Uranium's legacy

Aerial photo of NE Church Rock Mine, Photo: United Nuclear Corporation (UNC)

Comment: Please read all three articles about the problems that are still haunting our families out west from uranium mining more that 30-40 years ago. The uranium companies and the federal government just left the people out west with a uranium nightmare. Virginia is in bed with the French and the Canadians nuke bunch and will let them come to Virginia and ruin our countryside with open pit uranium mine plus a uranium mill and a bunch of nuke plants! People of Virginia, tell the so call Virginia leaders to ban uranium mining and milling NOW!

Gallup Independent
By Kathy Helms
Diné Bureau

Red Water Pond Road residents prepare for relocation

CHURCHROCK — General Electric and its subsidiary United Nuclear Corp. are preparing to spend $5 million to remove about 97,000 cubic yards of radium-contaminated soil from around three households on Red Water Pond Road and an unnamed arroyo next to the former Northeast Churchrock Mine.

Seven Navajo families live in the three households, but for the next five months they are facing “relocation” to apartments in Gallup as part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s interim removal action.


Northeast Churchrock Mine cleanup plan under fire

Gallup Independent
By Kathy Helms
Diné Bureau

CHURCHROCK — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency presented its cleanup plan for Northeast Churchrock Mine to a lively group of concerned individuals and Navajo Environmental Protection Agency officials Tuesday evening at Churchrock Chapter House.

Andrew Bain, remedial project manager with EPA’s Superfund Division, fielded questions regarding its preferred cleanup alternative which calls for excavation of all mine waste soil and sediments exceeding 2.24 picocuries per gram of radium and consolidating them in a disposal cell on the United Nuclear Corp. mill site, or constructing a new cell at the mill.

Addressing Uranium Contaminationin the Navajo Nation

Northeast Church Rock Mine (NECR)


Gallup, New Mexico, NECR is the highest priority abandoned mine cleanup in the Navajo Nation. The mine adjoins the United Nuclear Corporation (UNC) uranium mill site, a Superfund site managed jointly by EPA Region 6 and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The mine is mostly on Navajo tribal trust land, while the mill is on private fee land. At the request of the Navajo Nation, EPA is using Superfund authority to investigate and clean up the NECR mine site, in coordination with the existing adjacent Superfund site clean up.

After identifying a large volume of radium-contaminated soil, in 2007 EPA took emergency action to remove 6,500 cubic yards of soils from around four residences with the highest contamination levels. EPA spent $990,000 on the excavation, and required UNC to safely dispose of the soils at an additional cost of $1.3 million.

To address the long-term threats from the NECR Mine, EPA developed a removal plan in spring 2008. EPA developed an Engineering Evaluation and Cost Analysis (EE/CA) report that proposes potential remedies for the mine site and will hold a 30-day public comment period in the spring of 2009. A remedy will then be selected out of this process for the eventual mine cleanup.

For more information about Superfund activities at this site, see North East Church Rock Mine Cleanup.

http://www.epa.gov/region09/superfund/navajo-nation/ne-church-rock-mine.html

India's Generation of Children Crippled by Uranium Waste

Published on Sunday, August 30, 2009 by The Guardian/UK
India's Generation of Children Crippled by Uranium Waste

Observer investigation uncovers link between dramatic rise in birth defects in Punjab and pollution from coal-fired power stations

by Gethin Chamberlain

Their heads are too large or too small, their limbs too short or too bent. For some, their brains never grew, speech never came and their lives are likely to be cut short: these are the children it appears that India would rather the world did not see, the victims of a scandal with potential implications far beyond the country's borders.

Gurpreet Sigh, 7, who has cerebral palsy and microcephaly, and is from Sirsar, 50km from the Punjabi town of Bathinda. He is being treated at the Baba Farid centre for Special Children in Bathinda Photograph: Gethin Chamberlain.
Some sit mutely, staring into space, lost in a world of their own; others cry out, rocking backwards and forwards. Few have any real control over their own bodies. Their anxious parents fret over them, murmuring soft words of encouragement, hoping for some sort of miracle that will free them from a nightmare.

Health workers in the Punjabi cities of Bathinda and Faridkot knew something was terribly wrong when they saw a sharp increase in the number of birth defects, physical and mental abnormalities, and cancers. They suspected that children were being slowly poisoned.

But it was only when a visiting scientist arranged for tests to be carried out at a German laboratory that the true nature of their plight became clear. The results were unequivocal. The children had massive levels of uranium in their bodies, in one case more than 60 times the maximum safe limit.

The results were both momentous and mysterious. Uranium occurs naturally throughout the world, but is normally only present in low background levels which pose no threat to human health. There was no obvious source in the Punjab that could account for such high levels of contamination.

And if a few hundred children - spread over a large area - were contaminated, how many thousands more might also be affected? Those are questions the Indian authorities appear determined not to answer. Staff at the clinics say they were visited and threatened with closure if they spoke out. The South African scientist whose curiosity exposed the scandal says she has been warned by the authorities that she may not be allowed back into the country.

But an Observer investigation has now uncovered disturbing evidence to suggest a link between the contamination and the region's coal-fired power stations. It is already known that the fine fly ash produced when coal is burned contains concentrated levels of uranium and a new report published by Russia's leading nuclear research institution warns of an increased radiation hazard to people living near coal-fired thermal power stations.

The test results for children born and living in areas around the state's power stations show high levels of uranium in their bodies. Tests on ground water show that levels of uranium around the plants are up to 15 times the World Health Organisation's maximum safe limits. Tests also show that it extends across large parts of the state, which is home to 24 million people.

The findings have implications not only for the rest of India - Punjab produces two-thirds of the wheat in the country's central reserves and 40% of its rice - but for many other countries planning to build new power plants, including China, Russia, India, Germany and the US. In Britain, there are plans for a coal-fired station at the Kingsnorth facility in Kent.

The victims are being treated at the Baba Farid centres for special children in Bathinda - where there are two coal-fired thermal plants - and in nearby Faridkot. It was staff at those clinics who first voiced concerns about the increasing numbers of admissions involving severely handicapped children. They were being born with hydrocephaly, microcephaly, cerebral palsy, Down's syndrome and other complications. Several have already died.

Dr Pritpal Singh, who runs the Faridkot clinic, said the numbers of children affected by the pollution had risen dramatically in the past six or seven years. But he added that the Indian authorities appeared determined to bury the scandal. "They can't just detoxify these kids, they have to detoxify the whole Punjab. That is the reason for their reluctance," he said. "They threatened us and said if we didn't stop commenting on what's happening, they would close our clinic.

"But I decided that if I kept silent it would go on for years and no one would do anything about it. If I keep silent then the next day it will be my child. The children are dying in front of me."

Dr Carin Smit, the South African clinical metal toxicologist who arranged for the tests to be carried out in Germany, said that the situation could no longer be ignored. "There is evidence of harm for these children in my care and... it is an imperative that their bodies be cleaned up and their metabolisms be supported to deal with such a devastating presence of radioactive material," she said.

"If the contamination is as widespread as it would appear to be - as far west as Muktsar on the Pakistani border, and as far east as the foothills of Himachal Pradesh - then millions are at high risk and every new baby born to a contaminated mother is at risk."

In the Faridkot centre last week, Harmanbir Kaur, 15, was rocking gently backwards and forwards. When her test results came back, they showed she had 10 times the safe limit of uranium in her body. Her brother, Naunihal Singh, six, has double the safe level.

Harmanbir was born in Muktsar, 25 miles from Faridkot. Her mother, Kulbir Kaur, 37, watched her slowly degenerate from a healthy baby into the girl she is today, dribbling constantly, unable to feed herself, lost in a world of her own. "God knows what sin I have committed. When we go to our village people say there is a curse of God on you, but I don't believe so," she said. "Every part of this area is affected. We never imagined that there would be uranium in our kids."

A few miles down the road in Bathinda, Sukhminder Singh, 48, a farmer, watched his son Kulwinder, 13, staring into space while curling his hands up under his chin. Tests showed Kulwinder has 19 times the maximum safe level of uranium in his body. He has cerebral palsy and has already had seven operations to unbend his arms and legs.

"The government should investigate it because if our child is affected it will also affect future generations," he said. "What are they waiting for? How many children do they want to be affected? Another generation? I can leave the house for work, but my wife is always with him. Sometimes she cries and asks why God is playing with our luck. Every morning he sends a new trouble."

Doni Choudhary, aged 15 months, is waiting to be tested, though staff say he shows similar symptoms to those who have tested positive and are treating him for suspected uranium poisoning. His mother, Neelum, 22, from the state capital, Chandigarh, says he was born with hydrocephaly. His legs are useless.

"He is dependent on others. After me, who can care for him?" Neelum asks. "He tries to speak but he can't express himself and my heart cries. When will he understand that his legs don't work? What will he feel?"

India's reluctance to acknowledge the problem is hardly unexpected: the country is heavily committed to an expansion of thermal plants in Punjab and other states. Neither was it any surprise when a team of scientists from the Department of Atomic Energy visited the area and concluded that while the concentration of uranium in drinking water was "slightly high", there was "nothing to worry" about. Yet some tests recorded levels of uranium in the ground water as high as 224mcg/l (micrograms per litre) - 15 times higher than the safe level of 15mcg/l recommended by the WHO. (The US Environmental Protection Agency sets a maximum safe level of 20mcg/l.)

Some scientists have proposed that the ground water may have been contaminated by contact with granite rocks that rise above the ground about 150 miles away to the south in the Tosham hills, in Haryana state. A continuation of these rocks is believed to run deep below the thick alluvial deposits that form the plains of Punjab.

Increasing demands for water, in particular to irrigate the rice crop, have led to greater dependence on tube wells. That in turn is depleting the water table in the state at an alarming rate - by at least 30cm a year, according to one study - with the result that water is being drawn from ever deeper levels. However, this theory seems to be in conflict with evidence from parents of many of the children, who say they use the mains supply, which comes from other sources.

There have also been claims that the contamination may have been exacerbated by depleted uranium carried on the wind from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. At a seminar in Amritsar in April, Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat, a former chief of the naval staff, suggested that areas within a 1,000-mile radius of Kabul - including Punjab - may be affected by depleted uranium. Although the prevailing monsoon winds blow either from the north-east or the south-west, there are times when a depression originating in the Mediterranean can result in rainfall in Punjab.

Meanwhile, smoke continues to pour from the power station chimneys and lorries shuttle backwards and forwards, taking away the fly ash to be mixed into cement at the neighbouring Ambuja factory. Inside the plant last week, there was ash everywhere, forming drifts, clinging to the skin, getting into the throat.

Ravindra Singh, the plant's security officer, said that most of the ash went to the cement works, while the rest was dumped in ash ponds. It would be more efficient to burn better quality coal that left less ash, he said. Every day the plant burned 6,000 tons of coal. He had no idea how much ash that generated, but the stream of lorries to take it away was continuous.

The first coal-fired power station in Punjab was commissioned in Bathinda in 1974, followed by another in nearby Lehra Mohabat in 1998. There is a third to the east, at Rupnagar.

Tests on ground water in villages in Bathinda district found the highest average concentration of uranium - 56.95mcg/l - in the town of Bucho Mandi, a short distance from the Lehra Mohabat ash pond. Such a concentration of uranium means the lifetime cancer risk in the village was more than 153 times higher than in the normal population. Tests on ground water in the village of Jai Singh Wala, close to the Bathinda ash pond, showed an average level of 52.79mcg/l. People living there said they used the ash to spread on the roads and even on the floors of their homes.

Scientists in Punjab who have studied the presence of uranium in the state have dismissed the government denials as a whitewash. "If the government says there is a high level of uranium in an area that would create havoc - they don't want to openly say something like that," said Dr Chander Parkash, a wetland ecologist working at Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar.

Both he and Dr Surinder Singh, who works at the same university and has also carried out tests on the state's ground water, said it was clear that uranium was present in large quantities and should be investigated further.

Another scientist, Dr GS Dhillon, a former chief engineer with the irrigation department, is convinced that the uranium has come from the power stations and accuses the authorities of failing to control the ash ponds, which he believes have contaminated the ground water.

Their concerns are bolstered by a report from the Kurchatov Institute in Moscow, Russia's leading state organisation for nuclear research, published last month in the Russian Academy of Sciences' Thermal Engineering journal. The report's author, DA Krylov, raised serious doubts about the safety of coal-fired thermal power stations (TPSs), concluding that radiation from ash residues and from chimney emissions built up around coal-fired power plants and posed an additional risk to those living and working in the area.

"Natural radionuclides contained in coals concentrate in ash-and-slag wastes and gas-aerosol emissions as these coals are fired at TPSs, with the result that an elevated man-made radiation background builds up around TPSs," the report stated. The situation became worse, the report said, if ash was used as a construction material or as a filling material for roads.

A previous report in the magazine Scientific American, citing various sources, claimed that fly ash emitted by power plants "carries into the surrounding environment 100 times more radiation than a nuclear power plant producing the same amount of energy", adding: "When coal is burned into fly ash, uranium and thorium are concentrated at up to 10 times their original levels."

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/08/30-1

Big drop in cost of solar panels plus incentives spur deals

New York Times
In Print: Sunday, August 30, 2009

When Greg Hare looked into putting solar panels on his ranch-style home in Magnolia, Texas, last year, he decided he could not afford it. "I had no idea solar was so expensive," he recalled.

But the cost of solar panels has plunged, changing the economics for many homeowners. Hare ended up paying $77,000 for a large solar setup that he figures might have cost him $100,000 a year ago.

"I just thought, 'Wow, this is an opportunity to do the most for the least,' " Hare said.

For solar shoppers these days, the price is right. Panel prices have fallen about 40 percent since mid 2008, driven down partly by an increase in the supply of a crucial ingredient for panels, according to analysts at the investment bank Piper Jaffray.

The price drops — coupled with recently expanded federal incentives — could shrink the time it takes solar panels to pay for themselves to 16 years, from 22 years, in places with high electricity costs, according to Glenn Harris, chief executive of SunCentric, a solar consulting group. That calculation does not include state rebates, which can sometimes improve the economics considerably.

Florida, for instance, started offering a rebate of $4 a watt for solar panels in 2006. The rebate cut the cost of installation by half or more, paying home­owners $20,000 for a 5-kilowatt system. Since then, the amount of solar on the state's electric grid grew to more than 3 megawatts, and there are thousands of backlogged applications for rebates.

This year, America's consumers have the rest of the world to thank for the big solar price break.

Until recently, panel makers had been constrained by limited production of polysilicon, which goes into most types of panels. But more factories making the material have opened, as have more plants churning out the panels — especially in China.

"A ton of production, mostly Chinese, has come online," said Chris Whitman, the president of U.S. Solar Finance, which helps arrange bank financing for solar projects.

At the same time, once-roaring global demand for solar panels has slowed, particularly in Europe, the largest solar market, where photovoltaic installations are forecast to fall by 26 percent this year compared with 2008, according to Emerging Energy Research, a consulting firm. Much of that drop can be attributed to a sharp slowdown in Spain. Faced with high unemployment and an economic crisis, Spain slashed its generous subsidy for the panels last year because it was costing too much.

Many experts expect panel prices to fall further, though not by another 40 percent.

Manufacturers are already reeling from the price slump. For example, Evergreen Solar, which is based in Massachusetts, recently reported a second-quarter loss that was more than double its loss from a year earlier.

But some manufacturers say that cheaper panels could be a good thing in the long term, spurring enthusiasm among customers and expanding the market.

"It's important that these costs and prices do come down," said Mike Ahearn, the chief executive of First Solar, a panel maker based in Tempe, Ariz.

First Solar recently announced a deal to build two large solar arrays in Southern California to supply that region's dominant utility. But across the United States, the installation of large solar systems — the type found on commercial or government buildings — has been hurt by financing problems, and is on track to be about the same this year as in 2008, according to Emerging Energy Research.

The smaller residential sector continues to grow: In California, by far the largest market in the country, residential installations in July were up by more than 50 percent compared with a year earlier. With prices dropping, that momentum looks poised to continue.

John Berger, chief executive of Standard Renewable Energy, the company in Houston that put panels on Hare's home, said his second-quarter sales rose by more than 225 percent from the first quarter.

"Was that as a product of declining panel prices? Almost certainly yes," Berger said.

Expanded federal incentives have also helped spur the market. Until this year, homeowners could get a 30 percent tax credit for solar electric installations, but it was capped at $2,000. That cap was lifted Jan. 1.

Hare in Texas cited the larger tax credit, which sliced about $23,000 from his $77,000 bill, as a major factor in his decision to go solar, in addition to the falling panel prices. The electric bill on his 7,000-square-foot house and garage has typically run $600 to $700 a month, but he expects a reduction of 40 to 80 percent.

Berger predicts that with panel prices falling and the generous federal credit in place, utilities will start lowering rebates they offer to homeowners who put panels on their roofs.

Even if falling rebates cancel out some of the price slump, more innovative financing strategies are also helping to make solar affordable for homeowners.

A policy known as feed-in tariffs is gaining traction, pushed by a renewable energy lobby that includes solar installers and manufacturers. The tariffs force utilities to pay more for electricity that customers generated from solar panels than those customers pay for electricity generated by the utility's power plants. Gainesville recently adopted the tariffs.

Some communities are also enacting laws to enable solar panels to be paid off gradually, through increased property taxes, after a municipality first shoulders the upfront costs.

Some installers have adopted similar approaches. Danita Hardy, a homeowner in Phoenix, had been put off by the prospect of spending $20,000 for solar panels — until she saw a news item about a company called SunRun that takes on the upfront expense and recovers its costs gradually, in a lease deal, essentially through the savings in a homeowner's electric bill.

"I thought well, heck, this might be doable," said Hardy, who wound up having to lay out only $800 to get 15 solar panels for her home.





New York Times

WUXI, China — President Barack Obama wants to make the United States "the world's leading exporter of renewable energy," but in his seven months in office, it is China that has stepped on the gas in an effort to become the dominant player in green energy — especially in solar power, and even in the United States.

Chinese companies have already played a leading role in pushing down the price of solar panels by almost half over the last year.

Backed by lavish government support, the Chinese are preparing to construct plants to assemble their products in the United States to bypass protectionist legislation. As Japanese automakers did decades ago, Chinese solar companies are encouraging their U.S. executives to join industry trade groups to tamp down anti-Chinese sentiment before it takes root.

Since March Chinese governments at the national, provincial, and even local level, have been competing with one another to offer solar companies ever more generous subsidies, including free land, and cash for research and development. State-owned banks are flooding the industry with loans at considerably lower interest rates than available in Europe or the United States.

Suntech Power Holdings, based in Wuxi, China, is on track this year to pass Q-Cells of Germany, to become the world's second-largest supplier of photovoltaic cells, which would put it behind only First Solar in Tempe, Ariz.

Hot on Suntech's heels is a growing list of Chinese corporations backed by entrepreneurs, local governments and even the Chinese military, all seeking to capitalize on an industry deemed crucial by China's top leadership.

"I don't see Europe or the United States becoming major producers of solar products — they'll be consumers," said Thomas M. Zarrella, the chief executive of GT Solar International, a company in Merrimack, N.H., that sells specialized factory equipment to solar panel makers around the world.

WUXI, China — President Barack Obama wants to make the United States "the world's leading exporter of renewable energy," but in his seven months in office, it is China that has stepped on the gas in an effort to become the dominant player in green energy — especially in solar power, and even in the United States.

Chinese companies have already played a leading role in pushing down the price of solar panels by almost half over the last year.

Backed by lavish government support, the Chinese are preparing to construct plants to assemble their products in the United States to bypass protectionist legislation. As Japanese automakers did decades ago, Chinese solar companies are encouraging their U.S. executives to join industry trade groups to tamp down anti-Chinese sentiment before it takes root.

Since March Chinese governments at the national, provincial, and even local level, have been competing with one another to offer solar companies ever more generous subsidies, including free land, and cash for research and development. State-owned banks are flooding the industry with loans at considerably lower interest rates than available in Europe or the United States.

Suntech Power Holdings, based in Wuxi, China, is on track this year to pass Q-Cells of Germany, to become the world's second-largest supplier of photovoltaic cells, which would put it behind only First Solar in Tempe, Ariz.

Hot on Suntech's heels is a growing list of Chinese corporations backed by entrepreneurs, local governments and even the Chinese military, all seeking to capitalize on an industry deemed crucial by China's top leadership.

"I don't see Europe or the United States becoming major producers of solar products — they'll be consumers," said Thomas M. Zarrella, the chief executive of GT Solar International, a company in Merrimack, N.H., that sells specialized factory equipment to solar panel makers around the world.

[Last modified: Aug 29, 2009 04:31 AM]

http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/big-drop-in-cost-of-solar-panels-plus-incentives-spur-deals/1031921

Paradox resident Marie Moore responds to Norwood’s Tom Kyle and speaks out against the proposed Paradox Valley uranium mill… Rhonda Claridge asks the

Comment: Paradox, Colorado is fighting against a proposed uranium mill! Both women's anti-Uranium mill letter are referring to name calling ProUranium Mill dude (the letter comes after the women letters)! It seems all proNuke bunches like to call people names if you do not like nuke power! Virginians are also fighting against uranium mining and milling and the nuke bunch call us names too! Many of us have heard the old saying, "Don't let history repeat itself!” well the good people of Colorado are fighting against the uranium mill because they have past history of uranium mill pollutions. No to uranium mining and milling! (The above video, the guy giving the pro Uranium mill speech is a Canadian (listen to the accent!))

Aug 27, 2009

Editor:

In response to the letter by Mr. Tom Kyle from Norwood, I am Marie Moore and I have been a resident of Paradox for 17 years. I am the “poor woman” you referred to in your letter and who you accused of speaking for some of the farmers and ranchers in the Paradox Valley at the hearing for the Special Use Permit for the Uranium Mill on August 13th. I gave a list of farms in the Paradox Valley. I did not say that I was representing any of those farms or the stance that any of those ranchers and farmers have about the mill. They can speak for themselves, and many of them did. I said that if there is contamination or stigma from the milling and mining of uranium it could affect all of the farmers and ranchers here and their ability to gain their livelihood. It could. I was not speaking for the Paradox Valley Sustainability Association either.

I have studied about the history of this area and I would like to point out that farming and ranching existed here before mining and milling. In his article Mr. Kyle failed to mention about the “Legacy of Death” which was also part of the history of the uranium industry in this area. He failed to mention about the many cancer and lung disease deaths in people working for an industry that lied to the public about the dangers and risks involved. He failed to mention that our government has paid out millions of dollars for restitution to families who suffered because someone in the family (usually the breadwinner) had died from cancer or lung disease from working in this industry. Which, for those in this area who say that uranium mining and milling do not cause cancer – that it was just because the workers smoked – tell me, why have you all accepted the money from our government which was paid to you because our government has determined that those people died from cancer and lung disease because of working with radioactive materials? If uranium doesn’t cause cancer it seems to me everyone who has benefited from the restitution money are fraudulent and should return the money. No one gets restitution just because they die of cancer from smoking.

Yes, we have earthquakes here often, and earthquakes can crack brittle liners and cause leaching of contaminants into the groundwater. Mr. Kyle, you seem almost proud of the fact that the mining companies in the past had no consciousness about the contamination they left behind for our tax payers to pay to get cleaned up.

I know that people in Nucla and Naturita need jobs. Presently the BLM received stimulus money for doing mine closures of many of the mines west of Paradox. These jobs have just come up for bid and there will be more in the next year. Contact for information about this is Barney Buria at the BLM office in Montrose 240-5333. He mentioned to me that the mine closures are being done because of the accidents and deaths that have happened when people have driven ATV’s into mines and fallen down mine shafts, etc. Getting the mines closed and the mess cleaned up that was left behind by the mining companies that pulled out leaving mine tailings to blow in the wind will lessen any contamination that would blow around now. I have had people make readings for radioactivity on my property in Paradox and the readings were only .002 points above the national average. Considering that we are at 5,200 ft. above sea level and considering that the higher you go the readings get higher, I think we can say that there is either no or very little contamination from uranium at this time where I live.

The history of mining and milling makes excellent material for tourism when it is past history and no longer threatens people’s health and well being. Naturita has beautiful river frontage and is on Hwy. 141, upon which many tourists travel. I cannot understand why residents in Nucla and Naturita want to resurrect the uranium industry that caused so much death and sickness there when they have the opportunity to bring tourism into their towns as a way to make money. For those who want to build houses to bring into this area workers for the mill and mines, wouldn’t building cabins for tourists to stay by the riverside bring in more money in reality? (I thought the mill would employ locals so why do we need houses to bring in outsiders? Or would there be few jobs in reality for locals?) If you read the report done by the Sonoran Institute for Gateway Canyons, tourism is the business that has had a steady increase in revenues for this area for many years. Why are the residents of Nucla and Naturita not realizing that tourism has made Telluride, Moab, Gateway, and partially Grand Junction and Montrose prosper? Isn’t it time that the West End partake in the tourism prosperity? The history of mining and milling, the farming and ranching, the hunting and fishing and outdoor recreation, rafting on the river, the bicyclists, the rock climbers, gift shops, restaurants, retirees and tourism all support and benefit each other, so why not make the Western Slope a unified whole in supporting those activities for gaining a livelihood?

The stigma and contamination of the mining and milling is in direct opposition to the flourishing of all of the above-mentioned ways of making a living. So do we continue a history of not caring about each other and just trying to get for ourselves or do we look at the whole region and make our choices based on what will benefit everyone?

– Marie Moore, Paradox

Deny Special Use Permit for Uranium Mill

Editor:

To the Montrose County Board of County Commissioners:

I am writing to urge you to deny the Special Use Permit application for the proposed Pinon Ridge Uranium Mill. Development of a uranium mill will unfairly devalue the properties of existing landowners in the Paradox Valley. It will provide a short-term revenue source for 85 locals, but when this industry collapses, what will future generations of the region do for a living? Right now, people of the Nucla and Naturita area enjoy the income from boaters on the Dolores River and other recreationalists, such as rock climbers and road cyclists. There is potential for exponential revenue growth in the region given the history and scenic beauty of Paradox Valley, the climate, and the natural amenities. Should residents create some mountain bike trails and choose to provide tours of rock art and wild horses, etc., their economic well-being would be guaranteed. People will come and spend money and appreciate and protect the region.

I don't think it is fair to cater to the interests of a small group of people, i.e. those who seek jobs in the proposed mill, while polluting the air, soil and water that the rest of us who live in the Southwest are working so hard to keep clean. The dangers that uranium mills pose are evident when you research what has occurred in Canõn City or when you consider the enormous costs to taxpayers to reclaim mill sites at Uravan, Vanadium, and Moab. Why would the government undergo such huge clean-up efforts if the impacts of uranium mills were not harmful? The uranium industry has already boomed and busted more than once in the Southwest. Why not endorse a healthy, long-term industry such as generating solar power in Paradox? This would create jobs and harm no one.

Please look to the future, be courageous, and do not cave to political pressures from special interest groups. You have a responsibility not only to the people of Naturita, Nucla, and neighboring towns, but also to their children who will inherit a polluted land and greater socio-economic woes than their parents.

Respectfully,
– Rhonda Claridge, Ophir

Do You Know the History of the Paradox Valley? (ProUraniumMill, calling people names)

Aug 20, 2009

Editor:

At the Thursday night, Aug.13 public comment meeting at Nucla High School the Montrose County Commissioners listened patiently to the crowd against placing a uranium mill in Paradox Valley. I was astounded by the number of people from the Bedrock/Paradox area of our county who stood up and made fools of themselves by not knowing the history of their own area.

Didn’t the real estate agent tell you that you bought property in a mining district? Didn’t they realize that on all four sides of your little area is one of the largest mining districts in the State of Colorado? And it’s not a former mining district, it’s an existing mining district. One poor woman, apparently knowing nothing about the valley, mentioned the pending cellular mutation of the Redd cattle and the destruction of the Swain Ranch as instances of what was to come if the mill was allowed to get any dust in the air.

Uh…excuse me, but your living in a mining district. There is radioactive dust in the air currently and has been since you set foot in the valley. I recently read a great book about Charlie Redd who, without investing in the boom, profited from the era and even rented his LaSal home to the manager of Homestake Mining Company. He shared the BLM property with the miners and grazed his cows right beside their mine dumps along LaSal creek and fed them hay from Paradox. The low-grade waste dumps are all around you.

And also there is the age-old story repeated often in our local paper about Thomas Swain who, in 1895, sent specimens of yellow carnotite to the British Museum. In 1906 Madam Curie sent a buyer to Paradox from France. The realtor didn’t tell you that? It’s one of our best stories.

To the southwest of your area is the Big Indian mining district where Charlie Steen hit his mother lode. Do you think he and all the 500 mines in your immediate area picked up every granule of ore. Of course not and still today the wind hurls it right down into your front yard. To the northwest of Paradox Polar Mesa in the Uravan mining belt where hundreds of low grade mine dumps dot the surface. It’s our history. When the price is down our people practically starve. When the price is up, we get busy and mine it.

As you drive the valley from Naturita, look to your left to see the road to the Nil Mine at the base of on Monogram Mesa. It’s one of several hundred. It is no longer in operation, but it could be, if the water was pumped out. Not too many years ago, the wastewater from the mines in that area, were pumped into ponds for cattle to drink. No one told you that? Water is constantly moving through that strata and has been for 20 million years. You should ask Energy Fuels if they could use that water in their mill. It would alleviate them drilling wells.

Another lady at Thursday’s meeting was sure earthquakes were going to erupt under the mill. Does she and her rude clapping followers not understand that 600 earthquakes were noted in the valley last year? The shaking of the earth certainly opens up tiny cracks in all the formations for surface water to penetrate the ground after it leaches through the 1,500 low-grade waste piles from former mines that surround Paradox Valley.

Energy Fuels reports the new mill will require 500 tons of ore per day. That’s PEANUTS. The mill at Uravan operated at 200 tons per hour, twenty-four hours per day. Understand also that only a small part of the yellow cake produced is radioactive. It has to be refined before it is dangerous. That is why it will be transported to Illinois. All you fools holding your breath when you drive through the former Uravan, should think about the natural dust blowing off the former and existing mines in the surrounding mining districts. Mining uranium and vanadium is what we do here in Montrose County.

Building a vanadium/uranium processing mill in Uravan was not a good idea, but it was the only existing site where the U.S. Government could quickly get their hands on processed yellow cake during World War II. It is the primary reason the folks in Paradox Valley are not speaking Japanese today. The tax money from uranium mining paid for building the schools in Nucla, Naturita and Paradox and it contributed to the Montrose high school. It was Western Colorado mining resources that built St. Mary’s hospital. Not farming and tourism. Grand Junction is an energy hub with rich history and great future potential.

Another fool at Thursday’s meeting stood up representing [a nearby resort] who is against the mill. That facility is smack dab in the middle of a uranium mining district and he should advise visitors that their facility was constructed in the Uravan Mining Belt and the dust on the back roads where they escort tourists is in a uranium mining district where many hundreds of mines once existed and are in operation currently. Didn’t anyone tell them there was radioactive mine dumps in the area before the developed the resort? I’m sure they knew some of the history. Their tourist attraction and museum has increased Gateway traffic in the narrow canyon as much as eight times. It alone has contributed to more deaths than any mining currently operating. They should put up a sign notifying everyone the surroundings are radioactive.

Lake Powell in southern Utah was constructed in a mining district and when it filled, the water covered up hundreds of high-grade uranium mines, but people still love to go there and the fish are doing well. The people downstream are born have five fingers per hand.

I agree that mistakes have been made back when the U.S. Government was the only authorized purchaser of yellow cake. But technology has drastically improved and we are now back under the free enterprise system and controls are in place. The President of the company submitting the applicant is George Glasier, and like Howard Hughes, he has been in the industry his entire career and has his whole life and reputation wrapped up in this project. The last recent catastrophic meltdown I can remember was on Wall Street and even though I don’t know George personally, I trust him more than the president of my own bank, who has virtually nothing to lose.

If the fanatic folks in Paradox Valley are really interested in clean air, they should concentrate their efforts to research large power plants back east that spew millions of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year along with thousands of tons of radioactive particles. You just can’t see them. AND there is no clean coal technology other than pumping CO2 into the ground.

I don’t own mining stocks, I don’t own mining claims and I don’t need a job. I simply have studied good science and know the history of western Montrose County. I want to tell Paradox Valley residents not to be sorry you moved here. They can be part of the global solution.

– Tom Kyle, Norwood


http://www.telluridewatch.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Paradox+resident+Marie+Moore+responds+to+Norwood%E2%80%99s+Tom+Kyle+and+speaks+out+against+the+proposed+Paradox+Valley+uranium+mill%E2%80%A6+Rhonda+Claridge+asks+the+Montrose+County+Commissioners+to+not+cater+to+special+interests-%20&id=3274865

Indian Point's contamination woes: Entergy wants 20-year extension to run nuclear plant

The Indian Point nuclear power station in Buchanan, N.Y., 35 miles north of midtown New York City.

Comment: Again, this reminds of article I once read. A nuke made the following comment: "I live near a Nuclear Power Plant and I love it!” My comment: duh, maybe atoms have scrambled his brains! No to Nuke Power, therefore, No to Uranium mining!

BY Abby Luby
DAILY NEWS WRITER
Updated Friday, August 28th 2009, 8:23 PM

The Indian Point nuclear power plant is sitting on enough contaminated soil, by federal estimates, to fill Yankee Stadium with radioactive sludge a foot deep.

Years of radioactive leaks have saturated some 1.63 million cubic feet of soil at the Westchester County plant, according to a letter from a Nuclear Regulatory Commission official to plant owner Entergy.

The leaks are from the reactor's 40-foot deep spent fuel pools that store used radioactive fuel, said John Boska, Indian Point's project manager with the NRC.

"Some of the contaminated soil may also have PCBs [polychlorinated biphenyls] that leaked from large electrical transformers, which are cooled by oil which often contained PCBs," said Boska.

Entergy has applied for a new operating license to keep the plant running an additional 20 years after their license expires in 2015. After 2035, when the new license expires and the plant is due to close, Entergy has 60 years to get rid of the contaminated soil and radioactive waste and clean up the entire site.

Officials said there is no immediate danger or public health threat, since the soil is below ground.

The NRC says Entergy won't have enough funds to remove the toxic soil when it finally closes the plant and clean up the site.

Entergy will need $400 million for each of the three units to be closed down. The NRC claims Entergy is short $100 million from the market meltdown.

In light of the shortfall, Entergy has committed an extra $110 million in 2026 to its decommissioning fund, a mandated fund required by the NRC of all 103 nuclear power plants in the country.

The utility company pulls in more than $2 million a day and more than $700 million a year in profits from plants countrywide.

"We believe there are appropriate levels set aside in the decommissioning trust fund and that we are in compliance with NRC rules," said spokesman Jerry Nappi of Entergy.

Removing contaminated soil at Indian Point involves digging out utility tunnels and underground systems and demolishing many plant buildings where electricity is generated and where radioactive fuel is stored.

Boska said the contaminated soil and other radioactive waste is usually shipped by truck or rail to a waste disposal site in Utah or Texas.

"The waste is put in a container which can be made of flexible plastic, which prevents the soil from falling on the roadway or scattering in the wind," Boska said.

In June, Entergy asked the NRC if it could use their decommissioning funds to pay for storing spent fuel at the plant in special dry casks.

Boska didn't specify when the NRC would respond to Entergy, adding: "We have not yet reached a conclusion if the funds are adequate."

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/bronx/2009/08/27/2009-08-27_contamination_woe_runs_deep_at_indian_point.html?print=1&page=all#ixzz0PbQbEsus
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/bronx/2009/08/27/2009-08-27_contamination_woe_runs_deep_at_indian_point.html

Danville officials react to Kennedy’s death

Comment: Keep the Kennedy's in your prayers!

By Catherine Amos
Published: August 27, 2009

Revered by die-hard liberals and spurned by staunch conservatives, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy was a polarizing force in United States politics — with nearly everyone recognizing his passion.

Known as the liberal lion of the Senate, Kennedy died early Wednesday morning after battling a brain tumor. He was 77, and the last surviving son of the Kennedy family — once the America’s political dy-nasty.

In the Dan River Region, local political leaders from both sides of the aisle weighed in on Kennedy’s influence and what will likely be his legacy of working toward health care reform.

Sheila Baynes, chairwoman of the Danville Democratic Committee, had the chance to meet Kennedy, albeit briefly, at a political function years ago in northern Virginia. She, along with many other local Democrats, support his fight for health care reform.

“I’m very saddened,” Baynes said. “He’s been a longtime supporter of the people … He’s done so much. Right now he had a passion for health care and trying to get that (legislation) through. I hope that that will be met. I’m sorry he’s not around to see what happens one way or another.”

Nick Fowler, chairman of the Danville Republican Committee, acknowledged Kennedy’s accomplishments. And although Fowler agreed that the country may need to reform health care policies, he does not support the public option.

“Anytime you lose a leader it’s just a sad time for everybody,” Fowler said. “(Kennedy) was very suc-cessful with what he did. We (Republicans) didn’t always agree with his policies, but we respected him.”

Statewide politicians issued statements throughout the day Wednesday, some mourning the loss and others extending condolences to the remaining members of the Kennedy family. Sen. Mark Warner commented on Twitter on Wednesday morning, calling Kennedy an “inspiration for all of us in the Senate.”

Gubernatorial candidates Bob McDonnell and Creigh Deeds both issued statements as well. McDonnell said he respected Kennedy for his “passion and commitment” to public service, despite dis-agreeing with the longtime senator on many issues. Deeds lauded Kennedy’s “legacy of working in a bipartisan manner to get things done … espe-cially in areas of health care and public education.”

In Pittsylvania County, party leaders echoed the sen-timents of others.

“Although I didn’t agree with many of Sen. Kennedy’s policies,” said Ronnie Mayhew, chairman of the county’s Republican Party, “I do greatly respect his over five decades of public service to the citizens of Massachusetts and the United States.”

Robert Neals, chairman of the county’s Democratic Party, said he hoped that when the health care reform bill is passed, it will be named after Kennedy.

“We have certainly lost a great statesman,” Neals said, “one who fought for the equal rights of everyone in this country.”

Former Danville mayor Seward Anderson, a democrat running for delegate of the 14th District, recognized Kennedy’s extensive political career and contributions.

“Sen. Kennedy gave 42 years of his life in service to his nation,” Anderson said in a statement. “Virginians throughout our commonwealth have always honored service to their country; I join them in honoring the life and service of Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts.”

Delegate Danny Marshall, R-14th District, could not be reached for comment

http://www2.godanriver.com/gdr/news/local/danville_news/article/danville_officials_react_to_kennedys_death/13489/

Nuclear nonsense

Comment: Stop the threat of nuke plants being built all over America! Utah does not want nuke plants and most people in Virginia do not want nuke plants! We also do not want uranium mining anywhere in America or the world. The world can have enough power with solar, windmills, tidal or waterpower! No Nuke Plant, No Uranium Mining!

Keep power plant out of Utah

Tribune Editorial
Salt Lake Tribune
Updated:

Gov. Gary Herbert supports a full palette of energy options for Utah. The clean greens: solar, geothermal, wind. The dirty browns: coal, oil, natural gas. And the chameleon of electricity production, nuclear fission, which provides clean power but carries its own environmental and safety baggage.

Nuclear power plants were popular until a near meltdown of a reactor in Pennsylvania in 1979 shocked the nation to its senses. There hasn't been a domestic plant built since.

But in the rush to curb climate change, well-founded fears have been forgotten and a nuclear revival is underway. Nuclear power plants emit only water vapor and produce enough power to replace fossil fuels as a base-load provider of electricity. The federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission has received applications for 26 new reactors and more are expected, including paperwork for a proposed plant near Green River in Emery County, which would be Utah's first.

We understand the need to continue to develop and utilize fossil fuels, where appropriate, while we transition to renewable energy sources. But Herbert strayed off base in his embrace of nuclear power for Utah, where hydrology, seismology and history suggest that we not mess around with the atom.

Despite some positive attributes, nuclear power is not the answer to climate change concerns and our nation's growing energy appetite.

And it's certainly not the energy solution for Utah, where downwinders were poisoned by the fallout from years of nuclear weapons testing, where the landscape is scarred by uranium mining and underlain by faults, and where low-level nuclear waste is already buried.

Utahns have a healthy fear of all things radioactive, and nuclear reactors should be no exception. The plants are expensive to build and consumers pay the tab. They consume copious amounts of water, a dwindling resource in the Colorado River Basin.

An accident at a nuclear power plant could kill thousands and render large swaths of land uninhabitable.

The mining and milling of uranium ore poses its own set of environmental and health hazards. And the presence of a plant creates security concerns: Fuel could fall into the wrong hands. The plants are potential terrorist targets.

Plus, a power plant is a two-for-one deal. Because the U.S. lacks a permanent disposal facility, lethal spent fuel would be stored on site, the same sort of spent fuel the state spent millions of dollars to keep off the Skull Valley Goshute Indian Reservation.

Conservation and rapid utilization of renewable energy sources,continue to be the nation's, and

Utah's, safest and best bets for clean energy security.

http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_13226081

Supervisor Marshall Ecker's report

Comment: Some important dates! Everyone should attend the meetings!

Wednesday, August 26, 2009 9:17 AM EDT

I'm still working on getting recyclable bins for plastics and glass in Pittsylvania County.

This is more involved than I thought. Things should not be so difficult when dealing with government and trying to overcome roadblocks.

I did check into how other localities are handling their recyclables. They seem very pleased with the public's positive feedback.

We need to think about the Earth's resources and how we are destroying our environment.

Blue Ridge Drive

The Board of Supervisors voted 7-0 to hold a public hearing on no-thru truck traffic on Blue Ridge Drive.

Some citizens showed up at the Aug.18 board meeting to speak on restricting truck traffic on Blue Ridge Drive.

The public hearing will be on Sept. 8 at 7 p.m. in Chatham. I encourage you to come to this board meeting and sign up to speak on this issue.

This has been an ongoing problem for some time.

Grit water line

The Grit water line project has started. The projected completion is February 2010.

I had many citizens ask to have the water line extended pasted Compton's Garage.

I was presented with a petition signed by 100 percent of citizens living along that road wanting the line to Route 668 and Route 640.

The county administrator and service authority interim director estimated a price of $116,000 for an additional 2,500 feet of 10-inch line.

To extend the line to Routes 668 and 640, we would need a booster pump and a water tower for another 3,000 feet.

I will try to get funding for that project, which will exceed $400,000.

The board did vote 7-0 to do engineering and health department requirements and a change order pricing from the construction company doing the installation for Department of Environmental Quality.

Land-use

The Legislative Committee will meet on Sept. 8 at 5 p.m. to discuss changes in land-use.

The county administrator has sent a letter to commissioner of revenue stating that land-use revisions will not be ready for the 2010 tax year.

The commissioner's office should begin to register people who want to sign up for land-use under the existing ordinance in order to meet timing requirements prior to the Jan. 1, 2010 tax year.

If you want to take part in this program, please contact the commissioner of revenue for details.

Anaerobic digesters

The board voted 7-0 to hold a public hearing on anaerobic digester planned for a farming operation near Chatham.

Some citizens feel that we should restrict the wording to only animal waste. I believe we need public input before we decide what we should or should not do. That is why we hold these hearings.

I encourage you to come and present your take on this subject on Sept. 8 and 7 p.m. in Chatham.

Hiring freeze

Supervisors voted 5-2 to temporarily lift the hiring freeze to fill a new position in the economic development office.

Mr. Davis and I voted against this.

I have no problem with filling this new position. However, I feel we should not have a hiring freeze at all if we are still hiring to fill new and vacated positions any time we want.

A freeze means exactly that. I'm sure it makes you rest better at night knowing Pittsylvania County has a hiring freeze.

Other board action

Supervisors voted 7-0 for the following items:

_ Restrict truck traffic on Ringgold Road (Route 734);

_ Resolution to Appalachian Power not to raise rates;

_ Proclamation to recognize Sept. 7-11 as National Suicide Prevention Week;

_ Contract amendment for $22,000 to Dewberry and Davis for phase II monitoring and testing at landfill;

_ $10,000 to purchase 45 electronic poll books and 22 printers for the Electoral Board;

_ $8,550 for meals tax training at the treasurer's office;

_ No-wake buoys at Leesville Lake by Staunton View Farm Association for their cove;

_ Amend Pittsylvania County code 6-6.3 to add Skycross Inc. to exempt their vehicles from county tax as a nonprofit organization.

Public hearings

The board also voted to hold public hearings on the following:

_ Exempting disabled veterans from paying automobile license fees;

_ Donation of 2.3 acres of county land (old Gretna middle school) to Northern Pittsylvania County Food Center.

Mega park

The board voted 5-2 to apply for $10.5 million in grants from the Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission for the "mega park" near Danville.

I voted against this request because we will have to make matching funds. This is just the beginning of putting many millions into this park.

It would help if we had a plan of who we could attract. There was to be a study to be presented of what kinds of industry would be interested in coming to Pittsylvania County, but that hasn't happen yet.

Quarterly meeting

I will be holding my third quarterly citizens meeting on Sept. 1 from 5:45 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Hurt Town Hall.

Items for discussion include Blue Ridge Drive truck traffic and an update on land-use.

Ken Bowman, our new economic development director, also will be present to greet and answer any questions on economic development.

Board packet

The county has changed the way to access the board packet. It will now download faster for dial-up Internet users (Laserfiche-Weblink)

You need to go to Pittsylvania County home page (www.pittgov.org ) and click on Agendas/Minutes/Packets/Public Hearings.

Then click on public view documents and you can choose board packets.

This is a tool for all citizens to use and help to keep a watchful eye on county business.

Feel free to contact me by telephone at 335-5967. (Please, no phone calls after 9 p.m.) Or you can e-mail me at any hour marshall.ecker@pittgov.org.

I want to know your thoughts or ideas on issues that are important to you.

Marshall Ecker represents the Staunton River District on the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors.

http://www.wpcva.com/articles/2009/08/27/chatham/opinion/opinion06.txt

Two-year hold placed on county uranium mining

Suzanne Adams
Miner Staff Reporter
Friday, August 28, 2009


KINGMAN - Mining in certain areas of the Arizona Strip may be on hold for two years while the federal government completes an impact study of the area and determines if it should withdraw the area from mining for the next 20 years.

The study area includes approximately 633,547 acres managed by BLM north of the Grand Canyon and 360,000 acres of U.S. Forest Service land south of the canyon.

"A good part of the BLM land, about a half to two-thirds of it is in Mohave County," said Scott Florence, BLM Arizona Strip district manager.

There are three areas where mining actually took place in the Arizona Strip area, he said. One of those mines is almost tapped out and the owners of the other two mines are looking at reopening those mines.

Several areas around the Grand Canyon, especially in the Arizona Strip, are known for high-grade deposits of uranium, he said. The price of uranium has increased over the past two years and a number of mining companies have expressed interest in reopening or exploring for the mineral.

That increased interest drew the attention of several environmental groups, which filed a lawsuit in March 2008 to stop the exploration and mining.

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar placed the moratorium on new mining claims in the area in late July.

The moratorium does not prevent companies with existing mining claims in the area from exploring or mining, Florence said.

The BLM and the Department of the Interior cannot permanently close off the area to mining, he said. Only Congress can do that. There is currently a bill working its way through Congress that may do that.

As part of the environmental impact study, the BLM is gathering comments from the public, tribes and other stakeholders. Public scoping meetings on the issue are scheduled for Sept. 30 in Fredonia and Oct. 15 in Flagstaff. Comments may be mailed to Bureau of Land Management, Arizona Strip District, 345 East Riverside Drive, St. George, UT 84790 or by e-mail to azasminerals@blm.gov.

More information on the subject can be found at www.blm.gov/az or by calling (435) 688-3200.

http://www.kingmandailyminer.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&subsectionID=1&articleID=33238

Titan Uranium to acquire 100 percent of Sheep Mountain

By Staff
August 27, 2009 --

SASKATOON, Saskatchewan, Canada - Titan Uranium has agreed to acquire the 50 percent interest in the Sheep Mountain property held by Uranium One Inc., giving Titan a 100 percent interest in the Fremont County property.

The Sheep Mountain deposit has a current mine permit issued by the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality. Several minor amendments to this permit will be required to reopen the mine.

In conjunction with the transaction, Titan will also acquire Uranium One's half interest in the Hollie Claims in Utah, and transfer its 50 percent interests in the Breccia Pipe project in Arizona and the Burro Canyon project in Colorado to Uranium One.

The terms of the agreement include An initial cash payment of $850,000 for Sheep Mountain and the Hollie claims;
A payment of $2 million if the month-end spot uranium price exceeds $65 per pound within three years of the closing date;
A further payment of $4 million a month if the month-end spot price exceeds $85 per pound within three years of the closing date;
Titan will assume the full amount of the reclamation bond for the Sheep Mountain property (total bond amount: $2.1 million)

A credit of $500,000 payable to Titan on closing, as payment for the Breccia Pipes and Burron Canyon projects Termination of the existing joint venture between the two companies The transaction is expected to close this September.

http://www.wyomingbusinessreport.com/article.asp?id=101824

Truth Tracker: Deeds sharpens attacks, McDonnell goes mainstream

By Jay Warren
WSLS10 Anchor
Published: August 27, 2009

We haven’t even entered the fall campaign cycle and already both campaigns are on the airwaves.

The Deeds campaign first, with a more general ad which seeks to link Deeds with Virginia’s most popular politician: Sen. Mark Warner.

Creigh Deeds says we need to keep Virginia moving forward with the pro business economic policies Mark Warner put in place and not go backwards by embracing the failed economic policies of George W. Bush. Well, I’m not going to stand by and let anyone take us back.”

There’s nothing much to truth track here, but not how the tone sharpens in his latest radio ad.

FEMALE VO: “George Bush - what a disaster for our economy.”

MALE VO: “What I can’t figure is why this Bob McDonnell wants to do it JUST LIKE Bush!”

FEMALE VO: “Bob McDonnell … running for Governor?”

MALE VO: “Yep - said the Bush economy was “a REVIVAL.“”

FEMALE VO: “I call it a failure - why let Bob McDonnell take us back to economic policies that hurt families like mine?”

MALE VO: “That’s why I’m voting for Creigh Deeds.”

FEMALE VO: “That underdog guy?”

MALE VO: “Mmm-hmm … the state senator who partnered with Mark Warner to reform our budget and protect our schools.”

As with the first ad, Deeds wants to tie himself as closely as possible to Warner, hoping the senator’s popularity will rub off on him.

As for McDonnell calling Bush’s economy a “revival,” during a July debate the Republican did refer to the economy between 2003 and 2006 as a “revival.” He noted former President Bush’s strategy of cutting taxes to spur economic growth. Many of those tax cuts were embraced by Republicans and Democrats alike and many Republican claim the cuts helped bring us out of the 2002 recession.

For his part, McDonnell is up with a new ad highlighting his energy plans.

In the ad, McDonnell says, “I will lead a bi-partisan effort to make Virginia the Energy Capital of the East Coast. New green job zones to help innovators create renewable energy.” He goes on to say. “I will be a jobs Governor, bringing new energy resources and jobs to Virginians.”

This ad includes just the highlights of his energy proposals, but the plan may not be the point. Instead, the ad touches on an issue very important to voters and shows McDonnell very much in the mainstream.

http://www2.wsls.com/sls/news/local/article/truth_tracker_deeds_sharpens_attacks_mcdonnell_goes_mainstream/44468/

Pennsylvania Health Department Distributing Potassium Iodide to People Living, Working Near Nuclear Power Plants

Comment: Good Advise since the Federal Gov't thinks Nuke Power is CO2 free, get a clue, it is not, from uranium mining to building the nuke plants! No to Nuke Plants and no to uranium mining!

Previously Distributed Tablets Expire Aug.31;
New Tablets Available Beginning Sept. 1


HARRISBURG, Pa., Aug. 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Department of Health will provide free potassium iodide, or KI, tablets to people who live or work within a 10-mile radius of Pennsylvania's five nuclear power plants beginning next month.

The KI tablets that were distributed previously by the commonwealth will expire on Aug. 31 and should be discarded in the trash. The pills should not be used after the expiration date.

The new KI tablets will be distributed beginning Tuesday, Sept. 1, through Thursday evening, Sept. 3, at sites across Pennsylvania. Hours will be from 11:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., with the exception of Montgomery County's site, which will be open from 9:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

If for any reason people are unable to pick up KI during the initial three-day distribution, or if they decide at a later time that they'd like to get KI, Health Department offices will maintain a supply and will make it available for pick up by the public during normal business hours. The locations are listed on the department's Web site, www.health.state.pa.us.

Pennsylvania has five nuclear power plants: Beaver Valley Power Station, Limerick Generating Station, Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station, Susquehanna Steam Electric Station, and Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station.

Each person who lives within the 10-mile radius of one of the five power plants will be eligible to receive four 65-milligram tablets per person. Individuals will be allowed to pick up tablets for their family members and those who are unable to pick them up on their own.

In addition to the tablets, instructions will be available detailing how to store the tablets and when they should be taken. Health department staff also will be on site to answer questions.

The public is reminded to not take KI during a test of the Emergency Alert System or during a test of the sirens located near nuclear power plant sites. Residents should only take the pills when directed to do so by the Governor or state public health officials.

KI will also be available for those who work within the 10-mile radius, but do not live there. Employers can contact the Department of Health at 1-877-PA-HEALTH to make arrangements to pick up tablets for their entire workforce.


School districts within the 10-mile radius also have the option of deciding whether to accept and how to distribute KI for their students. These schools have received instructions for requesting KI.

Residents who have questions about the KI tablets can also talk to their family physicians and pediatricians about whether or not there are specific reasons why KI should not be taken.


For additional information about potassium iodide, visit www.health.state.pa.us or call 1-877-PA-HEALTH.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Below are the KI distribution sites for Sept. 1-3. Residents are welcome to go to any distribution site within the 10-mile radius of the nuclear facility in their area:
Beaver Valley Power Station
Beaver County - State Health Center, 300 S. Walnut Lane, Beaver, PA 15009
Limerick Generating Station
Berks County - Keystone Fire Company, 240 N. Walnut St., Boyertown, PA 19512 - Phone 610-367-2200
Chester County - Kimberton Fairgrounds, Rt. 113 South of Seven Stars Rd., Kimberton, PA 19442
Montgomery County - Hope Community Church, 2732 N. Charlotte St., Gilbertsville, PA 19525
Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station
Lancaster County - Solanco High School, 585 Solanco Rd., Quarryville, PA 17566 - Phone: 717-786-2151
York County - South Eastern School District, Administration Building, Community Room, 377 Main St., Fawn Grove, PA 17321
Susquehanna Steam Electric Station
Columbia County - Bloomsburg State Health Center, 1000 Market St., Unit 4, Bloomsburg, PA 17815
Luzerne County - Butler Township Municipal Building, 415 W. Butler Dr., Drums, PA 18222 - Phone: 570-788-3547
Luzerne County - Luzerne County Community College, Public Safety Training Institute (PSTI) 1333 S. Prospect St., Nanticoke, PA 18634 - Phone: 570-740-0481
Three Mile Island Nuclear Station
Dauphin County - Harrisburg Mall, Upper Level Center Court, 3601 Paxton St., Harrisburg, PA 17111
Lancaster County - Masonic Village, Freemasons Cultural Center, 1 Masonic Drive, Elizabethtown, PA 17022
York County - Fairview Township Fire Department, 340 Lewisberry Rd., New Cumberland, PA 17070
York County - Manchester Township Municipal Building, 3200 Farmtrail Rd., York, PA 17406
CONTACT: Stacy Kriedeman
(717) 787-1783

http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayReleaseContent.aspx?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/08-28-2009/0005084712&EDATE=

7th Indigenous Uranium Forum, October 22-24, 2009, brings together opposition to the uranium boom in Indian country

Friday, August 28, 2009
7th Indigenous Uranium Forum, October 22-24, 2009, brings together opposition to the uranium boom in Indian country
From the Anna Rondon:

Albuquerque , NM – Indigenous Peoples from all over North America will converge at Acoma Pueblo this fall to actualize an inter-tribal campaign to end the latest uranium boom threatening communities throughout Indian Country. The 7th Indigenous Uranium Forum will take place October 22 – 24 2009 in Acoma Pueblo at Sky City Hotel , New Mexico .

The Forum started in 1987 with a series of conferences on the environmental and health impacts of uranium development in the grants mineral belt in New Mexico . Over the past 22 years, the Forum has grown into an important vehicle for strategy development and coordination of communities affected along the entire lifeline of nuclear power – from uranium mining in the grants mineral belt, to nuclear waste storage at Yucca Mountain .

“For the first time in sixty years, indigenous peoples in North America has the greatest opportunity to stop further uranium/nuclear development and to promote renewable energy”, stated Anna Rondon. The political climate is perfect for us to organize ourselves nationally. “We hope to leave the forum with clear actions as we continue the resistance of corporate/government invasion of nuclear developmental terrorism on our homelands.” The forum is spiritually based and will have private ceremonies.

Due to the United States ’ recent energy policies, which emphasize nuclear power as a solution to climate change, uranium mining is going through a boom. Historically the negative health, economic, and social impacts of nuclear power has fallen on the back of Indigenous Peoples.

Although the forum will focus much needed attention on the uranium developments being proposed at Mount Taylor and throughout the grants mineral belt of New Mexico , it will also provide education on a variety of topics, from the health affects of uranium mining, to the implications of U.S. energy policy, to the opportunities provided by the emerging green economy. Most importantly, it will provide an opportunity for communities to network, organize, and strategize.

Find more information about the 7th Indigenous Uranium Forum by visiting the website at www.siuf.net/index.html.
Posted by Wayne Stevenson Thomas at 12:37 PM

http://sanantoniosustainableliving.blogspot.com/2009/08/7th-indigenous-uranium-forum-october-22.html

The power of no

Comment: Corporate and governmental raid on Native Canadians! The corp. and gov’t want the land for the resources! We all need to stand up to Corporations and the State of Virginia and tell them NO TO URANIUM MINING!

Judy Rebick
Story_publish_date: August 26, 2009

“We have a choice. We still have fresh water, clean air, and forests. We can still hunt and fish and trap and we will never give up the right to protect our traditional lands and our traditional way of life.” Sam McKay, KI spokesperson. Yesterday, we heard the tremendous news that the First Nations led protest of Dump Site 41 [3] to stop the spoiling of a pristine watershed by a dump site had succeeded.

The Tiny Township City Council voted for a one year moratorium [4]. Initiated by a peaceful sit-in of women from the Beausoleil First Nation, the protest grew to include many local townspeople, support of the Council of Canadians and a growing chorus of environmentalists.

The same day, I found out that Platinex who was driven out of prospecting aboriginal land last year by a magnificent struggle of the KI leadership with the support of aboriginal and settler groups across the province, was planning to go back on to KI land. They sent a letter to KI that they would arrive on August 25 in a fly in only area. To stop them, KI needed $1,000 to fly in, a lot of money for this poor community. Now that Chief Donny Morris and the KI Council have gone up to make sure Platinex can’t start prospecting, Platinex announces that they will delay their trip a week “because of weather.” Platinex has the money to fly in there whenever they like. The people of KI have no such easy option.

No doubt Platinex is underestimating both the courage and determination of the KI leadership and I hope their support. But nevertheless after spending weeks in jail away from their families and community, after winning a court battle and getting promises from the Ontario government just last spring. Why should KI have to go through it all again? It’s not about what’s fair or right. It’s about power and money.

Last week end, at the Centre for Social Justice Retreat in Algonquin Park, I participated in an all afternoon workshop, simulating a negotiation between a First Nations group and the federal and provincial government organized by Bob Lovelace.

My nation was a poor remote small First Nation trying to keep uranium mining off our land. I was the chief negotiator. We all learned a lot through the experience but for me the most powerful learning was what it felt like to be in a negotiation with no power and a ruthless opponent who was trying to buy me off under the cover of false kindness and co-operation.

Over and over again the woman pretending to be an Ontario government representative told me she was looking out for the interests of "all Ontarions" when really she was looking for out for the interests of the corporation.

I was so angry; it took me hours to get over it. I’ve been in negotiations with government before but I was representing women’s groups that had a lot more power and resources than the native group I was pretending to represent. I acted like I had power, because I’m used to that and as a result I screwed up the whole thing.

First Nations are on the front line of protecting the environment from further destruction and degredation by the forces of greed. Where they are standing up to protect the earth, it is up to all us to stand with them and share whatever access to power in solidarity just like at Dump Site 41 and last spring when Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) and Ardoch successfully stopped prospecting on their land.

I was so moved by the people of KI, I wrote a chapter of my book about their struggle last spring. Here is an excerpt:

“Seven First Nations leaders in two different communities were jailed for refusing mining on their traditional lands. Bob Lovelace, a university professor and retired chief of the Ardoch Algonquins, located near Kingston, Ontario, along with Chief Donny Morris and his five councillors from the remote northern community of Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI), six hundred kilometres north of Thunder Bay—known as the KI Six—were willing to give up their freedom to take a stand for their people and the land they feel a responsibility to protect. They opposed a powerful industry that threatened them with massive lawsuits, a court that acted in the interests of that industry, and a government that claimed neutrality at the same time as actually supporting the mining companies…

While the jailing of indigenous activists is nothing new, this was the first time that a chief-in-council, Donny Morris of KI, the official leader of the community as recognized by the Indian Act, had been jailed for following the laws protecting indigenous rights. The remote community was left virtually without leadership.

The excuse given by the Ontario government was the archaic Mining Act, which places the rights of industrial development over everything. Mining companies are given automatic licence to explore wherever they want without First Nations’ approval, without an environmental assessment, and even without the permission of the owners of private property.

Unlike in many previous Aboriginal struggles, both KI and Ardoch received a lot of local support in the media and from non-native communities in Thunder Bay and Kingston respectively, but they understood that to get their leaders out of jail, they needed to have their issue raised in Toronto…

The first rally on April 9, 2008, was standing room only. Ovide Mercredi and Assembly of First Nations national chief Phil Fontaine were the keynote speakers, but the audience was most moved by the presentations of Ardoch Chief Paula Sherman and Chief Donny’s wife, Anne Marie Morris, as well as by the phone call with the KI Six in jail in Thunder Bay. Another moving moment of the rally was when a native drummer from Sarnia told how his father had gone to visit KI about twenty years before to warn them not to let the industrial devastation that had happened to their land near Sarnia occur in the north...

As support was building, Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty made an announcement that he would amend the Mining Act. But requests for a moratorium on drilling so that the leaders could be released from jail went unheeded. Realizing the power of the jailing of the KI Six, the provincial government wanted them released, but the Six would only leave jail if they were given assurances that there would be no more drilling. This the government refused. So the KI Six remained in jail. They also refused to go from Thunder Bay to Toronto for their appeal, since the only option they were given was to go in shackles, and they felt that was beneath their dignity. They would participate in their appeal through video conferences.

Given the KI culture of face-to-face meetings and the central role I was playing in organizing their support, I decided to go up to Thunder Bay with Judy Finlay the week before the rally to meet them. In that meeting in the jail, Chief Donny Morris said, “When you think of when the settlers first came, they tried to slaughter us. Why? For the mineral riches on our land like gold, and now it is happening again. I have been thinking about what it means that non-Indians are organizing all this support for us. I am thinking about that a lot here. I haven’t seen this kind of thing in the past. It’s like all of you are becoming Indians. The Canadian government tried to assimilate us for generations and now it is the opposite that is happening. You are all starting to think like us about the Earth.”

Then, as a sign that Platinex, the mining company, was feeling the pressure, they agreed to stop drilling so that the KI Six could come out of jail. In a bold move, their lawyer Chris Reid petitioned for them to be released until the appeal, and they were. The KI Six could attend the rally.

We also wanted as many people from KI and Grassy Narrows as possible at both the rally and the appeal. Since it costs about one thousand dollars per person to travel to Toronto from KI, that meant a lot of fundraising. Most of the funds came from the unions and the environmental groups that were involved. We raised more than fifty thousand dollars in a couple of weeks to bring fifty community members from KI, and another fifty from Grassy Narrows, for the rally and sleepover…

The calm determination of Bob Lovelace and the KI Six, and the heroism of their communities, which were totally traumatized by the loss of their leaders and the attacks on their communities, inspired extraordinarily broad support. The alliance between the indigenous communities and outside supporters was unprecedented, both at the local and provincial level.

In Ardoch, non-indigenous peoples were speaking out in defence of Lovelace and raising money to support him and his community. In Toronto, by the end of May, we had a network of students, unions, churches, anti-poverty groups, international solidarity coalitions, and, of course, environmental groups working full out. Not since the 1980s have I seen an issue into which every single individual and organization put so much work and money.

The protest culminated in that mass rally at the provincial legislature at Queen’s Park and the four-day sovereignty sleepover, at which tepees and large tents were pitched on the grounds of the provincial legislature. The seven leaders were permanently released from prison for time served by the Court of Appeal after Lovelace had served three months and the KI Six had served two months of what were supposed to be sentences of six months for contempt of court. Their final exoneration came on the third day of the sleepover and represented a rare and important victory for indigenous peoples.

The integrity and courage of Bob Lovelace and the KI Six inspired First Nations across the country to realize they can say “No” to any development that is not in the interests of their communities or their land, and helped to build the broadest coalition of supporters I have seen in many years. This support influenced the Appeal Court decision as well.

Sam McKay, the KI spokesperson, told a press conference on the Tuesday of the four-day sleepover that he understood why southern First Nations were negotiating with industry, because their water and lands have already been destroyed. But, he argued, “We have a choice. We still have fresh water, clean air, and forests. We can still hunt and fish and trap and we will never give up the right to protect our traditional lands and our traditional way of life.”

Source URL (retrieved on Aug 27 2009 - 10:08pm): http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/judes/2009/08/power-no

Links:[1] http://rabble.ca/taxonomy/term/335
[2] http://rabble.ca/sites/rabble/files/node-images/babyprotest.jpg
[3] http://stopdumpsite41.ca/
[4] http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/article/686373
[5] http://rabble.ca/user
[6] http://rabble.ca/user/register

http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/judes/2009/08/power-no

Africa Joins the Nuclear-Free Club - Will this stop Africa being dumping site?

Comment: Virginia needs to stop the thought of uranium mining now! Uranium mining has never been done safely anywhere in the world! Virginia, stop listening to the nuke bunch and protect your people!

Wednesday, 26 August 2009 11:27

CAIRO - Africa, the second-largest continent after Asia, has now become the world's largest nuclear-free zone comprising 53 countries with about a billion people. This means denuclearisation of one of the richest uranium producing regions.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the African Union (AU) announced mid-August that the African Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone (NWFZ) Treaty has come into force.

This was after Burundi became the 28th African state to ratify the treat Jul. 15. Algeria and Burkina Faso were the first African countries to ratify it in 1998, two years after its signature.

Its entry comes amidst reports of intensive exploitation of uranium mines in Africa by European and Chinese-backed multinational corporations. It now ensures that the southern hemisphere is now free of nuclear weapons.

Under the treaty all parties are required to conclude comprehensive safeguards agreements with the IAEA. These agreements are equivalent to those required under the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).

The treaty also commits its parties "to apply the highest standard of security and physical protection of nuclear material, facilities, and equipment to prevent theft and unauthorised use, as well as prohibits armed attacks against nuclear installations within the zone."

The treaty is also called the Treaty of Pelindaba after the Pelindaba nuclear research facility near the Hartbeespoort dam west of Pretoria in South Africa. Pelindaba is South Africa's main nuclear research centre run by the Nuclear Energy Corporation of South Africa. This is where South Africa's atomic bombs were built and stored in the 1970s.

"The African NWFZ, similar to other nuclear weapons free zones in Latin America and the Caribbean, Southeast Asia, South Pacific and Central Asia, is an important regional confidence and security-building measure and would contribute to our efforts for a world free from nuclear weapons," said IAEA director general Mohamed ElBaradei.

He said the IAEA welcomed the treaty's support of "the use of nuclear science and technology for peaceful purposes, and trusts that the use of nuclear technologies in Africa would contribute to the continent's economic and social development."

The process of declaring Africa a nuclear weapons free zone was launched at the former Organisation of African Unity (OAU) heads of state and government meeting in Cairo in 1964. The African leaders declared their readiness "to undertake, through an international agreement to be concluded under United Nations auspices, not to manufacture or acquire control of nuclear weapons."

The leaders based their position on international agreements such as the UN General Assembly resolution of Dec. 11, 1975 that considered "nuclear- weapon-free zones one of the most effective means for preventing the proliferation, both horizontal and vertical, of nuclear weapons."

The African leaders agreed "the need to take all steps in achieving the ultimate goal of a world entirely free of nuclear weapons, as well as of the obligations of all states to contribute to this end."

They said "the African nuclear-weapon-free zone will constitute an important step towards strengthening the non-proliferation regime, promoting cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, promoting general and complete disarmament and enhancing regional and international peace and security."

The African leaders said an "African nuclear-weapon-free zone will protect African states against possible nuclear attacks on their territories." It would also "keep Africa free of environmental pollution by radioactive wastes and other radioactive matter." The treaty commits members not to dump nuclear waste.

But the leaders also expressed their support for Article 4 of the NPT that recognises "the inalienable right of all states parties to develop research on production and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes without discrimination."

The leaders agreed to promote regional cooperation for the development and practical application of nuclear energy.

Africa has some of the richest uranium mines. Many industrialised countries depend on uranium from Africa. France relies entirely on uranium exploitation in Niger to operate its 58 nuclear power plants.

Other uranium producers on the continent are Algeria, Botswana, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea, Malawi, Mali, Morocco, Namibia, Tanzania, and Zambia.

Africa is also reported to be one of the largest nuclear, radioactive and toxic waste-dumping sites, together with Southeast Asia. Somalia is reported to be a major nuclear waste dumping site.

Another treaty creating a zone free of nuclear weapons in Central Asia came into force Mar. 21 this year. Five countries - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan - are parties to the treaty.

This treaty was the first of its kind comprising states of the former Soviet Union, and is the first such zone in the Northern Hemisphere. Each of the five states hosted former Soviet nuclear weapons infrastructure. They now confront common problems of environmental damage resulting from the production and testing of Soviet nuclear weapons.

Like the African Treaty, the Central Asian pact forbids development, manufacture, stockpiling, acquisition or possession of any nuclear explosive device within the zone.

Similar treaties are in force in South America (the treaty of Tlatelolco), the South Pacific (the treaty of Rarotonga), Southeast Asia (the treaty of Bangkok), and Antarctica (the Antarctic treaty).

http://insidesomalia.org/200908262017/News/Environment/Africa-Joins-the-Nuclear-Free-Club-Will-this-stop-Africa-being-dumping-site.html