 |
 |
American nuclear bomber crash workers take case to Brussels
February 27, 2007 5:14 PM
Liberal Democrat MEP, Diana Wallis today, Tuesday 27 February, proposes her paper to the Petitions Committee in the European Parliament in response to the complaints bought forward by representatives of workers who cleared up a radioactive mess in the wake of an American nuclear bomber crash in the 1960s.
In 1968 a recovery team of including of local Greenlanders brought debris back from the crash site of an American Air Force B-52 bomber near Thule in northern Greenland. The accident happened when the plane caught fire and the crew bailed out before the plane crashed through the ice.
Since then workers in the recovery team have been seeking recognition and assistance from the Danish government. They have been unsuccessful so far and have taken their case to the European Parliament.
Diana Wallis MEP said ahead of her presentation of the so-called Carswell Report at today's Committee meeting:
"On a purely humanitarian human rights based approach it is entirely unacceptable that the plight of these victims has been ignored for so long. On top of this there are clear obligations that apply to these victims under the EURATOM Treaty, itself an anomaly in EC law, which needs sorting out.
"These victims have been put off, shoved around and denied a proper answer. Now is the time to make a political decision that at EU level we do truly wish to see victims of nuclear incidents protected, that is the spirit of the existing legislation now we have to make that a reality."
ends.
Notes:
The American defence department did not release details of the Thule crash for 18 hours. It feared "serious political difficulties" with Denmark over the crash.
The Danish authorities, which control Greenland, were informed in 1965 that the Americans had been storing nuclear weapons at Thule - against their wishes.
Although Thule was no longer used as a weapons store, it was still embarrassing for the US to admit planes carrying nuclear weapons were regularly flying in Danish airspace.
It took 700 men over nine months to remove all the contaminated material including snow from the crash site.
America subsequently ended the airborne alert which kept some B-52 bombers in the air at all times in case of surprise nuclear attack.
What would you like to do next?
-
Subscribe for updates
Follow the party's activity on...
- Twitter:
- Liberal Democrats
- Facebook:
- Liberal Democrats
- YouTube:
- Liberal Democrats