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 public opinion poll released in August shows that
the public supports equal protection for health and safety from
Navy operational impacts and emergency planning around Navy nuclear
reactors by wide margins. The poll also found that the public
needed more information before they could form an opinion about
locating two more nuclear carriers in San Diego Bay. The telephone
poll was conducted by the San Diego State Social Science Research
Laboratory in April and May for Environmental Health Coalition.
 The
results are viewed as significant, given the very large presence
of the military in San Diego County. "The poll results make
it clear that San Diegans want assurance that the Navy is under
equal regulation for environmental and health rules to ensure
community safety," stated Congressman Bob Filner.
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Support
for equal environmental regulation of the Navy was clear in the
responses to the survey questions. A large majority of the respondents
(66%) said they would support a law that would hold the Navy
to the same environmental protection laws as other organizations.
When asked for the basis of their opinion, respondents cited
support for application of consistent standards, concern about
risks from operations, distrust of the Navy, and concern for
the environment. The Navy is exempt from many important environmental
and public safety laws, or has "sovereign immunity"
from all or parts of certain environmental and safety laws. For
example, Navy ships are completely exempt from laws that govern
oil spills (Oil Pollution Act of 1990) and are immune from monetary
penalties for all spills under the Clean Water Act. |
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An overwhelming
75% of the respondents said they would support requirements for
emergency planning zones around nuclear-powered vessels in San
Diego Bay. Such a planning area is a requirement around commercial
nuclear reactors, such as San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station,
to guide response for residents living near nuclear reactors
in the event of an emergency. Strong support for emergency planning
was also evidenced by the fact that it enjoyed majority support
by those respondents who had served in the armed forces (52%)
as well as those who had not (81%). Majorities were also shown
among the three age groups surveyed (79%, 77%, 66%), with younger
respondents supporting at the highest levels. |
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The
participants were asked their opinion on plans to home-port two
additional nuclear-powered aircraft carriers in San Diego Bay.
Nearly 50% of the respondents said they would need more information
to form an opinion, 24% supported the increase, 16% favored the
current number of carriers and submarines, and 12% favored removal
of all nuclear vessels from the bay. Concern about risks were
the main reason respondents supported reducing or maintaining
the current number of vessels.
Other findings
of the poll include:
- When questioned about a hypothetical situation
involving construction of a new nuclear power plant in the downtown
area, 48% of the respondents opposed such construction, with
45% needing more information. In spite of the fact that 46% stated
no concern about risks from San Onofre, only 7% supported construction
of this hypothetical plant in downtown San Diego.
- Almost one-half of those polled did not know
if there were commercial or military nuclear reactors operating
in San Diego County.
- Most respondents considerably overestimated
the percentage of the military contribution to total payroll
within the County, citing percentages as high as 50-65%. Only
17% of the respondents were able to provide the correct proportion
of military contribution to regional payroll: 10%.
- Once informed of the real contribution level
of ten percent, 50% of respondents stated that the military contribution
"was about right," as opposed to supporting increases
or decreases.
In May,
the Navy cleared its final regulatory hurdle to permit the home-porting
of two additional nuclear-powered aircraft carriers in San Diego
Bay. "Now we begin the long process of trying to prevent
impacts to our health and environment from all Navy operations,"
stated Laura Hunter from Environmental Health Coalition. "Unless
we can secure equal protection through requirements for emergency
planning and removal of sovereign immunity and exemptions from
environmental and disclosure laws, this will be more difficult,"
she said.
Marilyn Field,
a community activist in Coronado who lives near the Naval Air
Station, North Island, was encouraged by the poll results. She
stated, "It is heartening to see that the San Diego public
at-large cares about the impacts to communities from Navy operations
and not just the most impacted neighbors. Now that the carrier
home port is finalized, we have to turn our attention to all
of the Navy operational impacts, such as helicopter traffic,
toxic air emissions, storage and transportation of hazardous
waste, as well as the risks posed by the carriers.
The poll was
conducted from telephone interviews with randomly selected adult
residents of San Diego County. A total of 506 interviews were
conducted. The poll was conducted in both English and Spanish
and has a margin of error of +/- 4% with a confidence level of
95%. 
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