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Show Mi-Ell pigs sIqes SIS, aeCi Boogfji to eaieo! pirojGGf scrapped because it is unworkable. un-workable. The release of the DEIS will heighten the level of local and national opposition to the MX program. The history of MX has shown that the more people learn about the program, the less they accept it. The MX weapon system has many problems strategic, stra-tegic, environmental, economic. eco-nomic. SANE calls upon President - elect Reagan to cancel the system. In the wake of the newly new-ly released Draft EISySANE and abroad range of environmental, environ-mental, disarmament and taxpayer organizations have blasted the controversial MX missile system. They called the MX a strategic stra-tegic disaster and urgedMr. Reagan to pursue real arms reductions. They pointed out the unprecedented environmental environ-mental impacts of the system sys-tem on nevada and Utah, as well as the immense costs, over $108 billion. SANE Director David Cortrlght's letter to President Presi-dent - elect Reagan follows: From themomenttheCar-ter themomenttheCar-ter Administration announced announc-ed Its decision to develop the MX missile system, opposition opposi-tion has been loud and unceasing. un-ceasing. The MX has been opposed from the perspectives perspec-tives of strategic stability, environmental Impact and economic disruption. Critics, Cri-tics, including Presidentelect President-elect Ronald Reagan, have opposed the MX. Because of the many probems with this system, SANE calls on the President elect to cancel the MX program. Building the MX system sys-tem would be a strategic disaster, equal to or exceeding exce-eding the now conceded Kissinger Kis-singer blunder of SALT I wheein he failed to include the MIRV problem in the U.S. - USSR negotiations. The 2,000 highly accurate MX warheads represent a very real threat to the So viet Union - a threat that will be answered by their building many new missiles and warheads or adopting a dangerous launch on warning warn-ing posture. With a lead in warheads of 9,200 to 6,000 the U.S. should be pursuing real arms reductions, as proposed by Mr. Reagan, instead of building newther-munoclear newther-munoclear systems that must force a Russian response. res-ponse. In fact, suggestions to double the size of the program to 400 missiles and add a costly ballistic missile mis-sile defense system stem from the understanding by war planners that a Soviet response to MX is certain. Instead of provoking a new round of the nuclear arms race and increasing the likelihood like-lihood of nuclear war, the Reagan Administration should adhere to the limits of SALT II and begin negotiations for deep, equitable equit-able cuts In SALT III. Arms reduction is our only realistic path to security In the nuclear age. The impacts of MX on the environment are unprecedented. un-precedented. Prelim iinary studies have indicated that MX construction and operation opera-tion will require over 12,000 miles of road and track; 24,000 square miles of land,-112 land,-112 billion gallons of water; wat-er; twice as much cement as contained In HooverDam. Furthermore construction in the Great Basin of Utah and Nevada will create a carcinogenic dust from eri- elude the costs of 2,000 nuclear nu-clear warheads or the cost overruns typical of major weapon systems. Besides the direct costs for MX, the Impact on the inflation rate will also be severe, as the military budget bud-get is pushed upward. Increased In-creased military spending spend-ing is also one of the least le-ast efficient methods of generating gen-erating employment. While the Air Force may have followed the letter of the law, it clearly has not followed the spirit. The purpose in part, of NEPA is to encourage productive pro-ductive and enjoyable harmony har-mony between man and his environment and to promote efforts which will stimulate the health and welfare of man. It seems reasonable to ask those persons responsible res-ponsible for war making to comply with NEPA for without with-out consideration of such matters American citizens could be faced with the pros -pect of having their land and life ruined In order to sve them. Scoping meetings for Utah and Nevada were held in the winterspring of 1980 with the results presumably Integrated In-tegrated into the new EIS. However, scoping meetings were held in TexasNew Mexico only two weeks ago. How could their results be incorporated into the EIS at such a late date? Some EIS's take years to complete In order to provide pro-vide the public with a full assessment as-sessment of project Impacts. Employees of HDR, the firm responsible for the EIS, have publicly charged that the EIS is window dressing for the Air Force decision to locate In the Great Basin. On January 31, 1980, Governor Gov-ernor Reagan issued a position posi-tion paper on the MX. He said 'The . . . deployment proposed by the Carter Administration Ad-ministration is enormously expensive and complicated, and will require years to build. This proposed mode of . deploying the MX should be onite, a fibrous material that causes Mesothelioma when it gets into the lungs. This material could radically Increase In-crease the cancer rate for construction crews and local lo-cal residents. The Air Force refers to the MX as a $33 billion program. This misleading and inadequate cost estimate esti-mate is based on FY 1980 dollars. A more realistic figure was released to SANE by the Pentagon: $108 billion, bil-lion, for construction and 30 years of operation. Even this huge figure does not In- |
