Making a Real Killing, Rocky Flats and the Nuclear West—Early History

Posted on by

This book by Len Ackland is researched well, and I recommend it as one book to read about the Rocky Flats plant that produced components for nuclear weapons in Colorado. The title gives away the fact that Mr. Ackland’s point of view differs from the views I presented in my book “An Insider’s View of Rocky Flats, Urban Myths debunked.” However, in several instances of where common subjects are discussed, factual information in the two books is often virtually identical. I give Mr. Ackland credit for his extensive discussion of the history of the area and the Church family, which is not included in my book. I intend to restrict myself to doing a non-editorializing review in this first part of the review. The part of the review is about homesteading in the Rocky Flats area by the Church family in 1861, development of the area, and the “taking” of some of the Church land for the construction of a new nuclear weapons production plant. The second half will be about the operation of Rocky Flats, accidents, legal actions, and controversies. I will post a blog after that review discussing some points of disagreement I have with what is in the book.

The history of the Church family is nicely woven into the book, and the first chapter gives a well-written description of when George Henry Church and Sarah (Miller) Church beginning with when they arrived in Colorado in 1861 “…seeking adventure and gold.” Striking it rich with gold didn’t work out, and the couple eventually settled down to farm and raise cattle. Henry built a system of ditches and reservoirs to provide water to the enterprises, and that was a significant contribution to the settlement and development of the entire area. Homesteaders were subsidized by the federal government, “But that reality wouldn’t make the government’s later taking of Rocky Flats land go down any easier for the Churches.” The government offered $18 an acre but paid several times that figure after Marcus Church rejected the first offer and took legal action.

The second chapter details the influence of U.S. Senator Edwin Johnson , or “Big Ed,” of Colorado in the selection of a Colorado location for “Project Apple,” which was the name given to the effort to select a location for the new nuclear weapons plant that would eventually adopted the name “Rocky Flats.” He formed a bipartisan team with Eugene Milliken, and the two of them together were able to influence the location of several military facilities in Colorado. The first was the Rocky Mountain Arsenal followed by the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD) and the Air Force Academy. Both senators were on the Congressional Atomic Energy Committee and were strong supporters of anything that would be advantageous to U.S. uranium mining. Johnson was chairman of the Senate’s Military Affairs Committee by the end of World War II. Milliken helped draft the Atomic Energy Act that formed the cornerstone of U.S. nuclear policy. The Atomic Energy Commission was busy in the late 1940s demanding increasing numbers of nuclear weapons. They identified seventy Soviet targets requiring 133 atomic bombs. The military contended that “…scheduled bomb production should be substantially increased and extended,” and that they needed more than 133 nuclear weapons. The military had identified 5,000 to 6,000 “…prospective Soviet nuclear targets…” by the time construction had begun at Rocky Flats. Continue reading →

Great Scott!

Posted on by

I just posted an article titled “Economic Recovery versus Red Tape” on the blog link on this site, and it brought this expression to mind. Expressing astonishment about absurdity by saying “Great Scott!” is a logical reaction to reading how government regulations impede projects that create jobs while the government is saying private enterprises need to create more jobs. The origin of the expression is apparently not certain, but there are several hints that it refers to an actual person from the Civil War era. World Wide Words concludes that the person was probably General Winfield Scott, who was too large in his later years (300 pounds) to ride a horse.

The Russian Question at the End of the Twentieth Century

Posted on by

I posted a review of a book titled “Why Did the Soviet Union Collapse on August 24th and this book by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (unavailable on Amazon, but I obtained a book from the local library) gives another view of what caused the collapse.  The two books agree on some of the underlying causes, but Solzhenitsyn adds that a primary cause was that the Soviets put materialism ahead of religion. The book is only 135 pages long, but presents the history of Russia going back several hundred years preceding the Bolshevik revolution that explains the complex nature of the massive country, its diverse peoples, and the events that Solzhenitsyn believed had major influences on the character of the country. He presents the opinion that, “Our history appears to be lost to us today, but with the proper efforts of our will…We will build a moral Russia or none at all.” Return readers of this site will note that quotes are used much more extensively in this review than in previous reviews. The reason is that I believe Solzhenitsyn without question presents his ideas much better than anything I could write in summary.

Solzhenitsyn believes that the end of the USSR came because of Gorbachev’s “hypocritical and irresponsible perestroika.” “There existed several reasonable paths for a gradual, careful way out of the Bolshevik rubble. Gorbachev chose the most insincere and chaotic path. Insincere because he searched for ways to protect Communism…Chaotic because…he put forward the slogan of acceleration, impossible and ruinous in light of the worn-out infrastructure…” Then, with glasnost “…he was flinging the doors wide open for all the nationalists…The Communist Soviet Union was historically doomed, for it was founded on false ideas…It hung on for seventy years by the fetters of an unprecedented dictatorship, but when the inside grows decrepit fetters fall useless.” He makes the ominous prediction that, “In the twenty-first century, the Muslim world, growing rapidly in numbers, will doubtless undertake ambitious tasks.” Continue reading →

Economic Recovery versus Red Tape

Posted on by

The story of two pipeline projects provides one explanation of how a morass of government regulations is obstructing economic activity and recovery. President Obama proposed work on “shovel-ready projects” to spur economic activity, and it would be tempting to think that the number of shovels needed to build long pipelines would be viewed favorably by a government and country hungry for new jobs. One of the pipelines has been completed despite massive regulatory interferences, and will transport natural gas from the Wyoming to Oregon. The other is a planned 1711 mile pipeline that would transport crude oil from the tar sands in Alberta to refineries in Oklahoma and Texas.

El Paso, a Texas-based company, constructed the 682 mile Ruby natural gas pipeline at a cost of $3.65 billion in the three-and-a-half years required to obtain regulatory approvals and complete the project. The project came in at 23% over budget and missed scheduled completion by four months, primarily because of delays in meeting demands of dozens of U.S., State, and local agencies.   The project created thousands of jobs and provided revenues for communities, counties, and state governments.

The Ruby project provided jobs not only to construction people but to environmental specialists who had to complete studies and publish a detailed Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The EIS had binding requirements for rights of way and endangered species such as the black footed ferret and the Ute ladies’ tresses orchids. There were also descriptions required on how the nearly 6000 workers would be housed. Paleontology rules required that the pipeline had to avoid the “rock stacks” used by Native Americans as navigational tools, even though the pipeline did not cross any reservations. It took two and a half years and 125 meetings and agency “scoping hearings” for El Paso to receive the final signoff to build the pipeline. There were 215 archeologists in the field at the height of construction to “mitigate affects to cultural resources,” as required by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. A Forty-four member team monitored migratory bird protection, and they did succeed at moving a nest containing four eggs. The ditch where the pipeline was being laid had to be outfitted with temporary ramps so wild horses and burros could climb out if they fell in. Apparently the workers couldn’t be trusted to hoist out an animal if one did fall in.

The expensive gamble by El Paso to build the pipeline was initiated in the face of natural gas prices that would be slashed in half during the construction of the pipe line. The workers, land owners where the pipeline was constructed, regulators, and environmental groups (who were paid to secure their cooperation) all profited from the risk taken by El Paso. Property tax revenues were boosted by 25% in some areas.  Pre-filling the pipeline has begun under the watchful eye of regulators. A Federal Energy Regulatory Commission director warmed El Paso that they are monitoring El Paso efforts to prevent the spread of nonnative foliage and will take corrective action if restoration doesn’t meet their requirements.

The other proposed pipeline, called Keystone XL, is intended to deliver tar sand oil from Canada to U.S. refineries. It is estimated that the $20 billion dollar project would produce 13,000 union jobs, and would seem to be the kind of “shovel ready” project that people looking to stimulate the economy would favor despite the fact the jobs aren’t “green jobs.” Applications were filed in 2008, and there have been dozens of public meeting with the entire large mix of regulatory agencies. Even State Department approval will be required because the pipeline would cross the 49th parallel. The draft EIS concluded the project poses little risk to the environment. The EPA didn’t like that EIS, and sixteen months later a new eight volume report that included consideration of “direct impacts to beetles” also concluded “no significant impacts to the environment.” The EIS now goes into a 90 day review to determine whether the project is “in the national interest.” In addition to environmental impact the project must prove economic, energy security, and foreign policy benefits to at least eight federal agencies.

The “green movement has geared up against the project, and there have been organized protests outside the White House. The Sierra Club is warning President Obama that he can’t count on their votes in the next election if he approves projects such as Keystone XL. We’ll see whether those 13,000 workers standing by with their shovels to build a pipeline take precedence over bureaucratic red tape.

Caught Red Handed

Posted on by

The meaning is understood to be caught committing a crime such as murder or poaching with blood on your hands. There was a recent family discussion that there was little doubt where the expression originated, because it must refer to a murderer having blood on his hands. A little research found the answer might not be so uncomplicated. There is a myth about a boat race to the shores of the northern Irish province of Ulster in which the winner of the race would be the ruler. One contestant cut off his hand and threw it to the shore to guarantee his win. The flag of the province has a red hand on a white shield in the center of the flag. Much of the literature does indicate that the meaning is being “caught in the act,” but there are some other theories. Some believe the expression originated in the Indus Valley where a thief’s guilt or innocence was determined by placing his hand on the red-hot heated blade of an axe. Another theory is that the Japanese would brush the sap of poison ivy on money, which would cause the hand of a thief to break into a red rash. There was no explanation for what people did when they had to use the money. I think I’ll go with the blood-on-the-hands explanation, although the other ideas are interesting.

Why Did the Soviet Union Collapse? Understanding Historical Change

Posted on by

This book by Robert Strayer provides a history of the Soviet Union beginning with the 1917 revolution and analyzes various theories about what caused its collapse. The revolution was of course based on the ideas of Marx that were expanded by Lenin. Even Lenin’s ideas were being questioned and rejected by the time of the collapse. However, flaws in Communism weren’t the only reason the Soviet Union dissolved. The huge empire was an agglomeration of many ethnic groups that had diverse aspirations. The desire of politicians for the Soviet Union to be a world power had caused resources to be stretched to the breaking point through domestic and foreign commitments and expenditures. However, as interesting as the history and analysis might be, my favorite part of the book was the jokes recounted in the last three paragraphs of this posting that citizens privately told each other about the system and their leaders.

“Soviet” was the name given to grassroots councils that had sprung up in 1905 and again in 1917. Some historians believe the Soviet Union was doomed from the beginning, because of the “…fatal flaw created by the utopian social engineering that flew in the face of both history and human nature.” Stalin assured success of his regime through the use of force that removed much of the middle and upper classes through execution and starvation. The record of Stalin’s purges, suppression of anyone or group that might oppose him or his policies, and endless inhuman brutality is difficult to understand, especially because he was admired by liberals who thought his “grand experiment” in Socialism/Communism should be imitated by other countries. The fear generated by the brutality of his methods did result in cohesion of the regime. The victory in World War II also validated the regime despite the 20-30 million casualties and devastation of the country. Continue reading →