Utah's top physicians' group warns that a proposed agreement to divide Snake Valley water with Nevada could expose the public to carcinogens, radiation and valley fever and jeopardize Utahns' very lives.
In a letter sent this week to Gov. Gary Herbert, Senate President Mike Waddoups and the Utah Department of Natural Resources, the Utah Medical Association rips the proposal for its flimsy science, lack of data on potential air-quality damage and a failure to consider long-term health risks for downwinders.
"Should this agreement move forward in its current form, the residents, farmers and ranchers in West Desert farming communities and on the Goshute Reservation would see their health and livelihoods put at risk," says the letter, signed by Michelle McOmber, the UMA's executive vice president and CEO. "Indeed, adverse health and quality of life impacts may be spread throughout the state."
UMA, the state's largest physicians group with more than 3,500 members, has joined the 200-member Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment in opposing the proposed deal, made public as a draft in mid-August after four years of secret negotiations.
Cris Cowley, past president of the UMA, said Wednesday the organization's board decided to take a stand after its environment committee looked into the science of dust pollution and analyzed the water-sharing draft agreement.
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Snake Valley Water Deal Could Kill Utahns, Docs Warn
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By Patty Henetz
The Salt Lake Tribune, October 1, 2009
Straight to the Source
