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Show Citizen .concerned over MX DEIS t 1 By BRUCE LEE Record Editor The Air Force brought the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed MX missile system to Cedar City Tuesday, and, if nothing else, they left with the impression that people in the area weren't entirely happy with it. During the two three-hour public hearings, the majority of those who expressed views pointed out what they felt were inadequacies in the statement, in the proposed deployment mode or in MX itself. The public hearings are being conducted con-ducted by the Air Force throughout the proposed deployment areas so that residents of the potentially affected communities can orally comment and ask questions on the contents of the DEIS. Comments and criticisms aired during the hearings ranged from complaints over the methods of setting up and publicizing the hearings to discussions of the morality of the proposed system. Colonel Bill Sims gave a brief overview of the system, pointing out that it was needed to bolster America's defense system and to act as a deterrent of any Soviet attack, After his presentation, the floor was given to citizens to ask questions and make comments. One major criticism raised of the DEIS concerned its deficiencies in the area of impact on education and educational facilities.. Orville D. Carnahan, president of Southern Utah State College, stated: "In the few places where the DEIS refers to educational services (2.2.19 et al), i it does so in the most superficial way by merely counting the number of teachers needed under a given alternative. alter-native. "Additional questions which must be considered include: Where and how many a additiaonal school facilities will be needed? Where and for what grades and disciplines will the additional teachers mentioned in the DEIS be needed? What additional resources will be needed for school facilities and staffing for areas other than the specific sites?" J. Clair Morris, Iron County School District Superintendent, echoed Car- nahan's remarks when discussing impacts on primary and secondary education in the area. In addition he felt that projected population impacts were very low for Iron County. For example, the DEIS projected that 23 additional teachers would be needed for the county. Morris predicted it would be closer to 112. Iron County Attorney James L. Shumate also pointed out what he called appalling deficiencies in how the stafcment addressed county law enforcement. en-forcement. He noted that the DEIS addressed only the number of uniformed officers needed. However, he said that the county would also have a dire need for new jails, courts, judges, clerks, probation officers and other officers and employees em-ployees of law enforcement agencies. He noted further that no one from the Air Force had contacted him, tile county sheriff or the Cedar City police chief while the statement was being drafted. "Basically, you've got a lot of work lo do, and it hasn't been done," he concluded. con-cluded. ; One sore spot that surfaced repeatedly during the hearings was the memory o of government lies ' and cover-ups during the nuclear testing in Nevada in the past two decades. Gwen Sandberg told that southwest Utah residents had been assured by the government that the testing would not ' harm them; yet now it is being proven lhat it most likely did. "What basis do we have to assume today . . . that it is different," she asked. "Why should I have confidence in what my government is telling me today?" Janet C. Gordon agreed with Sand-lerg. Sand-lerg. "That past history of dishonesty, that slate, has not been wiped clean," she said. "Where does it end?" Several people also pointed out a simlilar problem: When the open-air nuclear tests were leing conducted, large amounts of radioactive particles were scattered across the valleys of the proposed MX deployment area. According to those who addressed the issue, those particles will once again be airborne when construction of the project stirs up the dust. "Why should I have confidence in what my government is telling me todav?" asked Gwen Sandberg, referring to nuclear testing in Nevada during the last two decades. . . . . . . "The pendulum is continuing to swing," Colonel Bill Sims told Iron County residents in defending the proposed MX system. The system will stop the swing to USSR superiority, he explained. |