Relax, James neighbors, and mind your own

“(M)ake it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands ...”

— 1 Thessalonians 4:11

What if you were minding your own business ... and then your neighbor did something that poisoned the water hole, caused cancer in those driving down Interstate 40, or was responsible for babies being born with three heads?

That would be your fault, right?

Because you can’t just mind your own business when those around you might be doing dangerous stuff, or planning to do stuff that might be dangerous some day if other stuff happens they can’t control.

You know?

This is what’s happening in Quay County today — a few dozen residents are overreacting to a what-if question that’s a long way from becoming any of their business.

A ranching family named James is entertaining thoughts of allowing the Department of Energy to drill two holes on the James’ property near Nara Visa.

The holes would be 3 miles deep; one would be 8 1/2 inches wide, the other 17 inches wide. The purpose is to see if it’s even possible to drill holes like that, then to evaluate whether deep boreholes might offer a safe and practical option for storing nuclear waste.

Yes, the nuclear waste is what perked up those area residents’ ears and turned them into busybodies.

They skipped right over the part about scientific research that could make the world a safer place — not to mention pump millions of dollars into a depressed economy — and jumped straight to the part about the potential for three-headed babies.

Listen up, James neighbors:

• The family has not yet agreed to participate in the project.

• The issue is holes in the ground, not storing nuclear waste.

• The 1-in-a-million “what-if” scenario could not even begin until after there’s an actual plan to store nuclear waste in Quay County, which the government says won’t happen and which couldn’t happen until after the borehole tests, which haven’t started, are completed.

Got it?

It’s not time to attack a neighbor; the James’ say they feel like they’ve become lepers in a community where they’ve lived for 40 years.

They’ve been shouted down at town hall meetings and even asked how much money it will take to buy them off.

Neighbors who offer their property in the name of scientific research sound like responsible neighbors, not like lepers.

It’s important to remember those screaming the loudest, as is usually the case, do not necessarily represent a majority.

Most of the good people of Quay County are independent, hard working, common-sense people with a healthy respect for private property rights and individual liberty.

When government officials tried to tell them how many garage sales they could have in a year, they initiated an election to recall those government officials. They don’t like to be told what to do, and most of them don’t usually try to tell each other what to do.

The concept of mind your own business around here is as old and respected as Tucumcari Mountain.

OK, Quay County residents have a reason to be concerned. That’s because this project involves the U.S. government.

Raise the red flags right there.

But the actual burying of nuclear waste in Quay County is not even in the talk-about-it stage. If we ever get to that point — remember, DOD says it won’t — that would require years of research, debate and then court proceedings.

So relax, Quay County.

Don’t treat your neighbors like lepers.

If they decide to loan their property to those working toward a safer way to store nuclear waste, just say thanks.

David Stevens is editor for Clovis Media Inc. Contact him at: [email protected]