http://www.theolympian.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050824/NEWS01/508240333/1006
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Council OKs nuclear-free zone

BY KATHERINE TAM
THE OLYMPIAN
24 August 2005

OLYMPIA -- The capital city now is a nuclear-free zone.

The City Council decision Tuesday was quick and no surprise. The 5-2
decision, with Mayor Mark Foutch and Councilman Doug Mah dissenting,
mirrored the vote one week ago when officials gave their initial approval.

The ordinance bans anything related to nuclear weapons from the city
limits. The city also will try not to do business with companies
involved in making nuclear weapons or their components.

Officials who voted to pass the ordinance said it reflects the
community's values, makes a statement against nuclear weapons and ties
the city's buying power to that goal.

But Foutch and Mah worried the law opens the city up to possible
lawsuits and is hard to enforce.

A late change to the ordinance -- the result of an executive session
held earlier that night -- will protect Olympia from the most
significant legal threat, said Bob Sterbank, city attorney.

Under that change, the federal government and use of national roadways
-- which locally means Interstate 5 and U.S. Highway 101 -- for
transporting nuclear weapons or their components is exempt from the law.
That same exemption also might cover Plum Street, which officials say
might be considered part of the national highway system. City staff was
asked to check on the Plum Street's status.

Mah, who has questioned the merits of passing a law that is tough to
enforce, asked, "So we're exempting what is likely to be the most likely
source of any transportation, use, development, production, processing
and disposal of nuclear weapons."

The law does not exempt contractors of the federal government, Sterbank
said.

Tuesday's decision brings to a close two weeks of council debate on the
level of community support behind the ordinance, the possibility of
getting sued and the staff costs of enforcing it.

Nearly all of the dozens of e-mails that reached the council in late
July and early August were in favor of the proposed law. But more
opposition surfaced after the council gave initial approval last
Tuesday, with some vowing to vote officials out of office or stop
shopping downtown.

"I can't believe you voted to make the city a nuclear-free zone," wrote
Steve Franklin. "Let's stick to local issues and leave the geo-political
agenda to those with much more expertise than you."

Those in support of the ordinance applauded the council. Resident Diana
Moore wrote: "Kudos on your brave stand on making Olympia a nuclear-free
zone. As a 30-year resident and voter, I am so proud of the Council."

Combined there were probably about 100 e-mails, far fewer than what
council members received last May when it decided to hold a public
hearing against a planned visit by the nuclear-powered USS Olympia.

The new law, which takes effect in 30 days, means:

# *The city will try *not to do business with companies that don't sign
the affidavit unless there's no reasonable alternative. Officials would
say the company's name at a public council meeting and write a letter
asking the company to stop producing nuclear weapons or their components.

# *The city will trust *companies* *aren't lying when they sign the
affidavit, unless watchdog groups provide evidence. Violators would be
fined $25 a day for the first offense, with the penalty rising to $100 a
day for the third.

# *The USS Olympia *would not be affected if the Navy breaks from its
policy of neither confirming nor denying the presence of nuclear weapons
and instead certifies the sub isn't carrying such weapons. Under some
council members' interpretation of the ordinance, the sub would be
excluded from the new law if the Navy won't say for federal security
reasons.

Capital Lakefair Festival invited the sub for a visit next July, but the
vessel is going into the shipyard for two years of maintenance and won't
make visits during that time, the Navy said.

# *Nuclear medicine *would not be affected, nor would fissionable
materials used in smoke detectors, light-emitting watches and clocks.

# *Depleted uranium, *which some activists worry is included in military
equipment being shipped into the Port of Olympia, is not addressed in
the ordinance.

# *The city manager *has one year to see whether investment practices can
be changed to meet the nuclear-free goal. That includes looking at
whether the city should buy federal bonds or invest with banks that do
business with companies involved with the weapons.

/Katherine Tam covers the city of Olympia for The Olympian. She can be
reached at 360-704-6869 or at kathetam@olympia.gannett.com./

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