It appears that a budding environmental justice movement is bracing to oppose the Vogtle nuclear power plant proposal that recently received $8.3 billion in loan guarantees from the U.S. Department of Energy. The new nuclear power plant is proposed to be located near the city of Waynesboro [demographics], which has a population of about 6,000 in Burke Country, Georgia. Waynesboro is 62% African American. Burke County is 51% African American [demographics]."Black Agenda Reports" states:
[The] proposal to place a pair of new reactors in a majority black Georgia town a mere 4 miles from the existing nuclear weapons site at Savannah River and next door to Georgia Power's existing nukes at Vogtle selectively penalizes and endangers poor black communities and will cost black lives. The Savannah River, which flows between the nuclear weapons site on the South Carolina side, and the existing and proposed electric utility reactors on the Georgia side is already a SuperFund site and the 4th most toxic river in the nation, according to the EPA.The residents of the Burke County community have already formed a concerned citizens group, and they are engaging the Green Party and George Women’s Action for New Directions (WAND)of Georgia for additional support. (Black Agenda Report, 3/3/10)
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