Hundreds of black balloons symbolising carbon emissions have been displayed outside Parliament House in Adelaide by opponents of the proposed Olympic Dam uranium mine expansion.
Comment: The Nukes are always saying, "Nuclear Power is CO2 free"! Well, nuke power is not CO2 free, from uranium mining and milling, trucks, building nuke plants is full of CO2! No to Uranium mining and Nuke Power!
7/08/2009 4:28:00 PM
A mass of black balloons covered the steps of the South Australian parliament like a shroud today in protest at BHP Billiton's proposed expansion of the Olympic Dam uranium mine.
Greens Legislative Council member Mark Parnell helped organise the rally in the final hours open for comment on the environmental impact statement (EIS) on the proposed expansion.
He said the black balloons were a poignant symbol of a proposal that should be sent back to the drawing board.
"The EIS reflects what the company wants to do, some of the things they want to do are clearly unsustainable, so they clearly do have to go back to the drawing board," he told AAP.
"Most people are familiar with the government's black balloon advertising campaign to raise awareness of climate change.
"When you transfer that image to the Olympic Dam uranium mine expansion, what you find is that you would need 13 million black balloons to represent greenhouse gas emission from one hour's operations.
"This project is significant on so many levels: it is significant because it is a uranium mine and there is all the implications for nuclear weapons proliferation and nuclear waste, which we still don't know how to dispose of after decades."
He said BHP Billiton was not proposing to power the current mine, nor the expanded site, with renewable energy.
"It is destined to be a greenhouse disaster," he said.
Young Greens, members of the public and Whyalla residents called out "kokatti", meaning "don't dig" in the local Aboriginal language, from the steps of parliament house.
Residents from Whyalla, in the state's mid north, travelled several hours to attend the protest in the hope of informing city dwellers of the potential consequences of the desalination proposal.
BHP Billiton is proposing to build a desalination plant to supply the mine with water.
"They have chosen the cheapest location to build the desal plant, which happens to be in the upper reaches of Spencer Gulf," Mr Parnell said.
"It's the worst possible place for a desalination plant - it's only a few hundred metres from the world's only site of breeding cuttlefish."
http://www.independentweekly.com.au/news/local/news/general/protesters-decry-bhp-expansion/1590241.aspx
7/08/2009 4:28:00 PM
A mass of black balloons covered the steps of the South Australian parliament like a shroud today in protest at BHP Billiton's proposed expansion of the Olympic Dam uranium mine.
Greens Legislative Council member Mark Parnell helped organise the rally in the final hours open for comment on the environmental impact statement (EIS) on the proposed expansion.
He said the black balloons were a poignant symbol of a proposal that should be sent back to the drawing board.
"The EIS reflects what the company wants to do, some of the things they want to do are clearly unsustainable, so they clearly do have to go back to the drawing board," he told AAP.
"Most people are familiar with the government's black balloon advertising campaign to raise awareness of climate change.
"When you transfer that image to the Olympic Dam uranium mine expansion, what you find is that you would need 13 million black balloons to represent greenhouse gas emission from one hour's operations.
"This project is significant on so many levels: it is significant because it is a uranium mine and there is all the implications for nuclear weapons proliferation and nuclear waste, which we still don't know how to dispose of after decades."
He said BHP Billiton was not proposing to power the current mine, nor the expanded site, with renewable energy.
"It is destined to be a greenhouse disaster," he said.
Young Greens, members of the public and Whyalla residents called out "kokatti", meaning "don't dig" in the local Aboriginal language, from the steps of parliament house.
Residents from Whyalla, in the state's mid north, travelled several hours to attend the protest in the hope of informing city dwellers of the potential consequences of the desalination proposal.
BHP Billiton is proposing to build a desalination plant to supply the mine with water.
"They have chosen the cheapest location to build the desal plant, which happens to be in the upper reaches of Spencer Gulf," Mr Parnell said.
"It's the worst possible place for a desalination plant - it's only a few hundred metres from the world's only site of breeding cuttlefish."
http://www.independentweekly.com.au/news/local/news/general/protesters-decry-bhp-expansion/1590241.aspx
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/08/07/2649513.htm
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