exclusive
of munitions clearance. In 2000, the EPA ordered
the Navy to begin cleanup of 12 sites of mostly industrial
contamination in eastern Vieques.
For the current year, the
Navy says it has programmed “up
to $2 million to begin munitions clearance and assessment
activities.” How much the Navy spends next
year and future years addressing explosives contamination
depends on several factors. The first, the Navy
says, is “Land use as determined by the [Department
of Interior] and the Navy.” Other factors
include what regulatory standards will be applied,
the density of ordnance found, how complex the work
is, and coordination with others, such as Puerto
Rico’s environmental agencies.
We ask: Where does the Navy
get any authority to determine land use in Vieques? Under current law,
Interior will consult with a broad array of agencies
and with the community to create a comprehensive
plan – but the Navy is not an equal partner
in that process. Who will challenge the Navy’s
assertion? |
In a letter sent to then Acting
Secretary Hansford T. Johnson, the Congressional members
asked Hanson to "take
appropriate and immediate action to compensate the thousands
of American residents of the Island of Vieques," and
demanded a meeting.
Acting Secretary Hansford T. Johnson
replied that, "The
Navy takes very seriously any allegation that our activities
may have affected the health of the people of Vieques," and
stated further the Navy "would begin adjudication
of each claim in the context of the Agency for Toxic Substances
and Disease Registry Studies (ATSDR)." Those studies,
according to the letter, "have determined there are
no health risks associated with the Navy activities in
Vieques." The high incidence of cancer and other diseases
and mortality rate in Vieques indicates otherwise.
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus continued their support
of Vieques by writing Senator Clinton in October to keep
the hold on the Michael Leavitt nomination as head of EPA.
The letter asked the Senator additionally to support the
compensation of the claims to the Vieques residents.
After the Navy’s departure
in May, Senator Charles Schumer and other New York elected
officials also added
pressure to the federal government by writing Secretary
of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson in June and
asking for a comprehensive health care services audit of
Vieques.
According to Carmen Valencia, of
the Vieques Women's Alliance, "There
is a tremendous contradiction in President Bush's request
to Congress for $2 billion to restore health services in
Iraq after the U.S. destruction without resolving the
situation in Vieques."
Testing for Heavy Metals
On November 17, a tourist on a Vieques beach found a suspicious-looking
artefact with wires hanging from it, and notified the police.
Shortly after, three men from the Roosevelt Roads Naval Station
arrived to take away the objector, which apparently was a detonator
for an explosive. When Vieques resident Kathy Gannett, who
took this photo, asked one of the Navy men whether it was dangerous,
he replied, “Yes, if you knew how to use it.” The
Navy men, one of whom carries it away in the photo above, claimed
the device was “commercial.”
|
Although the Puerto Rico Health
Department canceled a meeting scheduled for November
12 to organize the community
youth sampling because of the torrential rains, the testing
will move forward as scheduled, stated Myrna Pagán, member
of the Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques
Health Committee.
"The Puerto Rico Health Department will begin a two-week
long sampling of 500 children ages 5 to 19 years old on
December 15," added Zaida Torres, a Registered Nurse
and member of the Vieques Transition Committee, an entity
created by Governor Sila Calderón to advise her on the
Navy transfer of lands to the Department of Interior. Torres
was named to the Committee after Vieques community groups
demanded representation in the Committee, most of which
were government officials. Torres is a member of the Vieques
Women's Alliance.
Torres added the children to be tested for heavy metals
in their blood and urine will be chosen randomly and all
will have hair samples taken. Because of the high school
dropout rate, it was determined the sampling would be conducted
by neighborhoods. If the results yield a high number of
youth with heavy metals in their systems, the methodology
will change and all students will be tested. The testing
is a result of demands made by the Vieques community groups.
Sources: Interviews with Myrna
Pagán, Zaida Torres 11/18/03; El
Nuevo Día, 9/23/03; El Vocero 10/31/03; CHC
letter to Navy Acting Secretary 7/24/03; Navy Acting
Secretary letter to CHC 9/25/03.
