PORT TOWNSEND — Community watchdog and peace organizations are planning a 3.7-mile march and rally Saturday to Naval Magazine Indian Island.
The event starts Saturday at noon at H.J. Carroll County Park on state Highway 19 in Chimacum and will continue to South Indian Island County Parks, off Flagler Road, state Highway 116.
“Our focus is health and safety of our communities — Port Hadlock, Kala Point, Port Townsend and Marrowstone Island,” said David Jenkins, a member of Port Townsend Depleted Uranium Study Team, sponsoring week’s events.
“We are concerned that these communities are less than two miles away from the Magazine.”
Jenkins and his group have been conducting monthly workshops for the past two years, pondering the risks of possible depleted uranium and its effects on nearby residents.
Navy acknowledgment
Navy officials acknowledged handling depleted uranium munitions through Indian Island Magazine several years ago.
“There is depleted uranium that gets transported through Indian Island,” Navy spokesman Lt. Bill Couch told Peninsula Daily News in October 2003.
“But we’re talking about 20 mm rounds that weigh 2½ ounces and are about the size of a Bic pen.”
“Although they are saying it’s low risk, we are not sure how low risk that has been,” Jenkins said.
“We are not trying to raise a big scary flag, but we want to make sure that people are aware of it and that eventually the Navy will remove these weapons from Indian Island.”
The 2,718-acre Navy installation provides storage for tons of Navy ordnance, from bullets to bombs, as well as a loading facility with a 280-foot crane and a 1,600-foot pier.
Every outgoing Navy ship leaving Puget Sound is reloaded with ammunition at Indian Island before deployment.
Once Saturday’s march reaches the county park near Naval Magazine Indian Island, members of Poets for Peace and Poets Against The War, including Sam Hamill, Barbara Bowen, Gary Lemons, Rebecca Rafuse, Zeke Green and Sarah Zale, will read their works.
