This is a printer friendly version of an article from the *The Olympian* To print this article open the file menu and choose Print. Back ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Olympia council votes city nuke-free Ordinance returns for final reading next week BY KATHERINE TAM THE OLYMPIAN OLYMPIA -- The City Council debate on whether to declare the city a nuclear-free zone continued Tuesday night, with the council giving it intitial approval. For about two hours, council members debated the level of community support, the potential for getting sued and the staff cost of creating and enforcing a new law that bans nuclear weapons from its boundaries. The same law also requires the city to try not to do business with companies involved in making nuclear weapons or their components. A proposal by Mayor Mark Foutch to table the ordinance until after an advisory vote on the November ballot failed. Foutch's suggestion had Councilman Matthew Green, a vocal critic of the now-defunct arts and conference center idea, pointing out the hypocrisy after the council's earlier decision not to seek a public vote on the controversial conference center nearly two years ago. In the end, council members passed a first reading of the ordinance 5-2, with Foutch and Doug Mah dissenting. Those who voted in favor acknowledged that it will be hard to enforce the law, but said the city can take steps locally against nuclear weapons. By doing so, it could have a ripple effect internationally, they said. "There's no reason to delay, to put it off for more study because we'll never come up with the perfect ordinance," said Councilman TJ Johnson, who proposed the ordinance. Mah, who voted against the ordinance, said, "We're confusing good intent with good policy. ... It astounds me that we are saying we're going to pass something we question if we can enforce it and we question if we can follow through." The ordinance returns next week for a final reading before it becomes law. Foutch raised questions about whether the ordinance applies to the USS Olympia, the nuclear-powered submarine whose proposed visit was at the center of controversy last year. Organizers of Capital Lakefair have invited the sub for a visit next July, he said. "I don't think the community can afford yet another divisive argument over the USS Olympia," Foutch said. "The USS Olympia episode last year raised enough of a flap that embarrassed state officials, and they were not happy with that. Are we setting up another confrontation and codifying it in Olympia law?" The law would not apply to the sub if the U.S. Navy certifies that the vessel isn't carrying nuclear weapons. The Navy would need to break from its policy of neither confirming nor denying the presence of nuclear weapons, which Foutch said federal officials aren't likely to do. The lack of a statement wouldn't trigger sanctions under the ordinance, Green said. The vessel would be excluded from the ordinance if it won't confirm or deny for federal security reasons, Councilman Joe Hyer said. If the sub comes at Lakefair, "it will be a divisive situation regardless of whether we act or don't act," Johnson said. In an earlier interview, Navy spokeswoman Lt. Barbara Mertz said vessels such as the USS Olympia carry Tomahawk cruise missiles but do not deploy nuclear weapons. The ordinance would apply to ships traveling through Budd Inlet. Bob Van Schoorl, president of the port commission, had not read the ordinance in detail yet, but said, "We've never had any cargo that's considered nuclear. We have no intent to do that. It would probably have little or no effect." The City Council has received dozens of e-mails from people in favor of the nuclear-free zone, and heard from about 40 advocates at last week's public hearing. The ordinance may be a challenge to enforce, but supporter Carrie Lybecker said, "As a community, if we're saying we don't want that (nuclear weapons) here, I think that statement is pretty strong." The council also received a handful of e-mails from people concerned about the proposal. "This proposed ordinance has risk -- political, economic, and legal," Wendy Korthuis-Smith wrote in an e-mail. "As a member of our community, I am interested in my city council addressing city issues, not political issues of international peace. This ordinance will continue to divide our community." Under the ordinance, the city would try not to do business with companies that make nuclear weapons or their components. Companies would sign an affidavit certifying that they're not involved in nuclear weaponry. Officials would do business with anyone that doesn't sign the affidavit if there isn't an alternative, but they would say the company's name at a public meeting and ask the company to stop producing nuclear weapons or their components. It will be tough to enforce all of the ordinance, City Manager Steve Hall said. The city lacks the staff or the expertise to monitor whether companies are telling the truth; they will take them at their word. Nor do officials have the staff to track whether nuclear cargo is being trucked along Interstate 5 or U.S. Highway 101 within the city limits. They said they will rely on community watchdog groups to supply "hard facts" to ensure the ordinance isn't being broken, Hall said. They would not accept journal articles, rumors or allegations as "hard facts." It won't be difficult to find a group of people willing to be watchdogs, ordinance supporters Lybecker and Jami Heinricher said. Violations are punishable by fines that start at $25 per day on the first offense, rising to $100 a day on the third offense. Public works officials can also cut utility service to violators. The ordinance does not affect nuclear medicine or fissionable materials used in smoke detectors, light-emitting watches and clocks. It does not deal with depleted uranium, which has been a concern among some peace activists who worry about lung damage and cancer from military equipment being shipped into the port. ------------------------------------------------------------------------