State gives uranium company draft permit for work in Goliad

Comment: Well, Texas is selling it's citizens down the river without paddles! Texas wants the money from uranium mining and do not care if their citizens continues to drink the ruin water from just the core drillings!

State gives company draft permit for work in Goliad

By GABE SEMENZA •
Originally published June 11, 2009 at 7:03 p.m., updated June 11, 2009 at 10:42 p.m.


Uranium Energy Corp. is one step closer to mining in Goliad County.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality issued on Wednesday a final draft permit for the company's first Goliad production area.

State engineers deemed the company's permit meets the requirements necessary to protect the environment, said Andrea Morrow, a state commission spokeswoman.

"It does not mean they have permission to operate or construct. It still has to go through commission for approval," she added.

The lengthy approval process also routes through Goliad, where uranium mining opposition and a contested case hearing continue.

The state commission also governs the case hearing, which allows opponents and supporters to provide evidence for and against a mining permit.

A formal meeting is scheduled for January.

Goliad County sued Uranium Energy Corp. in March 2008 for allegedly contaminating well water by not properly plugging some of its 1,100 exploratory wells. A federal judge tossed out the case a week ago.

"In essence, the final draft permit is another endorsement from the state that the project meets all the criteria for the extraction process," Harry Anthony, the uranium company's chief operating officer, said Wednesday.

The company will next publish notices in area newspaper and solicit public comment.

If the company receives a state permit to mine, on-site work will begin next year.

http://www.victoriaadvocate.com/news/2009/jun/11/gs_uec_update_061109_54257/