00SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 28                                                                                          
01 Relating to the alleged dumping of nuclear waste by the Russian military industry                                       
02 in Arctic waters and the need for the United States to work cooperatively with                                          
03 the present Russian government in investigating these allegations.                                                      
04 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
05  WHEREAS the evidence is becoming more substantiated that over several decades the                                      
06 government of the U.S.S.R. used the Arctic Ocean as a dumping ground for obsolete and                                   
07 damaged nuclear reactors and other radioactive material; and                                                            
08  WHEREAS the water of the Arctic Ocean eventually circulates throughout the                                             
09 Northern Hemisphere, touching the continents of Asia, Europe, and North America; and                                    
10  WHEREAS the water of the Arctic Ocean interacts with bodies of water off the coast                                     
11 of Alaska, such as the Beaufort Sea, the Chukchi Sea, and the Bering Sea; and                                           
12  WHEREAS the water off the coast of Alaska contains some of the richest fishery                                         
13 resources in the world, contributing during the last decade approximately 50 percent of the                             
14 United States' aquatic harvests and 40 percent of the total ex-vessel value of the seafood; and                         

01  WHEREAS the seafood industry is the largest private, basic industry employer in                                        
02 Alaska, providing more than 77,000 seasonal jobs, comparable to 33,000 year-round direct and                            
03 indirect jobs; and                                                                                                      
04  WHEREAS the coastlines surrounding the Arctic Ocean have been home for thousands                                       
05 of years to the different Inuit people of the North, including the Yupik, the Siberian Yupik,                           
06 and the Inupiat, with much of their subsistence lifestyle dependent upon the bounty of the sea;                         
07 and                                                                                                                     
08  WHEREAS the water and land of the Arctic comprise a delicate environment that is                                       
09 home to many species of fish, birds, and mammals, including migratory birds from throughout                             
10 the Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere;                                                                        
11  BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests the                                             
12 President of the United States to require the Environmental Protection Agency to pursue a                               
13 thorough investigation of this potentially hazardous situation, including baseline studies and                          
14 sample monitoring for ocean radioactivity; and be it                                                                    
15  FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests the                                           
16 President of the United States to initiate joint cooperation with the Russian government in                             
17 assessing the level of Arctic dumping of radioactive materials, the present and future dangers                          
18 posed by these dumps, and the steps necessary to ensure that any radioactive contamination                              
19 is safely contained.                                                                                                    
20  COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Bill Clinton, President of the                                
21 United States; Carol M. Browner, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency; and                              
22 to the Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable Frank Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the                                  
23 Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.