Recent years of nonviolent direct action preparation to block the first waste shipments by truck from the Los Alamos nuclear weapons lab were thwarted by several factors, including a last-minute delay of the first shipment due to fog.
Still, several people attempted to block the truck on a highway south of Santa Fe on March 25. Police repeatedly moved them from the road, and only arrested William Beems after the Albuquerque man repeatedly used his car to block the road. The waste shipment was briefly delayed. Beems was charged with obstructing the road and resisting arrest and released pending a court date this summer.
The shipment arrived at WIPP to the cheers of Carlsbad supporters and the quiet protest of Charles Hyder, PhD, long-time WIPP opponent who began a “terminal” fast to protest “this great wrong against humanity.”
For more information about regular demonstrations marking the WIPP route to raise public awareness, and about preparation for nonviolent direct action, contact New Mexico WIPP Action, (505)984-8321 and the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center, P. O. Box 1156, Boulder, Colorado 80306-1156, (303)444-6981.