Sixty-six environmental justice activists, hailing from a broad range of states, were arrested early this week in Nevada after demonstrating over the weekend against nuclear energy and weapons. The protesters, including individuals from South Carolina, Washington, and Mississippi, blamed nuclear facilities for high rates of cancer, birth defects, and skin disorders in black, Latino, and Native American communities nationwide. Most of the protestors were arrested for trespassing on the Nevada Test Site, where 928 full-scale nuclear weapons tests were conducted from 1951 to 1992. The country’s proposed nuclear-waste dump at Yucca Mountain would also be located on the site.
