TOUGH QUESTIONS
NOW is the time to be asking...
PROPOSAL PHASE
Do the risks outweigh the benefits?
Icicle Canyon is the water supply for Leavenworth and major orchard irrigators. Most city watersheds do not even allow public access. Accidents always happen, so how can we justify a major construction project, heavy truck traffic, experiments using toxic chemicals and the obvious risk this will be to our water supply?
Has an attempt to generate community support been created by the vague promise of jobs & economic benefits?
Is the risk of environmental damage to Icicle Canyon and Leavenworth’s watershed worth the unknown economic benefits to the community?
What specific jobs (and how many) are estimated for local people, in particular those who are not scientists or not in construction business?
Why are the serious concerns of local citizens being dismissed as “letting their imaginations run wild” or “thinking the worst” as stated by scientist Wick Haxton?
How does this affect the Wilderness Act by potentially changing its provisions and setting a dangerous precedent, e.g. allowing mining in Wilderness Areas?
CONSTRUCTION PHASE
Would Icicle Road be widened and straightened to achieve “Federal Highway Standards” to accommodate heavy truck traffic? Wouldn't this destroy many recreation sites and climbing areas along the road?
Will local taxpayers foot the bill for the road “upgrade”?
How will the proposed “widening and straightening” of the road affect popular climbing and hiking areas?
How can the impact of 60+ rock-hauling truck loads a day roundtrip (120+ trips counting empty return trip) and even more during peak construction time, everyday for several years, going up and down Icicle Canyon be justified to local citizens / visitors?
Won’t this negatively impact tourism for years?
Where will large amount of rock removed from the tunnel go?
Won’t this long-term, huge increase in daily traffic create massive noise and air pollution, as well as a serious safety problem; affecting Icicle Canyon, Icicle Road, East Leavenworth Road and the highway through Leavenworth?
Will the canyon be closed for periods of time, for how long, and how will recreational access be affected?
How can the noise of trucks, drilling machinery, blasting, etc., as well as bright lighting at night, be completely mitigated so as not to affect visitors and wildlife in the surrounding Alpine Lakes Wilderness?
Will local ratepayers have to pay for installation of power and fiber-optic lines to the site?
OPERATIONAL PHASE
Since water from Icicle Creek is already over-allocated to irrigation companies and the City of Leavenworth, how can the project be possible legally and physically?
How can we be guaranteed that even more water won’t be needed at lab, affecting water available to community?
The contents of the detector will also include “scintillator” (1,000 tons of a hydrocarbon similar to gasoline). What is the danger of this to getting into groundwater and Icicle Creek? How will fish and the salmon downstream be affected?
What other chemicals are needed? How will they be safely brought to the site? Can the safety of all this chemical use be guaranteed?
How will the environmental / personnel safety of lab experiments be guaranteed in the event of a power failure or generator failure?
Many gases would be used (helium, nitrogen, argone, etc.) in their liquid form, which requires intensive refrigeration. Would it be dangerous if the electricity/refrigeration failed in the lab, allowing the gases to escape and be released outside the tunnel? How will air quality be affected outside the tunnel?
Will the National Security Administration (NSA) or Defense Dept. be using the tunnel, as has been suggested? What chemicals or other substances could be used and how dangerous would these experiments be for the local environment and water quality?
How can the noise of trucks, generators, tunnel ventilation fans, heat, etc., as well as lighting at night, be completely mitigated so as not to affect visitors and wildlife in the surrounding Alpine Lakes Wilderness?
How can Federal funding be guaranteed for the continued safe operation of the facility?
Who would be responsible for clean-up and future environmental damage from an accident at tunnel lab?
POST EXPERIMENTS
When the experiments end (30 to 40 years suggested by scientists) who will be responsible for upkeep and cost of maintaining the roads, tunnels, and power supply?
Who will be responsible for liability at the site?
Who will control future use of the tunnel and lab?
Is it possible that potentially hazardous or objectionable uses for the tunnels in the future will be allowed and out of the control of local entities - Forest Service, Chelan County, State of Washington and citizens of Icicle Valley?
With so many uncontrolled variables, is the DUSEL proposal worth the risk?
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