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Alaska Health Project 



Information and advocacy on occupational and environmental health. 



1818 W. Northern Lights Blvd., Suite 103. Anchorage. Alaska 99517 



(907)276-2864 In State 800-478-2864 Fax 907-279-3089 Modem 907-279-3128 



August 10, 1992 



Senator Frank Murkowski 

 101 12th Avenue, Box 7 

 Fairbanks, AK 99701-6278 



Honorable Senator Murkowski and 



Members of the Senate Select Conunittee on Intelligence: 



The Alaska Health Project (AHP) is a private, not-for-profit 

 corporation. Our goal is to improve the health of Alaskans 

 through top quality educational programs and environmental 

 research efforts to prevent pollution. We work to keep those who 

 must deal with hazardous materials or work in hazardous 

 situations safe from harm. As the Executive Director of this 

 agency I sit on the State of Alaska's Emergency Response 

 Commission (SERC) representing a public interest group. 



The Federal SARA Title III, Community Right To Know Law, 

 requires that every citizen have the ability to learn what 

 hazardous materials may be used, stored, or transported in their 

 region. AHP sees this federal mandate applying to the pollutants 

 which are carried from other countries into our state by global 

 environmental forces. 



We need to establish a regular system of documentation on 

 what transboundry pollutants are coming into Alaska. We need to 

 establish a mechanism to inform the public, public interest 

 groups such as AHP, and State agencies of contamination that may 

 impact the health of our residents. 



We know Arctic Haze along the North Slope is caused by coal 

 fired electric generation and steel mills in eastern Europe. We 

 know that radioactive fallout from the atmospheric testing of the 

 1960 's fell on Alaska and concentrated in the people of the 

 northern interior due to their diet of caribou. We know that 

 Chernobyl set the Arctic world on edge wondering where those 

 materials would settle. Now we know that Russia is struggling to 

 deal with its massive internal problems. 



It seems likely that there is greater chance today that the 

 people of Alaska will be exposed to incidental radioactive 

 materials due to an unanticipated release than there has been 

 over the past four decades that we would be the victims of a 

 nuclear attack. It is no longer an issue of being exposed 



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