Posted on 12/19/2006 7:39:27 AM PST by EBH
The U.S. Coast Guard has scuttled a plan to fire live ammunition into Lake Erie and the other Great Lakes following a tidal wave of protest from environmental groups and others. But the plan is not dead.
A Coast Guard spokesman said Monday that officials would re-examine the proposal and look into other ways to allow live-fire training on and off the Great Lakes.
The Coast Guard wanted to establish 34 zones on the Great Lakes, four on Lake Erie, where crews could practice machine gun firing two or three times a year, for two to six hours at a time.
"After we heard from the public and the elected officials, we determined that the first proposal was unsatisfactory," said Lt. Greg Fondran, Coast Guard spokesman. "We do need to train, but the sentiment of the public is important as well. Still, there is no substitute for teaching people how to shoot a machine gun from a moving boat on a choppy lake at a moving target."
U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Cleveland said the decision was a victory for people.
"The U.S. Coast Guard heeded the calls of the American people," he said. "The Coast Guard's decision to cancel live fire exercises on the Great Lakes was democracy in action. Nearly 1,000 public comments testify to the people's strong objection to militarizing our peaceful border with Canada. Today, the Coast Guard listened to the people."
A spokesman for Kucinich said any attempt by the Coast Guard to reintroduce the program will be met with "severe resistance from Congressman Kucinich and the new Democratic congressmen."
Groups like the Lake Carriers Association and the Great Lakes Sports Fishing Council did not object to the practice shooting, but had specific concerns. Both felt that the practice areas should be farther from shore and the fisherman's group wanted a better system to alert boaters about the shooting practices.
Environmental groups, such as the Earth Day Coalition and the Sierra Club, were concerned about the bullets that would ultimately end up in the lake. They said the practice would dump about 7,000 pounds of lead compounds a year in the Great Lakes, which could be a health hazard for humans and wildlife.
Dan Thomas, president of the Great Lakes Sport Fishing Council, was skeptical about the dangers of lead in the Great Lakes.
"There are studies and there are studies," he said. "I don't know how significant the spent bullets would be in the water. We do know that the Coast Guard needs its exercises to be prepared to defend us."
Plain Dealer Washington Bureau reporter Sabrina Eaton contributed to this story.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
msangiacomo@plaind.com, 216-999-4890
Thank you Dennis Kookcinich for failing to protect and defend our coast on which several nuclear plants reside, from which our drinking water is provided, from....our enemies.
People duck hunt on and around the Great Lakes. You have a problem with some live fire a couple of times a year from the Coast Guard? Wow, way to support Homeland Security.
I was undecided before I heard that statement. Now I know it was only an anti military stance.
Thank you Dennis Kookcinich
and the new Democratic congressmen."
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