Comment: We are fighting against uranium mining and nuclear power all over the world!
Posted by Radical Notes October 18, 2009 at 12:06 am in Petition
To Smt. Pratibha Patil,
The President of India,
Rashtrapati Bhavan,
New Delhi – 110 001.
Copy to:
Sri Manmohan Singh,
The Prime Minister of India,
New Delhi – 110 001.
Sri Jairam Ramesh,
The Minister of Environment & Forests,
New Delhi – 110 001.
Madam,
We are writing to you on behalf of the National Alliance of Anti-nuclear Movements.
It is to protest against the reported decision of the government of India to take a quantum leap in installed capacity for nuclear power generation, from the current level of 4,120 MW to 63,000 MW by 2032. This decision is but an invitation to disaster.
In this context, we will like to submit the following.
Nuclear power, contrary to orchestrated hypes, is actually costlier than power from conventional sources like coal, gas and hydro. And once all the hidden costs are factored in, it would be costlier than even from renewable sources, like wind, in particular.
More importantly, it is also intrinsically hazardous, as large amount of radiation is routinely released at every stage of the nuclear fuel cycle. An even more intractable problem is that of safe storage of nuclear waste and safe disposal of outlived power plants, given the fact that the half-lives of some of the radioactive substances involved are over even millions of years.
Even more disconcerting is, considering the complexity of the technology of a nuclear reactor; there is no way to ensure that a major accident at a nuclear power plant will never take place. And a major accident, given the nature of things, will just turn catastrophic affecting a very large number of people, over a large territory, over a very long period. The disastrous accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, in the Ukraine province of the then USSR, on April 26 1986 is a chilling illustration.
The promise of nil greenhouse gas (GHG) emission is also nothing more than a myth if the entire fuel cycle – including mining, milling, transportation and construction of the power plant – is considered.
Moreover, nuclear energy with its highly centralized power production model would only further aggravate the problem by accentuating the current development paradigm reliant on mega-industries and actively blocking any possibility towards ecologically benign decentralized development.
The strong linkage between nuclear power and weapons – in terms of large overlaps in technology, in turn triggering strong political push – of which India itself is a graphic illustration can also be overlooked only at our own peril given the genocidal, and suicidal, character of the nuclear weapon.
As nuclear power is economically unattractive and socially unacceptable, on account of radiation hazards and risks of catastrophic accidents, no order for new nuclear reactors was placed in the USA and most of West Europe during the last 30 years, since the Three Mile Island accident in the US in 1979.
The US and European companies in nuclear power plant equipment and nuclear fuel business are thus looking to Asia for markets – India, China and Japan spearheading the current expansion programme.
It is unfortunate that the Indian government is becoming their willing collaborator in this in pursuit of its megalomaniac hunt for nuclear power and weapon. It has thus, over a period of just one year, rushed to enter into agreements with as many as seven countries, viz. the US, France, Russia, Kazakhstan, Namibia, Mongolia and Argentina.
So far, nuclear power production capacity in India is very small, only about 3 percent of the total electricity generation capacity; and the veil of secrecy surrounding the existing nuclear power plants in the country, and absence of any truly independent monitoring agency, has seriously hindered dissemination of information on accidents – large and small – at these plants and their public scrutiny. That explains the current low level of popular awareness as regards the grave threats posed by the nuclear industry.
Taking advantage of this, the government of India is now set to steamroll its massive expansion program.
The contention that nuclear power is indispensable to meet future energy needs is false; for energy demand, and “need”, is obviously a function of the development paradigm chosen and pursued. And “energy security” is not an autonomous entity or objective, but must be in alignment with other chosen objectives which must include equitable growth and concerns for ecology.
Viewed thus, “energy security” may be achieved by: (I) Increasing efficiency of electricity generation, transmission and distribution. (II) Doing away with extravagant and wasteful use of energy. (III) Pursuing a path of low-energy intensity and decentralised development. (IV) Making optimum use of alternative energy options. (IV) Radically raising investment in development of sustainable and renewable energy sources and technologies, especially wind and solar energy.
As a part of its expansion program, the government of India has announced plans to expand the nuclear power plant coming up at Koodankulam (Tamil Nadu). Additional four reactors from Russia of 1,200 MWe each, in the immediate or near future, are to come up over and above the two of 950 MWe each, presently under construction. The process for setting up a nuclear plant at Jaitapur (Ratnagiri district, Maharashtra) has also reached an advanced stage. The French company Areva is set to supply two new generation reactors of 1650 MWe each, to be followed by another two. Land acquisition notices have been served on the local people to acquire 981 hectare of land.
The government has reportedly already approved 15 new plants at eight sites. These sites are Kumharia in Haryana – meant for indigenous reactors; Kakrapar (indigenous reactors) and Chhayamithi Virdi (reactor from US) in Gujarat; Kovvada (reactor from US) in Andhra Pradesh; Haripur (reactor from Russia) in West Bengal; Koodankulam (reactor from Russia) in Tamil Nadu; and Jaitapur (reactor from France) in Maharashtra.
Similarly, the mad rush for more and more power plants is matched by an accelerated drive for uranium mining in newer areas: Andhra and Meghalaya, in particular. And this, despite the horrible experience of uranium mines in different parts of the world, as also in our own Jadugoda – where appalling conditions continue despite strong popular protests, spanning decades.
In view of all these facts enumerated above, we the undersigned demand that the government of India put a complete stop to the construction of all new uranium mines and nuclear power plants, and radically jack up investments in renewable and environmentally sustainable sources of energy.
We also earnestly urge you to intervene immediately.
Sincerely,
Please Sign
http://radicalnotes.com/journal/2009/10/18/petition-against-new-uranium-mining-and-nuclear-power-plants-in-india/
Showing posts with label Uranium Mining. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Uranium Mining. Show all posts
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Friday, October 16, 2009
Uranium Mining in a National Park
Posted on October 16, 2009 by archiearchive FCD
Here in the Rudall River National Park we are soon to discover that a National Park is just like your back yard.
If there is a mineral there and someone wants to mine it, they can and will mine it.
In our case, the mineral is uranium and the back yard is the home of the traditional Martu people. A place where they hunt, where they swim in the water holes and where the footprint of man is washed away with the next season’s rains.
Unless they are the men are from Cameco. In which case they will mine uranium from a parcel of land which used to be a part of a gazetted National Park. This parcel was excised from the Park by a Government decree.
So for maybe seven or ten years a mine will operate and then the miners will leave.
Left behind will be the pollution they promise won’t happen.
Just like at the Ranger Uranium Mine in the Kakadu National Park. I mean “the Ranger Uranium Mine with-in the Kakadu National Park.” For that was another parcel of land excised from a National Park.
There are 100,000 litres of contaminated water leaking into the ground water each day from the Ranger mine. The Australian Government says we should not be worried about this.
And they are quite correct. There is no need for any politician in Canberra, no bureaucrat in his ivory tower or any mining executive in his overseas mansion to worry about that contamination. After all, his children and grand children will not hunt the land, relying on the groundwater for their life. They will not swim in the contaminated water holes nor eat the fish caught in those waterholes.
No uranium mine in Australia has failed to pollute the land it is on or the land outside the mine’s boundaries.
But the Government tells us we should not worry.
http://archiearchive.wordpress.com/2009/10/16/uranium-mining-in-a-national-park-2/
Here in the Rudall River National Park we are soon to discover that a National Park is just like your back yard.
If there is a mineral there and someone wants to mine it, they can and will mine it.
In our case, the mineral is uranium and the back yard is the home of the traditional Martu people. A place where they hunt, where they swim in the water holes and where the footprint of man is washed away with the next season’s rains.
Unless they are the men are from Cameco. In which case they will mine uranium from a parcel of land which used to be a part of a gazetted National Park. This parcel was excised from the Park by a Government decree.
So for maybe seven or ten years a mine will operate and then the miners will leave.
Left behind will be the pollution they promise won’t happen.
Just like at the Ranger Uranium Mine in the Kakadu National Park. I mean “the Ranger Uranium Mine with-in the Kakadu National Park.” For that was another parcel of land excised from a National Park.
There are 100,000 litres of contaminated water leaking into the ground water each day from the Ranger mine. The Australian Government says we should not be worried about this.
And they are quite correct. There is no need for any politician in Canberra, no bureaucrat in his ivory tower or any mining executive in his overseas mansion to worry about that contamination. After all, his children and grand children will not hunt the land, relying on the groundwater for their life. They will not swim in the contaminated water holes nor eat the fish caught in those waterholes.
No uranium mine in Australia has failed to pollute the land it is on or the land outside the mine’s boundaries.
But the Government tells us we should not worry.
http://archiearchive.wordpress.com/2009/10/16/uranium-mining-in-a-national-park-2/
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Night blockade against uranium mining in Meghalaya
October 14th, 2009 - 3:45 pm ICT by IANS
Shillong, Oct 14 (IANS) The influential Khasi Students Union (KSU) has announced a two-night road blockade in Meghalaya beginning Wednesday to protest a proposed uranium mining project in the state.
The road blockade would affect vehicular movement, specially night passenger buses and goods laden trucks, on the national highways between Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura.
The blockade will be on from 7 p.m. till 5 a.m. Wednesday, and then again for the same duration Thursday.
“The KSU at a meeting Tuesday decided to intensify its stir… to protest the Meghalaya government’s decision to lease out land to the Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL),” said KSU president Samuel B. Jyrwa.
“The KSU believes the uranium project would harm the environment and health of people living adjoining areas,” Jyrwa said.
The state government has tightened security across the Khasi and Jaintia Hills of southeastern Meghalaya.
“We are concerned that the proposed road blockades may affect other northeastern states too,” Meghalaya principal secretary (home) Barkos Warjri told reporters here.
Police heads of the four districts — East Khasi Hills, West Khasi Hills, Jaintia Hills and Ri-Bhoi — have been asked to see that the traffic flow along the national and other highways are not disturbed due to the night blockade.
Chief Minister D.D. Lapang told reporters: “The uranium reserves are a national property and no one can stop the government from using them.”
“The government has waited for 20 long years to persuade the people to allow uranium mining at Domiasiat in West Khasi Hills district of southern Meghalaya.”
The KSU and local parties have been spearheading the movement against the Meghalaya government’s decision to allow the Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) to carry out pre-project development programmes in 422 square hectares in the uranium-rich areas of West Khasi Hills.
A senior Meghalaya government official said the union ministry of environment and forests had already allowed UCIL to start uranium mining for the annual production of 375,000 tonnes of uranium ore and processing of 1,500 tonnes of the mineral ore per day in West Khasi Hills district.
The UCIL has proposed a Rs.1,046 crore open-cast uranium mining and processing plant at Domiasiat in the West Khasi Hills district. Meghalaya has an estimated 9.22 million tones of uranium ore deposits.
Read more: http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/business/night-blockade-against-uranium-mining-in-meghalaya_100260506.html#ixzz0TxkvI1Ih
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/business/night-blockade-against-uranium-mining-in-meghalaya_100260506.html
Shillong, Oct 14 (IANS) The influential Khasi Students Union (KSU) has announced a two-night road blockade in Meghalaya beginning Wednesday to protest a proposed uranium mining project in the state.
The road blockade would affect vehicular movement, specially night passenger buses and goods laden trucks, on the national highways between Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura.
The blockade will be on from 7 p.m. till 5 a.m. Wednesday, and then again for the same duration Thursday.
“The KSU at a meeting Tuesday decided to intensify its stir… to protest the Meghalaya government’s decision to lease out land to the Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL),” said KSU president Samuel B. Jyrwa.
“The KSU believes the uranium project would harm the environment and health of people living adjoining areas,” Jyrwa said.
The state government has tightened security across the Khasi and Jaintia Hills of southeastern Meghalaya.
“We are concerned that the proposed road blockades may affect other northeastern states too,” Meghalaya principal secretary (home) Barkos Warjri told reporters here.
Police heads of the four districts — East Khasi Hills, West Khasi Hills, Jaintia Hills and Ri-Bhoi — have been asked to see that the traffic flow along the national and other highways are not disturbed due to the night blockade.
Chief Minister D.D. Lapang told reporters: “The uranium reserves are a national property and no one can stop the government from using them.”
“The government has waited for 20 long years to persuade the people to allow uranium mining at Domiasiat in West Khasi Hills district of southern Meghalaya.”
The KSU and local parties have been spearheading the movement against the Meghalaya government’s decision to allow the Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) to carry out pre-project development programmes in 422 square hectares in the uranium-rich areas of West Khasi Hills.
A senior Meghalaya government official said the union ministry of environment and forests had already allowed UCIL to start uranium mining for the annual production of 375,000 tonnes of uranium ore and processing of 1,500 tonnes of the mineral ore per day in West Khasi Hills district.
The UCIL has proposed a Rs.1,046 crore open-cast uranium mining and processing plant at Domiasiat in the West Khasi Hills district. Meghalaya has an estimated 9.22 million tones of uranium ore deposits.
Read more: http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/business/night-blockade-against-uranium-mining-in-meghalaya_100260506.html#ixzz0TxkvI1Ih
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/business/night-blockade-against-uranium-mining-in-meghalaya_100260506.html
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
The case against uranium mining/The case for uranium mining
The blue is caused by copper contamination, but there could also be other heavy metals present (came from the uranium mine, all metals were mined, this happen after a flood!)
Comment: Please read the two letters about uranium mining!
The case against uranium mining
14/10/2009 8:39:00 AM
A LONG term North West cattle station owner believes primary producers need to be consulted on how their land would be affected by uranium mining before any decision on the industry’s future was made.
Margaret Campbell owned the “Rosebud” cattle station, which bordered the former Mary Kathleen uranium mine near Cloncurry, while it was still in operation from the 1950s to the 80s.
She said she had seen firsthand how a uranium mine could be a health and economic problem for those living in such close proximity to the site.
She can remember a flock of ducks being killed instantly when they landed on a nearby creek that allegedly contained radioactive water.
“I can remember the pipes at the mine breaking and this horrible grey stuff running past my kitchen window,” she said.
“The message the mine sent back was it is only the tailings but don’t let your kids play in it.”
Mrs Campbell said creek overflows during the wet season would destroy surrounding vegetation.
“It can’t all be cleared away – it stays radioactive. Cattle producers wouldn’t be able to sell their cattle if they’re contaminated and it would be hard to know which cattle are contaminated. The government and the mining companies need to talk to producers before any decision was made,” she said.
“It is not really the kind of industry you want around.”
The case for uranium mining
14/10/2009 8:40:00 AM
IT WOULD take about three years for a uranium mining industry to be established in Mount Isa if the Queensland Government was to give the go-ahead for the industry to begin, a leading industry expert has said.
Alan J Eggers served as the managing director of Summit Resources when the company began developing uranium exploration in the Mount Isa region from 1990.
He is currently the executive chairman of Manhattan Corporation Limited, a public listed company with uranium interests in Western Australia.
As a long term uranium industry figurehead and among the first to explore sections of the North West for the controversial mineral, he has seen the debate for and against uranium mining rise and fall on the political agenda during the past two decades.
However, he believes it was “inevitable” Queensland would begin uranium mining.
He said advanced exploration had already been conducted throughout the North West and companies were simply waiting for the State Government to give the industry the thumbs up.
“We have everything in place to export uranium - including the skills, the knowledge and the ports – the only thing standing in the way is the political will,” he said.
“There are already uranium mines in Australia and several other mining leases in Western Australia being considered. So Queensland is simply losing out on royalties and revenue by not allowing uranium mining.”
In Australia, the industry produces uranium entirely for export.
Uranium is exported under a framework of anti- nuclear weapons proliferation safeguards and strict health, safety and environmental regulations.
Full year exploration statistics released last month by the Australian Bureau of Statistics show a 20 per cent decline in uranium exploration Australia-wide, compared with 2007-08 (from about $231 million to $185 million).
In Queensland, exploration spending during the year was weaker, although spending in the June quarter ($6.3 million) was up slightly on March.
http://www.northweststar.com.au/news/local/news/general/the-case-for-uranium-mining/1648705.aspx?src=rss
The case against uranium mining
14/10/2009 8:39:00 AM
A LONG term North West cattle station owner believes primary producers need to be consulted on how their land would be affected by uranium mining before any decision on the industry’s future was made.
Margaret Campbell owned the “Rosebud” cattle station, which bordered the former Mary Kathleen uranium mine near Cloncurry, while it was still in operation from the 1950s to the 80s.
She said she had seen firsthand how a uranium mine could be a health and economic problem for those living in such close proximity to the site.
She can remember a flock of ducks being killed instantly when they landed on a nearby creek that allegedly contained radioactive water.
“I can remember the pipes at the mine breaking and this horrible grey stuff running past my kitchen window,” she said.
“The message the mine sent back was it is only the tailings but don’t let your kids play in it.”
Mrs Campbell said creek overflows during the wet season would destroy surrounding vegetation.
“It can’t all be cleared away – it stays radioactive. Cattle producers wouldn’t be able to sell their cattle if they’re contaminated and it would be hard to know which cattle are contaminated. The government and the mining companies need to talk to producers before any decision was made,” she said.
“It is not really the kind of industry you want around.”
The case for uranium mining
14/10/2009 8:40:00 AM
IT WOULD take about three years for a uranium mining industry to be established in Mount Isa if the Queensland Government was to give the go-ahead for the industry to begin, a leading industry expert has said.
Alan J Eggers served as the managing director of Summit Resources when the company began developing uranium exploration in the Mount Isa region from 1990.
He is currently the executive chairman of Manhattan Corporation Limited, a public listed company with uranium interests in Western Australia.
As a long term uranium industry figurehead and among the first to explore sections of the North West for the controversial mineral, he has seen the debate for and against uranium mining rise and fall on the political agenda during the past two decades.
However, he believes it was “inevitable” Queensland would begin uranium mining.
He said advanced exploration had already been conducted throughout the North West and companies were simply waiting for the State Government to give the industry the thumbs up.
“We have everything in place to export uranium - including the skills, the knowledge and the ports – the only thing standing in the way is the political will,” he said.
“There are already uranium mines in Australia and several other mining leases in Western Australia being considered. So Queensland is simply losing out on royalties and revenue by not allowing uranium mining.”
In Australia, the industry produces uranium entirely for export.
Uranium is exported under a framework of anti- nuclear weapons proliferation safeguards and strict health, safety and environmental regulations.
Full year exploration statistics released last month by the Australian Bureau of Statistics show a 20 per cent decline in uranium exploration Australia-wide, compared with 2007-08 (from about $231 million to $185 million).
In Queensland, exploration spending during the year was weaker, although spending in the June quarter ($6.3 million) was up slightly on March.
http://www.northweststar.com.au/news/local/news/general/the-case-for-uranium-mining/1648705.aspx?src=rss
US nuclear regulators accept application to review Canadian firm’s planned SD uranium mine
Canadian firm gets key OK in SD uranium mine plan
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — The Canadian developer of a planned uranium mine in southwest South Dakota can move ahead with its request for a federal permit, one of four needed to operate.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission informed Powertech Uranium Corp. that its application for a detailed technical and environmental review has been accepted for the Dewey Burdock project near Edgemont.
The company is currently operating under a state permit to drill exploratory holes. It withdrew the federal application in June so it could fix several deficiencies that would have led to the proposal being rejected.
NRC spokesman Scott Burnell said Tuesday that those issues have been addressed and the NRC staff has started reviewing the application. There will be an opportunity for a public hearing before the agency makes a decision on the project, which could happen within about two years, he said.
The application accepted by the NRC is for a Source Material License, which deals with nearly every aspect of the proposal, said Mark Hollenbeck, Dewey Burdock project manager.
“It covers all issues related to radiation, health and safety,” he said.
Powertech also needs a permit from the Environmental Protection Agency and two from the South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Hollenbeck said.
The company has a corporate office in Vancouver, British Columbia, and operations in Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico, as well as the Edgemont project in South Dakota.
Powertech wants to inject chemically treated water into holes to dissolve the uranium, then pump out the solution and collect the uranium for processing. Company representatives said the process, called “in situ leach-mining,” is safe and does not cause contamination.
But some environmental and American Indian groups oppose the project for fear it would harm underground aquifers and disturb sacred and burial sites. The land is about 60 miles from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and lies on the southern edge of the Black Hills, which Indians consider sacred.
Charmaine White Face with Defenders of the Black Hills said the groups have already filed opposition at the state level and also plan to oppose the project when the federal process allows it.
“I’m sure that between all of us we will push it as far as we can to stop this,” she said.
On the Net:
Powertech: www.powertechuranium.com
NRC: adamswebsearch2.nrc.gov/idmws/ViewDocByAccession.asp?Acce
DENR: denr.sd.gov/Powertech.aspx
Defenders of the Black Hills: www.defendblackhills.org
http://blog.taragana.com/n/us-nuclear-regulators-accept-application-to-review-canadian-firms-planned-sd-uranium-mine-194897/
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — The Canadian developer of a planned uranium mine in southwest South Dakota can move ahead with its request for a federal permit, one of four needed to operate.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission informed Powertech Uranium Corp. that its application for a detailed technical and environmental review has been accepted for the Dewey Burdock project near Edgemont.
The company is currently operating under a state permit to drill exploratory holes. It withdrew the federal application in June so it could fix several deficiencies that would have led to the proposal being rejected.
NRC spokesman Scott Burnell said Tuesday that those issues have been addressed and the NRC staff has started reviewing the application. There will be an opportunity for a public hearing before the agency makes a decision on the project, which could happen within about two years, he said.
The application accepted by the NRC is for a Source Material License, which deals with nearly every aspect of the proposal, said Mark Hollenbeck, Dewey Burdock project manager.
“It covers all issues related to radiation, health and safety,” he said.
Powertech also needs a permit from the Environmental Protection Agency and two from the South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Hollenbeck said.
The company has a corporate office in Vancouver, British Columbia, and operations in Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico, as well as the Edgemont project in South Dakota.
Powertech wants to inject chemically treated water into holes to dissolve the uranium, then pump out the solution and collect the uranium for processing. Company representatives said the process, called “in situ leach-mining,” is safe and does not cause contamination.
But some environmental and American Indian groups oppose the project for fear it would harm underground aquifers and disturb sacred and burial sites. The land is about 60 miles from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and lies on the southern edge of the Black Hills, which Indians consider sacred.
Charmaine White Face with Defenders of the Black Hills said the groups have already filed opposition at the state level and also plan to oppose the project when the federal process allows it.
“I’m sure that between all of us we will push it as far as we can to stop this,” she said.
On the Net:
Powertech: www.powertechuranium.com
NRC: adamswebsearch2.nrc.gov/idmws/ViewDocByAccession.asp?Acce
DENR: denr.sd.gov/Powertech.aspx
Defenders of the Black Hills: www.defendblackhills.org
http://blog.taragana.com/n/us-nuclear-regulators-accept-application-to-review-canadian-firms-planned-sd-uranium-mine-194897/
Monday, October 12, 2009
Uranium and cancer
By Christina MacPherson
Uranium development a sham Eastern Panorama Agnes Kgarshiing (India)
11 Oct 09
Cancer cases among Aboriginal people living near Australia’s biggest uranium mines is doubling, a study by the Federal Governments leading Indigenous Research body shows, according to the Sydney Morning Herald, of the 23rd November 2006.
There have also been many Uranium Tailing disasters, in Australia, Canada and the United States, even though these countries are armed with the most “State of the Art” tailing dams.
According to the AFP news, a French physicist Bruno Chareyron of France’s CRIIRAD laboratory, which measures radioactivity in the environment, has joined representatives of indigenous peoples from Africa, Australia and the United States to send US lawmakers a stark warning about the dangers of uranium mining.
He spoke in a conference in Washington DC in the month of Feb 2009 where he stated that that he wants the US lawmakers to understand that uranium mining is highly pollutant and that there is presently no scientific answer to the question of radioactive waste containment. He mentioned that the information given by mining companies is not entirely reliable.
http://nuclearnewsaustralia.wordpress.com/2009/10/10/uranium-and-cancer/
To read whole story, click below:
http://www.easternpanorama.in/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=769:uranium-development-a-sham-&catid=45:web-special&Itemid=24
Uranium development a sham Eastern Panorama Agnes Kgarshiing (India)
11 Oct 09
Cancer cases among Aboriginal people living near Australia’s biggest uranium mines is doubling, a study by the Federal Governments leading Indigenous Research body shows, according to the Sydney Morning Herald, of the 23rd November 2006.
There have also been many Uranium Tailing disasters, in Australia, Canada and the United States, even though these countries are armed with the most “State of the Art” tailing dams.
According to the AFP news, a French physicist Bruno Chareyron of France’s CRIIRAD laboratory, which measures radioactivity in the environment, has joined representatives of indigenous peoples from Africa, Australia and the United States to send US lawmakers a stark warning about the dangers of uranium mining.
He spoke in a conference in Washington DC in the month of Feb 2009 where he stated that that he wants the US lawmakers to understand that uranium mining is highly pollutant and that there is presently no scientific answer to the question of radioactive waste containment. He mentioned that the information given by mining companies is not entirely reliable.
http://nuclearnewsaustralia.wordpress.com/2009/10/10/uranium-and-cancer/
To read whole story, click below:
http://www.easternpanorama.in/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=769:uranium-development-a-sham-&catid=45:web-special&Itemid=24
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Meghalaya Govt. leases out land for uranium mining despite locals protest
AniSeptember 30th, 2009
SHILLONG - The Meghalaya government has decided to lease out 422 hectares of land in the West Khasi Hills region for 30 years to the Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) for pre-project developmental works, a step which is agitating a number of locals.
According to locals, Meghalaya’s environment has been destroyed by the through unscientific mining of coal, limestone and other natural resources.
They claim that uranium mining will only add to environmental degradation of Meghalaya.
“First thing is the health-issue relating to uranium mining and the impact it will have in those areas where there will be uranium mining, and the second point is that the amount of royalty that the government will get,” said Michael Syiem, President, Mait Shaphrang Movement, an NGO spearheading the protest against uranium mining.
“Will it be just something which you see— peanuts are we really getting our worth from the wealth the God has given us?” said Syiem.
Apart from the Mait Shaphrang Movement, the Khasi Students Union (KSU), several other NGOs have joined the crusade against the prospecting of uranium.
They allege that pre-development works are only a precursor to the mining of radioactive mineral, which in turn could lead to serious environmental and health problems.
“We are opposed to this pre-project development activities on the ground that the government is misleading the people of the state and also the district that this pre project development activities is for the area and also for the whole of West Khasi district, which is in fact, not true and very misleading,” said Samuel Jrywa, President, Khasi Students Union (KSU), Meghalaya.
As per UCIL estimates, there could be 3, 75,000 tonnes of uranium deposits in Meghalaya.
While exploratory surveys were carried out in early 1990s, the mining project is yet to begin. By Hempi D.Henpilen (ANI)
http://blog.taragana.com/n/meghalaya-govt-leases-out-land-for-uranium-mining-despite-locals-protest-182801/
SHILLONG - The Meghalaya government has decided to lease out 422 hectares of land in the West Khasi Hills region for 30 years to the Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) for pre-project developmental works, a step which is agitating a number of locals.
According to locals, Meghalaya’s environment has been destroyed by the through unscientific mining of coal, limestone and other natural resources.
They claim that uranium mining will only add to environmental degradation of Meghalaya.
“First thing is the health-issue relating to uranium mining and the impact it will have in those areas where there will be uranium mining, and the second point is that the amount of royalty that the government will get,” said Michael Syiem, President, Mait Shaphrang Movement, an NGO spearheading the protest against uranium mining.
“Will it be just something which you see— peanuts are we really getting our worth from the wealth the God has given us?” said Syiem.
Apart from the Mait Shaphrang Movement, the Khasi Students Union (KSU), several other NGOs have joined the crusade against the prospecting of uranium.
They allege that pre-development works are only a precursor to the mining of radioactive mineral, which in turn could lead to serious environmental and health problems.
“We are opposed to this pre-project development activities on the ground that the government is misleading the people of the state and also the district that this pre project development activities is for the area and also for the whole of West Khasi district, which is in fact, not true and very misleading,” said Samuel Jrywa, President, Khasi Students Union (KSU), Meghalaya.
As per UCIL estimates, there could be 3, 75,000 tonnes of uranium deposits in Meghalaya.
While exploratory surveys were carried out in early 1990s, the mining project is yet to begin. By Hempi D.Henpilen (ANI)
http://blog.taragana.com/n/meghalaya-govt-leases-out-land-for-uranium-mining-despite-locals-protest-182801/
Thursday, October 8, 2009
John Redhouse: Hate crimes and uranium mining
Posted by Brenda Norrell - October 8, 2009 at 12:07 pm
When longtime Navajo activist John Redhouse speaks of the hate crimes against American Indians in northwest New Mexico, he knows what he is talking about. He has lived it.
Redhouse, who has lived with the racism in the Navajo bordertown of Farmington, N.M., writes about the recent hate crimes by non-Indians against homeless Indians in Grants. Redhouse said the recent racially motivated beatings began after Mount Taylor was designated as a Traditional Cultural Property.
As Native Americans prepare for the Indigenous Uranium Forum at Sky City on Acoma Pueblo to battle new uranium mining in Indian country, Oct. 22-24, Redhouse points out that the new wave of hate crimes in the Uranium Belt of Grants, west of Albuquerque, is not the first.
"As an old civil rights activist and veteran of the bordertown wars in Gallup and Farmington in the early 1970s, I don't think these beatings are an isolated incident. I think they are directly related to a non-Indian backlash against the TCP designation and what it means in terms of protecting and defending our sacred mountain from more uranium mining and milling," Redhouse said.
When Redhouse was on the New Mexico State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission in the late 1970s, the Commission made a similar connection with the rise of anti-Indian groups in Grants and northwestern New Mexico and growing Indian resistance. At that time, leading the resistance in the Grants Mineral Belt were the American Indian Environmental Council, First Mount Taylor Gathering and Mt. Taylor Alliance.
Now, American Indians are taking action to halt more uranium mining and destruction to their sacred mountains and homelands. The Ninth Circuit Court first took action to protect sacred San Francisco Peaks from snowmaking from sewage water for tourists, then the Ninth Circuit reversed its decision, allowing the defilement of the places and plants used by medicine people of at least thirteen Indian Nations for ceremonies.
At the same time, Navajo, Pueblo, Ute, Hopi, Hualapai, Havasupai, Yavapai and Apache, in this region of northern Arizona and New Mexico, are beaten and killed in hate crimes.
Redhouse remembers Clint John, Navajo, shot and killed by a Farmington police officer in a Wal-Mart parking lot in 2006. Farmington police officer Shawn Scott was exonerated by the police department and found not guilty of using excessive force in court.
Redhouse said it is time for action.
"And now in light of the recent outcomes of the Clint John and San Francisco Peaks cases, I think we need to put these recent anti-Indian developments in context and start a regional intertribal movement to deal with all this shit because it is getting more violent and deadly as we are still fighting the continuing Indian Wars as we have since 1492."
"We need another Pueblo Revolt, a Navajo revolt, a general uprising among our people and nations."
Redhouse's words are more in demand now than ever.
Within minutes of Redhouse's comments appearing online, Bahe Katenay of Big Mountain, publisher of Sheep Dog Nation Rocks, responded. "It is so nice and uplifting to hear from John. He may call himself an 'old activist' but only if we, the current indigenous movements, can truly rely on 'old' wise activism, we can all be so empowered. Yes, Viva Pueblo / Dineh Revolt! Hokahey! Thanks."
Redhouse said, "Bahe, Roberta Blackgoat, and other youth and grandmother warriors were at the First Mount Taylor Gathering. They walked all the way from Big Mountain."
Read more by John Redhouse at http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com
Sheep Dog Nation Rocks: http://www.sheepdognationrocks.blogspot.com
http://narcosphere.narconews.com/notebook/brenda-norrell/2009/10/john-redhouse-hate-crimes-and-uranium-mining
When longtime Navajo activist John Redhouse speaks of the hate crimes against American Indians in northwest New Mexico, he knows what he is talking about. He has lived it.
Redhouse, who has lived with the racism in the Navajo bordertown of Farmington, N.M., writes about the recent hate crimes by non-Indians against homeless Indians in Grants. Redhouse said the recent racially motivated beatings began after Mount Taylor was designated as a Traditional Cultural Property.
As Native Americans prepare for the Indigenous Uranium Forum at Sky City on Acoma Pueblo to battle new uranium mining in Indian country, Oct. 22-24, Redhouse points out that the new wave of hate crimes in the Uranium Belt of Grants, west of Albuquerque, is not the first.
"As an old civil rights activist and veteran of the bordertown wars in Gallup and Farmington in the early 1970s, I don't think these beatings are an isolated incident. I think they are directly related to a non-Indian backlash against the TCP designation and what it means in terms of protecting and defending our sacred mountain from more uranium mining and milling," Redhouse said.
When Redhouse was on the New Mexico State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission in the late 1970s, the Commission made a similar connection with the rise of anti-Indian groups in Grants and northwestern New Mexico and growing Indian resistance. At that time, leading the resistance in the Grants Mineral Belt were the American Indian Environmental Council, First Mount Taylor Gathering and Mt. Taylor Alliance.
Now, American Indians are taking action to halt more uranium mining and destruction to their sacred mountains and homelands. The Ninth Circuit Court first took action to protect sacred San Francisco Peaks from snowmaking from sewage water for tourists, then the Ninth Circuit reversed its decision, allowing the defilement of the places and plants used by medicine people of at least thirteen Indian Nations for ceremonies.
At the same time, Navajo, Pueblo, Ute, Hopi, Hualapai, Havasupai, Yavapai and Apache, in this region of northern Arizona and New Mexico, are beaten and killed in hate crimes.
Redhouse remembers Clint John, Navajo, shot and killed by a Farmington police officer in a Wal-Mart parking lot in 2006. Farmington police officer Shawn Scott was exonerated by the police department and found not guilty of using excessive force in court.
Redhouse said it is time for action.
"And now in light of the recent outcomes of the Clint John and San Francisco Peaks cases, I think we need to put these recent anti-Indian developments in context and start a regional intertribal movement to deal with all this shit because it is getting more violent and deadly as we are still fighting the continuing Indian Wars as we have since 1492."
"We need another Pueblo Revolt, a Navajo revolt, a general uprising among our people and nations."
Redhouse's words are more in demand now than ever.
Within minutes of Redhouse's comments appearing online, Bahe Katenay of Big Mountain, publisher of Sheep Dog Nation Rocks, responded. "It is so nice and uplifting to hear from John. He may call himself an 'old activist' but only if we, the current indigenous movements, can truly rely on 'old' wise activism, we can all be so empowered. Yes, Viva Pueblo / Dineh Revolt! Hokahey! Thanks."
Redhouse said, "Bahe, Roberta Blackgoat, and other youth and grandmother warriors were at the First Mount Taylor Gathering. They walked all the way from Big Mountain."
Read more by John Redhouse at http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com
Sheep Dog Nation Rocks: http://www.sheepdognationrocks.blogspot.com
http://narcosphere.narconews.com/notebook/brenda-norrell/2009/10/john-redhouse-hate-crimes-and-uranium-mining
Protest against uranium mining project intensifies, KSU vows to stick to its stand
KSU activists take out a procession from their central body office at Jaiaw to the public rally venue at Motphran in protest against the MUA Cabinet's decision on uranium mining in city on Tuesday. (ST)
8 October 2009
Protest against uranium mining project intensifies, KSU vows to stick to its stand
SHILLONG, October 8, 2009: Intensifying its protests against the State Cabinet’s decision on pre-project development programmes of UCIL as well as the proposed mining of uranium, KSU has warned the Centre not to bulldoze its way through in implementing the project.
The KSU vowed that the anti-uranium groups would not budge from its stated position on the pre-project development package of UCIL and would continue to contest the government’s decision which they termed as “dreaded and against the voice of the majority.”
Addressing a public rally at Motphran attended by thousands of people, KSU president Samuel B Jyrwa said in the name of development the State government through its Cabinet attempted to fool the people and tried to cover up the ill effects of uranium mining and the impact of radiation by claiming that UCIL would start the first-phase Rs 209 crore pre-project development programmes within the areas of 422 sq hectare which has nothing to be linked with to actual mining of uranium.
Mr Jyrwa said the stand of the union to oppose the Cabinet decision on pre-project activities had been substantiated within no time as the Chief Minister DD Lapang himself had made it clear that under the first-phase project, UCIL would develop infrastructure only within the 422 sq hectares of the uranium rich areas around Mawthabah which would ultimately facilitate uranium mining in the second phase.
Terming Mr Lapang’s statement as ‘childish and irresponsible’ when he expressed his apprehension that the Centre might forcefully mine uranium from the State, the KSU leader cautioned the Centre to desist from applying force in order to materialise its plan to mine the ore from the State.
“India is a democratic country and the Centre cannot adopt such a policy. However if the Centre wishes to adopt forceful means to pave the way for uranium mining by jeopardizing the rights of the minority indigenous people here in the name of national interest, we will be forced to declare that the Hynniewtrep land is no longer part of India,” Mr Jyrwa asserted.
Mr Jyrwa said the Hynniewtrep land was tagged with India based on the Instrument of Accession.
Urging the public to extend support and jointly fight against uranium mining for the interests of the present and upcoming generations, Mr Jyrwa vowed that the KSU would not rest until it succeeded in its mission. The Union said it would meet in the coming days to decide its future course of action.
Other speakers who spoke in the rally include HSPDP leader Hoping Stone Lyngdoh, KSU general secretary Hamletson Dohling, Fenella L Nonglait, Langrin Youth Welfare Association (LYWA) president BS Lyngdoh and KWWADA general secretary Nebi Rapthap.
All the speakers slammed the government decision to roll out the Rs 209 crore pre-project development programmes to be implemented by UCIL saying that the pre-project would not mean development for the people of the area but only to facilitate mining of uranium by UCIL.
The HSPDP leader (Mr Lyngdoh) urged youth and the public to firmly stand in opposing the move of the government to allow UCIL to mine uranium from the State.
Speakers also cited the ill effects of uranium mining as witnessed in Jadugoda (Jharkhand) and other parts of the world and said that till now none of the scientists could guarantee that radiation emanating from uranium would not pose health hazards.
They also called upon the State and the Central government to respect the voice of the majority especially as expressed during the public hearing on uranium at Nongbah Jynrin on June 12, 2007 where 75 percent of the people residing around uranium areas of West Khasi Hills had strongly aired their voice to oppose uranium mining.
Speakers also appreciated Nongkrem MLA Ardent M Basaiawmoit for visiting villages close to the uranium-mining site of Jadugoda along with journalists from Shillong who exposed the negative impact of uranium mining.
Earlier before the rally, thousands of KSU activists took out a procession from KSU office, Jaiaw and culminated at the venue for the public rally.
The rally passed off peacefully amid tight security with police personnel deployed in various junctions of the city roads including the commercial areas of Motphran.
http://zolengthe.net/2009/10/08/protest-against-uranium-mining-project-intensifies-ksu-vows-to-stick-to-its-stand/
8 October 2009
Protest against uranium mining project intensifies, KSU vows to stick to its stand
SHILLONG, October 8, 2009: Intensifying its protests against the State Cabinet’s decision on pre-project development programmes of UCIL as well as the proposed mining of uranium, KSU has warned the Centre not to bulldoze its way through in implementing the project.
The KSU vowed that the anti-uranium groups would not budge from its stated position on the pre-project development package of UCIL and would continue to contest the government’s decision which they termed as “dreaded and against the voice of the majority.”
Addressing a public rally at Motphran attended by thousands of people, KSU president Samuel B Jyrwa said in the name of development the State government through its Cabinet attempted to fool the people and tried to cover up the ill effects of uranium mining and the impact of radiation by claiming that UCIL would start the first-phase Rs 209 crore pre-project development programmes within the areas of 422 sq hectare which has nothing to be linked with to actual mining of uranium.
Mr Jyrwa said the stand of the union to oppose the Cabinet decision on pre-project activities had been substantiated within no time as the Chief Minister DD Lapang himself had made it clear that under the first-phase project, UCIL would develop infrastructure only within the 422 sq hectares of the uranium rich areas around Mawthabah which would ultimately facilitate uranium mining in the second phase.
Terming Mr Lapang’s statement as ‘childish and irresponsible’ when he expressed his apprehension that the Centre might forcefully mine uranium from the State, the KSU leader cautioned the Centre to desist from applying force in order to materialise its plan to mine the ore from the State.
“India is a democratic country and the Centre cannot adopt such a policy. However if the Centre wishes to adopt forceful means to pave the way for uranium mining by jeopardizing the rights of the minority indigenous people here in the name of national interest, we will be forced to declare that the Hynniewtrep land is no longer part of India,” Mr Jyrwa asserted.
Mr Jyrwa said the Hynniewtrep land was tagged with India based on the Instrument of Accession.
Urging the public to extend support and jointly fight against uranium mining for the interests of the present and upcoming generations, Mr Jyrwa vowed that the KSU would not rest until it succeeded in its mission. The Union said it would meet in the coming days to decide its future course of action.
Other speakers who spoke in the rally include HSPDP leader Hoping Stone Lyngdoh, KSU general secretary Hamletson Dohling, Fenella L Nonglait, Langrin Youth Welfare Association (LYWA) president BS Lyngdoh and KWWADA general secretary Nebi Rapthap.
All the speakers slammed the government decision to roll out the Rs 209 crore pre-project development programmes to be implemented by UCIL saying that the pre-project would not mean development for the people of the area but only to facilitate mining of uranium by UCIL.
The HSPDP leader (Mr Lyngdoh) urged youth and the public to firmly stand in opposing the move of the government to allow UCIL to mine uranium from the State.
Speakers also cited the ill effects of uranium mining as witnessed in Jadugoda (Jharkhand) and other parts of the world and said that till now none of the scientists could guarantee that radiation emanating from uranium would not pose health hazards.
They also called upon the State and the Central government to respect the voice of the majority especially as expressed during the public hearing on uranium at Nongbah Jynrin on June 12, 2007 where 75 percent of the people residing around uranium areas of West Khasi Hills had strongly aired their voice to oppose uranium mining.
Speakers also appreciated Nongkrem MLA Ardent M Basaiawmoit for visiting villages close to the uranium-mining site of Jadugoda along with journalists from Shillong who exposed the negative impact of uranium mining.
Earlier before the rally, thousands of KSU activists took out a procession from KSU office, Jaiaw and culminated at the venue for the public rally.
The rally passed off peacefully amid tight security with police personnel deployed in various junctions of the city roads including the commercial areas of Motphran.
http://zolengthe.net/2009/10/08/protest-against-uranium-mining-project-intensifies-ksu-vows-to-stick-to-its-stand/
Monday, October 5, 2009
Uranium Mining Poisons Native Americans
by Jeff Gerritsen
25 February 2009
Nuclear power is often billed as clean base-load electrical energy. However, few if any nuclear power proponents mention the unintended consequences or the externalized costs associated with this technology to support the unsustainable U.S. lifestyle. A crucial part of this story is told by Native Americans.
I have included three shocking, detailed articles outlining these unintended consequences impacting the Native Americans in South Dakota and neighboring states -- in particular the Cheyenne River radiation poisoning from nearby uranium mining impacting the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
Regarding the nuclear power industry, unfortunately, I have a "horse" in this race -- my daughter and son-in-law, both engineers working on nuclear power plants. As a parent and activist who looks down the road to future generations, I suspect future historians will regard with contempt our ill-conceived and childish foray into nuclear power. I doubt history will judge us favorably. About some of the conversations my family has, as we are polar opposites -- let's just say the discussions are rather lively!
In the first article, Shelly Bluejay Pierce writes about uranium mining poisoning the Cheyenne River on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. This 2007 article's issues have not been addressed (see the present-day update at bottom of this report). The uranium mining wastes have not been cleaned up from the river or surrounding countryside. The second article, written by Charmaine White Face, provides a brief outline of uranium mining -- calling it FACT SHEET: America's Secret Chernobyl.
The last article is an impassioned history, full of painful fact, by the Lakota as detailed in their Bring Back The Way campaign.
While uranium mining tailings and wastes are not high graded into pure uranium, they nonetheless pose a significant health risk that will be with us for many hundreds of thousand years. Is this a legacy you want to leave to our future generations? I would think not! Contact your local, state, and federal representatives and demand action. There must be real clean-up and a stop to the mining, production, and use of these radioactive materials altogether. We must question our power "needs." - JG
Radioactive sign by Cheyenne River - Red Shirt villageRadiation Warning Signs Placed on Cheyenne River
by Shelley Bluejay Pierce, Native American Times Correspondent, July 29, 2007
Radiation warning signs were posted on Wednesday, July 18, 2007 in the small town of Red Shirt, South Dakota which lies on the northwest corner of the Pine Ridge Reservation. Several of these signs were placed warning people of the high nuclear radiation levels found in the Cheyenne River.
Several weeks ago Everitt Poor Thunder, a spiritual and community leader in Red Shirt, asked Defenders of the Black Hills, an environmental organization, whether the Cheyenne River water could be used to irrigate a community garden. A local well could not be used as it was found to be radioactive and warning signs surround that structure. The water well taps into the Inyan Kara aquifer that also contains the Lakota and Fall River formations, making up an extremely large aquifer of water supplies for many regions.
Residents of Red Shirt occupy a village site that is thousands of years old to the Oglala Tetuwan (Sioux) people. Many have lived here all of their lives, growing gardens with water taken from the Cheyenne River and fishing for catfish, bass, and turtles. In the summer months, the river is used for swimming and other recreational pursuits.
A water sample taken from the Cheyenne River was sent to a laboratory and the results revealed levels of alpha radiation above the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Maximum Contaminant Level. Alpha radiation causes harm when ingested hence the warning signs were placed to warn people of the dangers in the Cheyenne River.
The portion of the Cheyenne River Basin that lies in southwestern South Dakota drains about 16,500 square miles within the boundaries of the state. The area in this basin includes part of the Black Hills and Badlands, rangeland, irrigated cropland, and mining areas. After traversing the western half of the state from southwest to northeast, the Cheyenne River flows into Lake Oahe, a reservoir on the Missouri River.
Previous efforts remove the radiation in the water at Red Shirt have been unsuccessful. Drinking water is piped in, or residents must drive 25 miles to the little town of Hermosa to buy water. The Cheyenne River has dried up approximately one mile from Red Shirt and tests of the river bottom soil by Defenders of the Black Hills are pending. Initial tests using a Geiger counter revealed more than double the amount of normal background elevations for radiation.
South Dakota news reports recently referred to a DENR report and stated that uranium is naturally occurring in that area which is said to account for the radiation levels in the water.
“If that was the case, there would not have been villages there for thousands of years. There would have been no fish or any aquatic life previously in this river. We sampled the river with nets for aquatic life and found only 2 crayfish and about 10 minnows in more than 100 yards of the river. In essence, it's a dead river. There are two endangered species that use this River: the Sturgeon chubb, a small fish, and the Bald Eagle,” explained Charmaine White Face, founder and Coordinator of Defenders of the Black Hills.
According to published information in the The 2006 South Dakota Integrated Report For Surface Water Quality Assessment the Cheyenne River water quality continues to be generally poor. The lower Cheyenne drainage, in general, contains a high percentage of erodible cropland and rangeland in west central South Dakota. Historical mining records for the state show more than 4,000 exploratory uranium mining holes, some large enough for a man to fall into, in the southwestern Black Hills with an additional 3,000 holes just 10 miles west of the town of Belle Fourche, SD. These mining holes go to depths of 600 feet.
At a meeting for the Defenders of the Black Hills on Feb 26th 2005, discussions centered on the radiation levels in some areas reported at a staggering 1,400 times higher than the ordinary background radiation on the Grand River in the Cave Hills and the adverse affects to the villages on the Standing Rock Indian Reservations. Also discussed was the high proportion of cancer related illnesses and birth defects especially in the small community of Rock Creek.
“There are also hundreds of abandoned uranium mines in Wyoming whose runoff comes down the Cheyenne River, and also 29 abandoned mines in the southwestern Black Hills, all upstream of Red Shirt Village. One of the largest open-pit abandoned uranium mines in the southern Black Hills is a square mile and its runoff goes into the Cheyenne River,” explained Charmaine White Face.
Most recently, a Canadian mining company, Powertech, began drilling uranium exploratory wells in the Dewey Burdock area northwest of Edgemont. Defenders of the Black Hills battled in court against the drilling permit allowing Powertech to drill 155 more exploratory wells at depths of 500-600 feet in the southwestern Black Hills but the Courts allowed the drilling after denying the appeal. Powertech currently has 4,000 uncapped, and unmarked uranium exploratory wells drilled previously. The mining company plans on doing In Situ Recovery (ISR) of uranium from the Lakota and Fall River aquifers. In Situ Recovery was formerly known as In Situ Leach (ISL) mining.
During the ISR process, a solution to dissolve the uranium is poured down the wells and the dissolved uranium brought back up to the surface. The uranium is separated from the remaining radioactive waste solution that is then reinjected into the aquifer after being held in waste ponds on the surface.
According to Powertech's mining application, each exploratory drill hole "will have a small excavated mud pit that will be approximately 12 feet by 5 feet" and 10 feet deep.
Among the concerns of the environmental groups are the possibility of overflow from the mud pits with the sudden rain showers that occur in the Black Hills. One of the aquifers empties directly into the Cheyenne River and is used by many ranchers to water their livestock. Among the deeper aquifers of concern is the Madison that provides water for many western South Dakota communities.
“A list of uranium mining facts provided online by our organization, Defenders of the Black Hills, reveals a long history of abuses regarding uranium and coal mining in the Upper Midwest region. In an area of the USA that has been called “the Bread Basket of the World,” more than forty years of mining have released radioactive polluted dust and water runoff from the hundreds of abandoned open pit uranium mines, processing sites, underground nuclear power stations, and waste dumps. Our grain supplies and our livestock production in this area have used the water and have been exposed to the remainders of this mining. We may be seeing global affects, not just localized affects, to the years of uranium mining” concluded Charmaine White Face.
In another article by Charmaine White Face, she provides a brief outline to uranium mining -- calling it America's Secret Chernobyl [below]. The term Chernobyl has an interesting origin. In Russian, Chernobyl translates to Wormwood. Wormwood relates to several aromatic plants of the genus Artemisia, especially A. absinthium, native to Europe, yielding a bitter extract used in making absinthe and in flavoring certain wines -- that is adds a bitter taste. In classical literature, wormwood was metaphorical for bitter sorrow. When history writes its review of our foray into nuclear power, will we be regarded with "bitter sorrow"?
Abandoned uranium mine in Black Hills National Forest, South Dakota. The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensationsation and Liability Act (CERCLA) was used to clean up this site.
Uranium Mining and Nuclear Pollution in the Upper Midwest:
F A C T S H E E T
America's Secret Chernobyl
By Charmaine White Face, Coordinator
Defenders of the Black Hills
1. Uranium mining in South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, and North Dakota began in the middle of the 1960s. World War II, which ended with the nuclear bomb, introduced the use of nuclear energy for the production of electricity and caused the price of uranium to rise. As the economy of the Midwestern states depends primarily on agriculture, when uranium was discovered in the region, many get-rich-quick schemes were adopted. Not only were large mining companies pushing off the tops of bluffs and buttes, but small individual ranchers were also digging in their pastures for the radioactive metal. Mining occurred on both public and private land, although the Great Sioux Nation still maintains a claim to the area through the Fort Laramie Treaties of 1851 and 1868.
2. In northwestern South Dakota, for example, the Cave Hills area is managed by the US Forest Service. The area currently contains 89 abandoned open-pit uranium mines. Studies by the USFS show that one mine alone has 1400 mR/hr of exposed radiation, a level of radiation that is 120,000 times higher than normal background of 100 mR/yr. There are no warning signs posted for the general public anywhere near this site! It is estimated that more than 1,000 open-pit uranium mines and prospects can be found in the four state region from a map developed by the US Forest Service.
3. The water runoff from the Cave Hills abandoned uranium mines empties into the Grand River which flows through the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. Three villages are located on the Grand River and their residents have used the water for drinking and other domestic purposes for generations. One village still uses the water for drinking and domestic purposes. The water runoff from the Slim Buttes abandoned uranium mines empty into the Morreau River which flows through the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation. Four villages are located on the Morreau River; however no data is currently available about their use of the Morreau River water. Both of these rivers empty into the Missouri River which empties into the Mississippi River.
4. The following agencies are aware of these abandoned uranium mines and prospects: US Forest Service, US Environmental Protection Agency, US Bureau of Land Management, SD Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the US Indian Health Service. Only after public concern about these mines was raised two years ago did the USFS and the EPA pay for a study of one mine this year, 2006.
5. In Southwestern South Dakota, the southern Black Hills also contain many abandoned uranium mines. Nuclear radiation near Edgemont, SD, has already polluted the underground water of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation according to a study completed in 1980 by Women of All Red Nations. The US Air Force also used small nuclear power plants in their remote radar stations and missile silos which number in the hundreds in this four State region. No data is available on the current status or disposal of these small nuclear power sources.
6. More than 7,000 exploration holes for uranium have been drilled in the southwestern and northwestern Black Hills. More are being planned in Wyoming. These holes go to depths of 800 feet. The exploratory process itself allows radioactive pollutants to contaminate underground water sources. South Dakota currently has no regulations for In Situ Leach mining of uranium.
7. In Wyoming, hundreds of abandoned open-pit uranium mines and prospects can be found in or near the coal in the Powder River Basin. Yet plans are being made to ship more of that coal to power plants in the Eastern part of the United States. Radioactive dust and particles will be released into the air at the power plants as well as locally in the strip mining process. Federal tax dollars totaling more than $2.3 billion dollars as a loan are planned to be given to a private business, the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad, to increase the amount of coal hauled to the power plants. Two other railroads currently haul coal out of this area.
8. In 1972, President Richard Nixon signed a secret Executive Order declaring this four State region to be a 'National Sacrifice Area’ for the mining and production of uranium and nuclear energy. This is the same area of the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty territory, the final home of the Great Sioux Nation.
Summary
This Fact Sheet regarding the past uranium mining and small underground nuclear power plants in the Upper Midwest region should give cause for alarm to all thinking people in the United States. This is the area that has been called “the Bread Basket of the World.” It is for this reason that we are bringing this issue to your attention. For more than forty years, the people of South Dakota and beyond have been subjected to radioactive polluted dust and water runoff from the hundreds of abandoned open pit uranium mines, processing sites, underground nuclear power stations, and waste dumps. Pollution does not stop at State boundaries so these places generating radioactive pollution to the air and water are also impacting the rest of the United States. Coal tainted with uranium and radiation that has gone and is going to Eastern power plants adds to the total amount of radioactive pollution. There needs to be a concerted effort to determine the extent of the radioactive pollution in the environment, and the health damage that has been and is currently being inflicted upon the people of the United States.
It is imperative that a federal bill be passed in Congress appropriating enough funds for the cleanup of ALL the abandoned uranium mines in this four State region. This harmful situation must not be placed on the end of the Superfund list of hazardous sites to be addressed in twenty years. The health of the nation is threatened. The cleanup of all of these mines and underground sites must occur now! Those responsible for this disaster must face the consequences, but the cleanup and health concerns of the nation need to be addressed first. We hope you will consider our request for concerted actions to be taken at the national level regarding these grave concerns. This problem of radiation pollution spreading throughout the United States has been allowed to quietly continue for much too long.
What you can do:
1. Contact your Congressional Representative and Senators by phone (202) 224-3121, through the mail, and email. Ask that they consider sponsoring a bill for the cleanup of all the abandoned uranium mines and prospects, and underground nuclear sites in the Upper Midwest Region of South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming.
2. Also ask your Congressional Representatives and Senators to support the Expansion of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) to include also those harmed by abandoned uranium mines and prospects in the Upper Midwest Region.
3. Include the fact that federal tax dollars should not be used to help a private railroad haul potentially radioactive coal to Central and Eastern power plants. Encourage your Senators and Representatives to tell the Federal Railroad Administration not to give a loan to the DM&E Railroad.
Thank you
Charmaine White Face, Coordinator
Defenders of the Black Hills
PO Box 2003
Rapid City, SD 57709
The following report is from Bring Back the Way: Revitalize & Preserve Lakota Way of Life
Crying Earth Rise Up!
“Some day the Earth will weep, She will beg for Her life, She will cry with tears of blood. You will make a choice, if you will help her or let her die, and when She dies, you too, will die.” - John Hollow Horn, Oglala Lakota, 1932
Authors Note: This report is based on the Lakota worldview that Water Is Sacred. Without Water There Is No Life.
For many generations, our Lakota people lived on the plains and followed the stars for ceremony. Our ancient Creation story teaches us that Tunkasila made all of Creation, woman and man and taught us to be a good relative to all of Creation. Mni, Water is a Sacred Gift of Creation. Mni is the Adornment of Mother Earth, Mni is the companion of Woope, the daughter of Tunkasila. Woope is the Law. Mni is our first home, when we arrive here on Mother Earth, the water of our mothers’ womb is our first dwelling. Water is our first medicine. Without water, there is no life. The Spirit of Mni is also in the Star Nation. In the form of steam, the Spirit of Mni enters the Human Body to nourish the Spirit. Mni is part of every daily and ceremonial aspect of Lakol Wicohan, our Lakota lifeway.
After the coming of the white man, and many years of war making, our anacestors- known historically as the Great Sioux Nation-entered into the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty with the United States.
In the Treaty, our ancestors retained a land base for the Lakota Nation that includes parts of what is currently known as North Dakota, South Dakota, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska, and Canada.
Our Treaty Territory contains our Sacred Land and Ceremonial Sites, and billions of dollars worth of Minerals, Plants, and Water.
Our ancestors and the United States government officials smoked our Sacred Pipe together and the U.S. Congress ratified the Treaty, so our people believe that the Treaty is true and binding, as long as the water flows and sweet grass grows.
Through America’s aggressive Treaty violations and the decimation of the Buffalo Nation, the Oglala Lakota were forced onto the reservation. The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is located in southwestern South Dakota.
The Pine Ridge Reservation was originally known as Prisoner Of War Camp #344.
“Pine Ridge Indian Agency” (The official Bureau of Indian Affairs terminology)
The U. S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs Census reports that there are now 48,000 Oglala Lakota people, with 25,000 tribal members currently residing on the Pine Ridge. 65% of our population is age 25 and under.
Drinking Water Quality Tests on Pine Ridge
On the Pine Ridge, Drinking Water Quality tests conducted from 1995 to the present by the United States Geological Survey, the Indian Health Service, the Oglala Sioux Tribal Rural Water Program and the Federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDDR) reveal contaminants in the groundwater. There are two serious threats to our drinking water, Arsenic, and Alpha Emitters (radiation emitting).
Uranium Mining and Water Contamination -- The Tests Reveal the Contaminants:
- Arsenic
- Combined Radium 226 & 228
- Barium
- Thorium 230 (not naturally occurring)
- other Radioactive Alpha Emitters
Maximum Contaminant Level, the MCL, measures contaminants and tell us the “safe” levels of contaminants.
Since the US Clean Water Act of 1972 drinking water quality is measured for contaminants.
The MCL of Arsenic is 10 as of January 2006. An MCL above 10 is not in the “safe” level under US law.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s MCL “goal” for Arsenic level is a measurement of zero, because the EPA cannot determine a true safe threshold level for Arsenic. Once Arsenic is released into the environment, it cannot be contained. It only changes form.
According to the Indian Health Service Arsenic Tech Team the water quality test results in 2005 on Pine Ridge reveal that 98 wells have Arsenic levels 2 to 12 times higher than the MCL determined by law.
The wells of these families have been capped and their drinking water source has been changed to that of the water piped in from the Missouri River. (Call the Indian Health Service Arsenic Tech Team at 685-6561 to ask for copies of the Arsenic Reports)
In past decades, Open Pit Uranium Mining occurred Northwest of the Pine Ridge in the area of Edgemont, SD on the outskirts of our sacred Black Hills.
The milling of the Uranium took place by the Cheyenne River, which flows to the Pine Ridge. The radioactive waste from that Uranium Mine has since been buried underground for storage.
The area around Edgemont and the Northwest area of the Pine Ridge is over the Inyan Kara Aquifer and the White River Group. The Arikaree Aquifer flows under the center of the Pine Ridge.
The USGS and OST Rural Water tests document that wells and springs from these Aquifers reveal that contaminants of Arsenic, Radium 226 & 228, and Gross Alpha Emitters are higher than the safe and legal Maximum Contaminant level.
Some Alpha Emitters and Arsenic are naturally occurring due to Uranium in the ground, others as a result of mining.
(Call the OST Rural Water Office in Pine Ridge at 867-1999 & ask for copies of their Annual Reports. The complete test results are in their reports)
These wells that exceed the MCL for Arsenic and Alpha Emitters have been closed and the drinking water is now piped in or trucked in to the community.
A summary of the OST Rural Water Reports and Indian Health Service shows that the Alpha Emitters from the following areas exceed the legal MCLs (highend range of composite tests) is on "Test Results" page.
Nuclear Waste Contamination?
Have the nuclear waste tailings from the Uranium mines around the Edgemont area that washed into the Cheyenne River also get into the groundwater, thus traveling for many years underground to get here, under the Pine Ridge, into the Aquifer we drink from? Did the above ground tailings blow in the wind to our lands here on Pine Ridge? There has never been a definitive study across the reservation to determine possible sources of contamination.
Mni Wiconi Pipeline
The Mni Wiconi water line has only been here for a few years, prior to Mni Wiconi disconnecting our wells and connecting our homes to the pipeline, we drank groundwater for years, some homes that are land-based still drink from the groundwater, as they are not connected to the pipeline. According to the Annual Reports of Rural water, the drinking water they provide is groundwater pumped from 34 wells.
Practically the first sentence of the Congressional Bill which created with Mni Wiconi Program states that “the drinking water quality available to the Pine Ridge does not meet the minimum health and safety standards, thereby posing a threat to public health and safety”.
(Mni Wiconi Act PL 100-516 (H.R. 2772) October 24, 1988 and amended PL 103-434 (S1146) October 31, 1994.
According to the 2003 Health Consultation Report of the Sharps Corner/Porcupine area conducted by the US Federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry the private well samples studied in 1999 and 2000 for Radionuclides, the highest MCL detected was 75.9ugL, which is two and half times higher than the legal MCL of 30ugL. The sampling led the ATSDR to conclude that “ Radionuclides were the drinking water contaminant of concern for the Sharps Corner/Porcupine area”.
Of the eight water wells sampled, 50%, or half, of homes MCL for Radionuclides exceeded the EPA’s legal Maximum Contaminant Level for Gross Alpha Particle activity. In the Radon part of the study, the air was measured in these homes. One-third or 30% of the homes were found to have results of Radon above the legal MCL.
The results summarized that the folks in these homes were ingesting radioactivity through the drinking water, as well as being contaminated by Radon through inhalation, breathing it in as it is in their homes. In every one of these homes, at least one family member died from Cancer. The ingestion and inhalation of Radionuclides also has a quicker effect on the kidney--many individuals will suffer kidney damage and die from the effects BEFORE they get cancer.
The USGS recommends further testing of our ground water to determine a better defined source of radioactive contaminants. The tests would separate the source of the contaminants of the naturally occurring Uranium in our groundwater from Gross Alpha Emitters that may have been pulled out of the ground through mining activities, entering the Aquifers. (Call the USGS Office in Rapid City and ask where to purchase copies of the reports)
In a letter addressed to OST President Steele in 2003, Lorelie DeCora responded to his question posed regarding the definition of a contaminant known as “Th-230” that he stated had been detected in groundwater quality tests conducted on the Pine Ridge. The Women of All Red Nations (WARN) Report issued a report in 1980 documenting water quality test results. Thorium 230 is a contaminant that results from Uranium tailings from mining. Thorium can be naturally occurring, but Thorium 230 is not naturally occurring. Thorium 230 will stay radioactive for 154,000 years. After 77,000 years, it becomes half of the value of its’ prior radioactivity. (Thorium 230=Th-230)
In Situ Leach Mining: “ISL”
Substances such as Inorganic Arsenic, Radium 226 & 228, Thorium 230 and other contaminants can enter groundwater as a result of mining. One type of mining that uses water is known as “In Situ Leach Mining”. ISL mining pulls Uranium up from the ground using Aquifer water, extracts the Uranium, stores the water in “monitoring” wells, and eventually injects it back into the Aquifer.
The ISL process also blends the contaminated water with clean Aquifer water to store it in the “monitoring” wells where the Radioactivity is measured after the Uranium is leached out to produce “Yellow Cake”. The water used to pull the Uranium out of the ground is also stored in “evaporation ponds”.
Radioactive Uranium and Barium Sludge Ponds and “monitoring wells” result from the In Situ Leach mining process. It takes almost 5,000 years for this sludge to lose half of its radioactivity, some estimates tell us, other estimate it at a much longer time period.
The ISL process presents the potential for leaks in the pipes that are used to “extract” the Uranium out of the ground. Such leaks would allow the radioactive water to seep out of the pipe and back into the groundwater, this has happened at ISL mines all over the world.
ISL Uranium Mine at Crawford, Nebraska
“In Situ Leach Mining” is presently happening in Crawford, Nebraska at the Crow Butte Resources, Inc. Uranium Mine, which is owned by Cameco, Inc., the multinational energy corporation headquartered in Saskatchewan, Canada.
Cameco, Inc. is the worlds’ largest Uranium producer. This Crow Butte Uranium Mine has spilled or leaked thousands of gallons of contaminated water into our land, air, and ground water.
The High Plains Aquifer that is under the Crow Butte Resources (CBR) Uranium Mine also flows under the Eastern portion of the Pine Ridge Reservation. The High Plains Aquifer contains portions of the Arikaree Aquifer.
The Crow Butte Uranium Mine is auhtorized to use 5,000 to 9,000 gallons of Aquifer water per minute the “In Situ Leach” method.
The CBR has at least three “evaporation ponds” where they store the contaminated water. The ponds are as big as a football field, lined with plastic and vinyl. And filled with radioactive sludge.
The “monitoring wells” where CBR stores contaminated water after the Uranium has been leached out are actually underground cement containers which hold the water for a period of time before it is placed in the “evaporation pond”.
The CBR Uranium Mine produces one million pounds of “Yellow Cake” per year at its processing plant onsite. This “Yellow Cake” is stored in 55-gallon steel drums until transported. “Yellow Cake” is used to power Nuclear Power Plants and to make Nuclear Bombs through production of the world’s most powerful and most dangerous element: Plutonium.
Crow Butte Resources well soon seek renewal of their existing license and is proposing to expand their Uranium Mine north of Crawford, Nebraska, to an area near Whitney Lake and Dam, and the White River. The names of these two satellite ISL mines are the North Trend Area and the Three Crow area. The existing mine currently has 4,000-8,000 wells at Crow Butte.
There is more information regarding the proposed North Trend Satellite Mine, which Owe Aku and others have filed, in November 2007, an intervention asking for a hearing from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ISL Uranium Mining is also planned to occur in the Black Hills area near Edgemont, SD by the Powertech Uranium Company which is now drilling exploratory wells for their proposed In Situ Leach Uranium Mine, and at the Wild Horse Sanctuary near Hot Springs, SD by the Newtron Energy Corporation.
Impacts of Mining on Humans and the Environment
The scientific community has conclusively determined that Inorganic Arsenic and Alpha Emitters are cancer causing to humans. Arsenic and Alpha Emitters are pulled out of the ground during the mining process, entering the groundwater, people drink the groundwater and become contaminated.
There can be a 5, 10, or 20-year latency period of exposure to Arsenic and Alpha Emitters before cancer develops.
CBR proposes 20 more years of Uranium Mining near Crawford, Nebraska. The Cameco, Inc. website states they have “a proven reserve of 60 million pounds of Uranium to extract”.
How much water is that at 9,000 gallons per minute? 24 hours per day, 365 days per year for 20 more years… What will the number of gallons increase to once the two new Uranium Mines are developed and running?
There are about 321 people diagnosed with Diabetes each year on Pine Ridge. Currently, of our 25,000 residents, 10% of our Tribal Members have Diabetes.
What will that number be after 20 more years of mining which has the potential of contamination of our groundwater?
Our people who are Diabetic patients seem to move to the Dialysis stage of the disease quickly, can this be a result of kidney damage sustained over many, many years of contamination of ingesting even low doses of Arsenic and Alpha Emitters?
The homes across the Pine Ridge whose test results revealed an illegal MCL of Arsenic now have filters provided by the Indian Health Service to filter Arsenic out of the water as it comes out of our kitchen faucet to purify the water we drink and cook with, but the water we bath our children in, wash our clothes with, water our lawns with, and shower with is not filtered. The Arsenic is still pouring into our homes.
According to the Indian Health Service official at the Aug 15, 2007 Environmental Health Tech Team meeting, “this shouldn’t be a concern because you have to drink it to be effected by it”. I wonder what scientists from other parts of the world say about that? Western Science is not the only science who studies such matters, a German scientist states he has proof that a low dose over time can have a more dramatic result than previously understood.
With the Crow Butte Resources’ existing mine and two new proposed mines 38 miles to the southeast of Pine Ridge, and the proposed Powertech Uranium Mine 60 miles to the Northwest of Pine Ridge, In Situ Leach Mining for Uranium has the potential to contaminate all of the groundwater our people depend on for drinking water.
The Crow Butte Resources Uranium Mine has had leaks and spills every year since they have been in operation: License Violations at Crow Butte ISL uranium mine (Nebraska) (www.wise-uranium.org)
* Sept 26, 2006: Monitor well placed on excursion status
* May 5, 2006: leak detected at Pond 4
* Jan 19, 2006: Monitor well placed on excursion status
* Oct 27, 2005: Injection well leak detected
* Aug 4, 2005: Monitor well placed on excursion status
* June 28, 2005: Monitor well placed on excursion status
* June 17, 2005: Monitor well placed on excursion status
* May 2, 2005: Monitor well placed on excursion status
* May 14, 2004: leak detected at Pond 1
* Dec 23, 2003: Monitor well placed on excursion status
* Dec 26, 2002: Monitor well placed on excursion status
* Sept 10, 2002: Monitor well placed on excursion status
* April 4, 2002: Monitor well placed on excursion status
* Dec 4, 2001: Monitor well placed on excursion status
* March 2, 2001: Monitor well placed on excursion status
* Sept 10, 2000: Monitor well placed on excursion status
* May 26, 2000: Monitor well placed on excursion status
* April 27, 2000: Monitor well placed on excursion status
* March 6, 2000: Monitor well placed on excursion status
* July 2, 1999: Monitor well placed on excursion status
* Aug 7, 1998: Spill of 10,260 gallons of injection fluid
* March 21, 1998: Monitor well placed on excursion status
* Aug 12, 1997: Discovery of Pinhole Leaks in Upper Liner of Process Water Evaporation Pond
When an ISL well is placed in “excursion status” it is because some part of the pipes or containers or other parts of the apparatus is LEAKING/SPILLING the water/solution/Uranium mix back into the groundwater (Aquifer).
“The most critical part of the ISL process is to control the movement of the chemical solutions within the aquifer. Any escape of these solutions outside the ore zone is considered an excursion, and can lead to contamination of surrounding ground-water systems. Some of the most common causes of excursions, identified by international operations in the United States and across Europe, can be through old exploration holes that were not plugged adequately, plugging or blocking of the aquifer causing excess water pressure buildup and breaks in bores, and failures of injection/extraction pumps.” ("An Environmental Critique of In Situ Leach Mining :
The Case Against Uranium Solution Mining" at www.sea-us.org.au)
Uranium Corporations say that ISL mining is environmentally friendly and safe, but according to researchers in the scientific community, “The ISL technique can lead to permanent contamination of groundwater and can contaminate land which was otherwise good productive land.”
According to news reports in Nebraska, Crow Butte Resources, Inc. experienced such a massive spill of more than 300,000 gallons of contaminated water that the area has been designated as “unfit for future use”—it is now considered a sacrifice area. (Instate News) as they were unable to clean it all up.
How will 20 more years of injecting contaminated water into all of the Aquifers that our people drink from effect our coming generations?
Inorganic Arsenic crosses the placenta and can cause fetal death, it can be detected in Mothers’ breast milk.
Children’s bodies are more susceptible to the damaging effects of Inorganic Arsenic.
Are these contaminants connected to our high numbers of infant deaths? Of infant/children brain seizures? Of Down Syndrome babies born to young mothers? Of babies born with extraordinarily short umbilical cords?
In April 2005 the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council declared a situation of Eminent Threat due to test results of individual and community water wells exceeding the EPA Standard MCL of Gross Alpha Particle Radionuclide and Arsenic.
Oglala Sioux Tribal Council Resolution #2005-46 states that
Indian Health Service negligence in testing for safe drinking water has resulted in tribal members becoming ill.
The Resolution states that: the wells our people were drinking from were declared “Unfit for Consumption” due to illegal MCL’s.
Health on the Pine Ridge
Do we need a comprehensive health study on the Pine Ridge?
According to the South Dakota Cancer Report of 2003, counties on the Pine Ridge have a “significantly higher rate of cancer, diabetes, and infant mortality than the SD state average for the time period of 2001-2005”.
SD health records also state that in the “2003 Study, the American Indian cancer death rate was 30% higher than that of whites in South Dakota.”
The state records include the data that from the years “1999-2003 while the cancer death rate decreased for whites in SD, it increased for American Indians”.
For the years “2003 through 2005, the American Indian infant mortality rate increased at almost twice the rate for the white people in South Dakota.”
The report: Cancer in South Dakota, 2003 states “that American Indians had the highest age-adjusted rates for Years of Potential Life Lost” and that “American Indians are dying at a much younger age compared to whites”.
Why is this so?
"An In Situ Leach Mine is a Liquid Radioactive Nuclear Waste Dump.”
The Oglala Lakota People and the people of Nebraska and the surrounding area deserve to be informed about what impacts the Crow Butte Resources, Inc. Uranium Mine and the newly proposed North Trend and Three Crow In Situ Leach Uranium Mines will do to our water, land, people, animals, plants and future generations. The Oglala Sioux Tribe can and should do the right thing: investigate and produce a comprehensive report on this energy company’s violations and investigate how to hold them accountable to the EPA laws and other principles of respect for Mother Earth and our Sacred Water; and to hold the EPA and Federal Government responsible in upholding our Treaty and Human Rights to clean water, land, air, and health conditions based on a clean environment. By passing OST Ordinance 07-40 on August 7, 2007, this is the responsibility Tribal Council made a commitment to. Communities, towns, local governments can create Law that ban any corporate development that will produce toxic waste, can create Law that holds the producer of toxic waste liable, can create Law that acknowledges Mother Earth has a right to be contaminant-free. Interested folks and organizations in and around Nebraska -- or any community who wishes to protect itself from deadly poisons -- can engage in such work.
Indeed, this environmental issue truly goes beyond the boundaries of race, county lines, townships, state borders -- it effects all of life in this area, and can reach far into the future generations of all living things: the two-legged, the four-legged, the winged, the standing silent nation (plants), those that crawl and swim, and our Sacred Water, Sacred Land, and Sacred Air.
For the Lakota Oyate (Lakota People) a clean environment is a matter of life and death. To expose our people to the deadly toxins of uranium mining is a threat to our survival as a people, we have no island from which we can draw more membership, this is environmental racism.
Without Water There Is No Life.
In Speaking of Radioactive Waste: “They have created something that cannot be destroyed” –Winona LaDuke
On August 7, 2007 the OST passed Ordinance #07-40 which recognizes the responsibility of the OST to protect the land, air, water, and people of the tribe and which criminalizes nuclear contamination on the Pine Ridge and within 1851 & 1868 Ft. Laramie Treaty boundaries.
“No Uranium Mining on Lakota Land”
lakota1@gwtc.netThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Research Conducted by:
* Rayette Camp
* Victorio Camp
* Aaron Price
* Matt Rankin
* Chris Soverow
* The late Marlin “Moon Weston”
* Debra White Plume
Source Materials:
* Oglala Sioux Tribe Mni Wiconi Program Annual Reports 1999-2006 (Rural Water)
* OST Water & Sewer Program Reports
* OST Ordinances and Resolutions OST Archives Office
* Environmental Protection Agency
* Instate News (Nebraska)
* US Geological Study 1992-1997
* Wise Uranium
* Indigenous Mining
* SD Dept of Health & Human Services
* Indian Health Service, Pine Ridge Agency, Aberdeen Area Office
· The Case Against Uranium Solution Mining "An Environmental Critique of In Situ Leach Mining” at www.sea-us.org.au
· Cancer in South Dakota, 2003
For info contact:
Owe Aku (Bring Back the Way), PO Box 325, Manderson, SD 57756
Debra White Plume, Director 605-455-2155
cryingearth_riseup@yahoo.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it (email address)
DONATIONS: WE ARE ACCEPTING DONATIONS TO HELP US IN OUR WORK TO PROVIDE AWARENESS AND EDUCATION REGARDING IN SITU LEACH/RECOVERY URANIUM MINING AND ITS EFFECTS ON OUR ENVIRONMENT, PEOPLE, AND FUTURE. YOUR CONTRIBUTION CAN BE MAILED TO: OWE AKU, P.O. BOX 325, MANDERSON, SD 57756
Owe Aku: Bring Back the Way
"We Do Not Inherit Mother Earth From Our Ancestors, We Borrow Her From Our Children." --Crazy Horse
_ _ _
According to website of the Defenders of the Black Hills, the SD Department of Environment and Natural Resources is making determinations on lands of critical interest to the native peoples. Additionally, the Defenders have recently had to
"...submit comments to federal agencies, tabling at Pow Wows, giving speeches, and attending a hearing in Pierre, SD... (regarding the) Nuclear Regulatory Commission GEIS Comments, Defenders submitted comments before Nov. 7th to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on their Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement for areas in Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska and New Mexico. Our comments were specific to the area as delineated in the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868.
Craven Canyon Exclusion from mining - The US Forest Service filed an application with the Bureau of Land Management to withdraw 3,968.7 acres in Fall River County to protect the existing Native American petroglyphs in the Craven Canyon area from damage by mining. The site will be protected for the next 20 years. Defenders submitted comments thanking the Forest Service for their foresight and also supported the withdrawal of the land to protect and preserve this area sacred to many Native American nations.
Presentation given to DIA - Democracy in Action is a women’s group located in western South Dakota interested in legislative action. Charmaine (Whiteface) gave a presentation on Nov. 18th and spoke about the need for state and federal legislation. In this region of SD, WY, NE, she recommended a moratorium in SD on further uranium exploration and mining until the 230 open pit abandoned uranium mines and prospects in SD are cleaned up, and the more than 4,000 uranium exploratory wells are filled, capped, and marked.
Three federal bills are needed to protect the public and the environment from further radioactive pollution.
1) A federal bill to monitor and regulate radioactive particles in the smoke from coal-fired power plants needs to be passed by Congress.
2) A federal bill is needed to regulate and monitor radioactive particles in oil.
3) A federal bill needs to be passed to clean up ALL of the abandoned open-pit uranium mines and prospects in the United States, and to seal all exploratory bore holes or wells.
Sources for above articles:
Bring Back The Way: Revitalize and preserve the Lakota way of life
Defenders of the Black Hills
Jeff Garritsen is active in Oregon with such projects as Portland Peak Oil, the cable access show TV Set, and Sail Transport Network.
http://www.culturechange.org/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=336&Itemid=65
25 February 2009
Nuclear power is often billed as clean base-load electrical energy. However, few if any nuclear power proponents mention the unintended consequences or the externalized costs associated with this technology to support the unsustainable U.S. lifestyle. A crucial part of this story is told by Native Americans.
I have included three shocking, detailed articles outlining these unintended consequences impacting the Native Americans in South Dakota and neighboring states -- in particular the Cheyenne River radiation poisoning from nearby uranium mining impacting the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
Regarding the nuclear power industry, unfortunately, I have a "horse" in this race -- my daughter and son-in-law, both engineers working on nuclear power plants. As a parent and activist who looks down the road to future generations, I suspect future historians will regard with contempt our ill-conceived and childish foray into nuclear power. I doubt history will judge us favorably. About some of the conversations my family has, as we are polar opposites -- let's just say the discussions are rather lively!
In the first article, Shelly Bluejay Pierce writes about uranium mining poisoning the Cheyenne River on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. This 2007 article's issues have not been addressed (see the present-day update at bottom of this report). The uranium mining wastes have not been cleaned up from the river or surrounding countryside. The second article, written by Charmaine White Face, provides a brief outline of uranium mining -- calling it FACT SHEET: America's Secret Chernobyl.
The last article is an impassioned history, full of painful fact, by the Lakota as detailed in their Bring Back The Way campaign.
While uranium mining tailings and wastes are not high graded into pure uranium, they nonetheless pose a significant health risk that will be with us for many hundreds of thousand years. Is this a legacy you want to leave to our future generations? I would think not! Contact your local, state, and federal representatives and demand action. There must be real clean-up and a stop to the mining, production, and use of these radioactive materials altogether. We must question our power "needs." - JG
Radioactive sign by Cheyenne River - Red Shirt villageRadiation Warning Signs Placed on Cheyenne River
by Shelley Bluejay Pierce, Native American Times Correspondent, July 29, 2007
Radiation warning signs were posted on Wednesday, July 18, 2007 in the small town of Red Shirt, South Dakota which lies on the northwest corner of the Pine Ridge Reservation. Several of these signs were placed warning people of the high nuclear radiation levels found in the Cheyenne River.
Several weeks ago Everitt Poor Thunder, a spiritual and community leader in Red Shirt, asked Defenders of the Black Hills, an environmental organization, whether the Cheyenne River water could be used to irrigate a community garden. A local well could not be used as it was found to be radioactive and warning signs surround that structure. The water well taps into the Inyan Kara aquifer that also contains the Lakota and Fall River formations, making up an extremely large aquifer of water supplies for many regions.
Residents of Red Shirt occupy a village site that is thousands of years old to the Oglala Tetuwan (Sioux) people. Many have lived here all of their lives, growing gardens with water taken from the Cheyenne River and fishing for catfish, bass, and turtles. In the summer months, the river is used for swimming and other recreational pursuits.
A water sample taken from the Cheyenne River was sent to a laboratory and the results revealed levels of alpha radiation above the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Maximum Contaminant Level. Alpha radiation causes harm when ingested hence the warning signs were placed to warn people of the dangers in the Cheyenne River.
The portion of the Cheyenne River Basin that lies in southwestern South Dakota drains about 16,500 square miles within the boundaries of the state. The area in this basin includes part of the Black Hills and Badlands, rangeland, irrigated cropland, and mining areas. After traversing the western half of the state from southwest to northeast, the Cheyenne River flows into Lake Oahe, a reservoir on the Missouri River.
Previous efforts remove the radiation in the water at Red Shirt have been unsuccessful. Drinking water is piped in, or residents must drive 25 miles to the little town of Hermosa to buy water. The Cheyenne River has dried up approximately one mile from Red Shirt and tests of the river bottom soil by Defenders of the Black Hills are pending. Initial tests using a Geiger counter revealed more than double the amount of normal background elevations for radiation.
South Dakota news reports recently referred to a DENR report and stated that uranium is naturally occurring in that area which is said to account for the radiation levels in the water.
“If that was the case, there would not have been villages there for thousands of years. There would have been no fish or any aquatic life previously in this river. We sampled the river with nets for aquatic life and found only 2 crayfish and about 10 minnows in more than 100 yards of the river. In essence, it's a dead river. There are two endangered species that use this River: the Sturgeon chubb, a small fish, and the Bald Eagle,” explained Charmaine White Face, founder and Coordinator of Defenders of the Black Hills.
According to published information in the The 2006 South Dakota Integrated Report For Surface Water Quality Assessment the Cheyenne River water quality continues to be generally poor. The lower Cheyenne drainage, in general, contains a high percentage of erodible cropland and rangeland in west central South Dakota. Historical mining records for the state show more than 4,000 exploratory uranium mining holes, some large enough for a man to fall into, in the southwestern Black Hills with an additional 3,000 holes just 10 miles west of the town of Belle Fourche, SD. These mining holes go to depths of 600 feet.
At a meeting for the Defenders of the Black Hills on Feb 26th 2005, discussions centered on the radiation levels in some areas reported at a staggering 1,400 times higher than the ordinary background radiation on the Grand River in the Cave Hills and the adverse affects to the villages on the Standing Rock Indian Reservations. Also discussed was the high proportion of cancer related illnesses and birth defects especially in the small community of Rock Creek.
“There are also hundreds of abandoned uranium mines in Wyoming whose runoff comes down the Cheyenne River, and also 29 abandoned mines in the southwestern Black Hills, all upstream of Red Shirt Village. One of the largest open-pit abandoned uranium mines in the southern Black Hills is a square mile and its runoff goes into the Cheyenne River,” explained Charmaine White Face.
Most recently, a Canadian mining company, Powertech, began drilling uranium exploratory wells in the Dewey Burdock area northwest of Edgemont. Defenders of the Black Hills battled in court against the drilling permit allowing Powertech to drill 155 more exploratory wells at depths of 500-600 feet in the southwestern Black Hills but the Courts allowed the drilling after denying the appeal. Powertech currently has 4,000 uncapped, and unmarked uranium exploratory wells drilled previously. The mining company plans on doing In Situ Recovery (ISR) of uranium from the Lakota and Fall River aquifers. In Situ Recovery was formerly known as In Situ Leach (ISL) mining.
During the ISR process, a solution to dissolve the uranium is poured down the wells and the dissolved uranium brought back up to the surface. The uranium is separated from the remaining radioactive waste solution that is then reinjected into the aquifer after being held in waste ponds on the surface.
According to Powertech's mining application, each exploratory drill hole "will have a small excavated mud pit that will be approximately 12 feet by 5 feet" and 10 feet deep.
Among the concerns of the environmental groups are the possibility of overflow from the mud pits with the sudden rain showers that occur in the Black Hills. One of the aquifers empties directly into the Cheyenne River and is used by many ranchers to water their livestock. Among the deeper aquifers of concern is the Madison that provides water for many western South Dakota communities.
“A list of uranium mining facts provided online by our organization, Defenders of the Black Hills, reveals a long history of abuses regarding uranium and coal mining in the Upper Midwest region. In an area of the USA that has been called “the Bread Basket of the World,” more than forty years of mining have released radioactive polluted dust and water runoff from the hundreds of abandoned open pit uranium mines, processing sites, underground nuclear power stations, and waste dumps. Our grain supplies and our livestock production in this area have used the water and have been exposed to the remainders of this mining. We may be seeing global affects, not just localized affects, to the years of uranium mining” concluded Charmaine White Face.
In another article by Charmaine White Face, she provides a brief outline to uranium mining -- calling it America's Secret Chernobyl [below]. The term Chernobyl has an interesting origin. In Russian, Chernobyl translates to Wormwood. Wormwood relates to several aromatic plants of the genus Artemisia, especially A. absinthium, native to Europe, yielding a bitter extract used in making absinthe and in flavoring certain wines -- that is adds a bitter taste. In classical literature, wormwood was metaphorical for bitter sorrow. When history writes its review of our foray into nuclear power, will we be regarded with "bitter sorrow"?
Abandoned uranium mine in Black Hills National Forest, South Dakota. The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensationsation and Liability Act (CERCLA) was used to clean up this site.
Uranium Mining and Nuclear Pollution in the Upper Midwest:
F A C T S H E E T
America's Secret Chernobyl
By Charmaine White Face, Coordinator
Defenders of the Black Hills
1. Uranium mining in South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, and North Dakota began in the middle of the 1960s. World War II, which ended with the nuclear bomb, introduced the use of nuclear energy for the production of electricity and caused the price of uranium to rise. As the economy of the Midwestern states depends primarily on agriculture, when uranium was discovered in the region, many get-rich-quick schemes were adopted. Not only were large mining companies pushing off the tops of bluffs and buttes, but small individual ranchers were also digging in their pastures for the radioactive metal. Mining occurred on both public and private land, although the Great Sioux Nation still maintains a claim to the area through the Fort Laramie Treaties of 1851 and 1868.
2. In northwestern South Dakota, for example, the Cave Hills area is managed by the US Forest Service. The area currently contains 89 abandoned open-pit uranium mines. Studies by the USFS show that one mine alone has 1400 mR/hr of exposed radiation, a level of radiation that is 120,000 times higher than normal background of 100 mR/yr. There are no warning signs posted for the general public anywhere near this site! It is estimated that more than 1,000 open-pit uranium mines and prospects can be found in the four state region from a map developed by the US Forest Service.
3. The water runoff from the Cave Hills abandoned uranium mines empties into the Grand River which flows through the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. Three villages are located on the Grand River and their residents have used the water for drinking and other domestic purposes for generations. One village still uses the water for drinking and domestic purposes. The water runoff from the Slim Buttes abandoned uranium mines empty into the Morreau River which flows through the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation. Four villages are located on the Morreau River; however no data is currently available about their use of the Morreau River water. Both of these rivers empty into the Missouri River which empties into the Mississippi River.
4. The following agencies are aware of these abandoned uranium mines and prospects: US Forest Service, US Environmental Protection Agency, US Bureau of Land Management, SD Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the US Indian Health Service. Only after public concern about these mines was raised two years ago did the USFS and the EPA pay for a study of one mine this year, 2006.
5. In Southwestern South Dakota, the southern Black Hills also contain many abandoned uranium mines. Nuclear radiation near Edgemont, SD, has already polluted the underground water of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation according to a study completed in 1980 by Women of All Red Nations. The US Air Force also used small nuclear power plants in their remote radar stations and missile silos which number in the hundreds in this four State region. No data is available on the current status or disposal of these small nuclear power sources.
6. More than 7,000 exploration holes for uranium have been drilled in the southwestern and northwestern Black Hills. More are being planned in Wyoming. These holes go to depths of 800 feet. The exploratory process itself allows radioactive pollutants to contaminate underground water sources. South Dakota currently has no regulations for In Situ Leach mining of uranium.
7. In Wyoming, hundreds of abandoned open-pit uranium mines and prospects can be found in or near the coal in the Powder River Basin. Yet plans are being made to ship more of that coal to power plants in the Eastern part of the United States. Radioactive dust and particles will be released into the air at the power plants as well as locally in the strip mining process. Federal tax dollars totaling more than $2.3 billion dollars as a loan are planned to be given to a private business, the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad, to increase the amount of coal hauled to the power plants. Two other railroads currently haul coal out of this area.
8. In 1972, President Richard Nixon signed a secret Executive Order declaring this four State region to be a 'National Sacrifice Area’ for the mining and production of uranium and nuclear energy. This is the same area of the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty territory, the final home of the Great Sioux Nation.
Summary
This Fact Sheet regarding the past uranium mining and small underground nuclear power plants in the Upper Midwest region should give cause for alarm to all thinking people in the United States. This is the area that has been called “the Bread Basket of the World.” It is for this reason that we are bringing this issue to your attention. For more than forty years, the people of South Dakota and beyond have been subjected to radioactive polluted dust and water runoff from the hundreds of abandoned open pit uranium mines, processing sites, underground nuclear power stations, and waste dumps. Pollution does not stop at State boundaries so these places generating radioactive pollution to the air and water are also impacting the rest of the United States. Coal tainted with uranium and radiation that has gone and is going to Eastern power plants adds to the total amount of radioactive pollution. There needs to be a concerted effort to determine the extent of the radioactive pollution in the environment, and the health damage that has been and is currently being inflicted upon the people of the United States.
It is imperative that a federal bill be passed in Congress appropriating enough funds for the cleanup of ALL the abandoned uranium mines in this four State region. This harmful situation must not be placed on the end of the Superfund list of hazardous sites to be addressed in twenty years. The health of the nation is threatened. The cleanup of all of these mines and underground sites must occur now! Those responsible for this disaster must face the consequences, but the cleanup and health concerns of the nation need to be addressed first. We hope you will consider our request for concerted actions to be taken at the national level regarding these grave concerns. This problem of radiation pollution spreading throughout the United States has been allowed to quietly continue for much too long.
What you can do:
1. Contact your Congressional Representative and Senators by phone (202) 224-3121, through the mail, and email. Ask that they consider sponsoring a bill for the cleanup of all the abandoned uranium mines and prospects, and underground nuclear sites in the Upper Midwest Region of South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming.
2. Also ask your Congressional Representatives and Senators to support the Expansion of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) to include also those harmed by abandoned uranium mines and prospects in the Upper Midwest Region.
3. Include the fact that federal tax dollars should not be used to help a private railroad haul potentially radioactive coal to Central and Eastern power plants. Encourage your Senators and Representatives to tell the Federal Railroad Administration not to give a loan to the DM&E Railroad.
Thank you
Charmaine White Face, Coordinator
Defenders of the Black Hills
PO Box 2003
Rapid City, SD 57709
The following report is from Bring Back the Way: Revitalize & Preserve Lakota Way of Life
Crying Earth Rise Up!
“Some day the Earth will weep, She will beg for Her life, She will cry with tears of blood. You will make a choice, if you will help her or let her die, and when She dies, you too, will die.” - John Hollow Horn, Oglala Lakota, 1932
Authors Note: This report is based on the Lakota worldview that Water Is Sacred. Without Water There Is No Life.
For many generations, our Lakota people lived on the plains and followed the stars for ceremony. Our ancient Creation story teaches us that Tunkasila made all of Creation, woman and man and taught us to be a good relative to all of Creation. Mni, Water is a Sacred Gift of Creation. Mni is the Adornment of Mother Earth, Mni is the companion of Woope, the daughter of Tunkasila. Woope is the Law. Mni is our first home, when we arrive here on Mother Earth, the water of our mothers’ womb is our first dwelling. Water is our first medicine. Without water, there is no life. The Spirit of Mni is also in the Star Nation. In the form of steam, the Spirit of Mni enters the Human Body to nourish the Spirit. Mni is part of every daily and ceremonial aspect of Lakol Wicohan, our Lakota lifeway.
After the coming of the white man, and many years of war making, our anacestors- known historically as the Great Sioux Nation-entered into the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty with the United States.
In the Treaty, our ancestors retained a land base for the Lakota Nation that includes parts of what is currently known as North Dakota, South Dakota, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska, and Canada.
Our Treaty Territory contains our Sacred Land and Ceremonial Sites, and billions of dollars worth of Minerals, Plants, and Water.
Our ancestors and the United States government officials smoked our Sacred Pipe together and the U.S. Congress ratified the Treaty, so our people believe that the Treaty is true and binding, as long as the water flows and sweet grass grows.
Through America’s aggressive Treaty violations and the decimation of the Buffalo Nation, the Oglala Lakota were forced onto the reservation. The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is located in southwestern South Dakota.
The Pine Ridge Reservation was originally known as Prisoner Of War Camp #344.
“Pine Ridge Indian Agency” (The official Bureau of Indian Affairs terminology)
The U. S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs Census reports that there are now 48,000 Oglala Lakota people, with 25,000 tribal members currently residing on the Pine Ridge. 65% of our population is age 25 and under.
Drinking Water Quality Tests on Pine Ridge
On the Pine Ridge, Drinking Water Quality tests conducted from 1995 to the present by the United States Geological Survey, the Indian Health Service, the Oglala Sioux Tribal Rural Water Program and the Federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDDR) reveal contaminants in the groundwater. There are two serious threats to our drinking water, Arsenic, and Alpha Emitters (radiation emitting).
Uranium Mining and Water Contamination -- The Tests Reveal the Contaminants:
- Arsenic
- Combined Radium 226 & 228
- Barium
- Thorium 230 (not naturally occurring)
- other Radioactive Alpha Emitters
Maximum Contaminant Level, the MCL, measures contaminants and tell us the “safe” levels of contaminants.
Since the US Clean Water Act of 1972 drinking water quality is measured for contaminants.
The MCL of Arsenic is 10 as of January 2006. An MCL above 10 is not in the “safe” level under US law.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s MCL “goal” for Arsenic level is a measurement of zero, because the EPA cannot determine a true safe threshold level for Arsenic. Once Arsenic is released into the environment, it cannot be contained. It only changes form.
According to the Indian Health Service Arsenic Tech Team the water quality test results in 2005 on Pine Ridge reveal that 98 wells have Arsenic levels 2 to 12 times higher than the MCL determined by law.
The wells of these families have been capped and their drinking water source has been changed to that of the water piped in from the Missouri River. (Call the Indian Health Service Arsenic Tech Team at 685-6561 to ask for copies of the Arsenic Reports)
In past decades, Open Pit Uranium Mining occurred Northwest of the Pine Ridge in the area of Edgemont, SD on the outskirts of our sacred Black Hills.
The milling of the Uranium took place by the Cheyenne River, which flows to the Pine Ridge. The radioactive waste from that Uranium Mine has since been buried underground for storage.
The area around Edgemont and the Northwest area of the Pine Ridge is over the Inyan Kara Aquifer and the White River Group. The Arikaree Aquifer flows under the center of the Pine Ridge.
The USGS and OST Rural Water tests document that wells and springs from these Aquifers reveal that contaminants of Arsenic, Radium 226 & 228, and Gross Alpha Emitters are higher than the safe and legal Maximum Contaminant level.
Some Alpha Emitters and Arsenic are naturally occurring due to Uranium in the ground, others as a result of mining.
(Call the OST Rural Water Office in Pine Ridge at 867-1999 & ask for copies of their Annual Reports. The complete test results are in their reports)
These wells that exceed the MCL for Arsenic and Alpha Emitters have been closed and the drinking water is now piped in or trucked in to the community.
A summary of the OST Rural Water Reports and Indian Health Service shows that the Alpha Emitters from the following areas exceed the legal MCLs (highend range of composite tests) is on "Test Results" page.
Nuclear Waste Contamination?
Have the nuclear waste tailings from the Uranium mines around the Edgemont area that washed into the Cheyenne River also get into the groundwater, thus traveling for many years underground to get here, under the Pine Ridge, into the Aquifer we drink from? Did the above ground tailings blow in the wind to our lands here on Pine Ridge? There has never been a definitive study across the reservation to determine possible sources of contamination.
Mni Wiconi Pipeline
The Mni Wiconi water line has only been here for a few years, prior to Mni Wiconi disconnecting our wells and connecting our homes to the pipeline, we drank groundwater for years, some homes that are land-based still drink from the groundwater, as they are not connected to the pipeline. According to the Annual Reports of Rural water, the drinking water they provide is groundwater pumped from 34 wells.
Practically the first sentence of the Congressional Bill which created with Mni Wiconi Program states that “the drinking water quality available to the Pine Ridge does not meet the minimum health and safety standards, thereby posing a threat to public health and safety”.
(Mni Wiconi Act PL 100-516 (H.R. 2772) October 24, 1988 and amended PL 103-434 (S1146) October 31, 1994.
According to the 2003 Health Consultation Report of the Sharps Corner/Porcupine area conducted by the US Federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry the private well samples studied in 1999 and 2000 for Radionuclides, the highest MCL detected was 75.9ugL, which is two and half times higher than the legal MCL of 30ugL. The sampling led the ATSDR to conclude that “ Radionuclides were the drinking water contaminant of concern for the Sharps Corner/Porcupine area”.
Of the eight water wells sampled, 50%, or half, of homes MCL for Radionuclides exceeded the EPA’s legal Maximum Contaminant Level for Gross Alpha Particle activity. In the Radon part of the study, the air was measured in these homes. One-third or 30% of the homes were found to have results of Radon above the legal MCL.
The results summarized that the folks in these homes were ingesting radioactivity through the drinking water, as well as being contaminated by Radon through inhalation, breathing it in as it is in their homes. In every one of these homes, at least one family member died from Cancer. The ingestion and inhalation of Radionuclides also has a quicker effect on the kidney--many individuals will suffer kidney damage and die from the effects BEFORE they get cancer.
The USGS recommends further testing of our ground water to determine a better defined source of radioactive contaminants. The tests would separate the source of the contaminants of the naturally occurring Uranium in our groundwater from Gross Alpha Emitters that may have been pulled out of the ground through mining activities, entering the Aquifers. (Call the USGS Office in Rapid City and ask where to purchase copies of the reports)
In a letter addressed to OST President Steele in 2003, Lorelie DeCora responded to his question posed regarding the definition of a contaminant known as “Th-230” that he stated had been detected in groundwater quality tests conducted on the Pine Ridge. The Women of All Red Nations (WARN) Report issued a report in 1980 documenting water quality test results. Thorium 230 is a contaminant that results from Uranium tailings from mining. Thorium can be naturally occurring, but Thorium 230 is not naturally occurring. Thorium 230 will stay radioactive for 154,000 years. After 77,000 years, it becomes half of the value of its’ prior radioactivity. (Thorium 230=Th-230)
In Situ Leach Mining: “ISL”
Substances such as Inorganic Arsenic, Radium 226 & 228, Thorium 230 and other contaminants can enter groundwater as a result of mining. One type of mining that uses water is known as “In Situ Leach Mining”. ISL mining pulls Uranium up from the ground using Aquifer water, extracts the Uranium, stores the water in “monitoring” wells, and eventually injects it back into the Aquifer.
The ISL process also blends the contaminated water with clean Aquifer water to store it in the “monitoring” wells where the Radioactivity is measured after the Uranium is leached out to produce “Yellow Cake”. The water used to pull the Uranium out of the ground is also stored in “evaporation ponds”.
Radioactive Uranium and Barium Sludge Ponds and “monitoring wells” result from the In Situ Leach mining process. It takes almost 5,000 years for this sludge to lose half of its radioactivity, some estimates tell us, other estimate it at a much longer time period.
The ISL process presents the potential for leaks in the pipes that are used to “extract” the Uranium out of the ground. Such leaks would allow the radioactive water to seep out of the pipe and back into the groundwater, this has happened at ISL mines all over the world.
ISL Uranium Mine at Crawford, Nebraska
“In Situ Leach Mining” is presently happening in Crawford, Nebraska at the Crow Butte Resources, Inc. Uranium Mine, which is owned by Cameco, Inc., the multinational energy corporation headquartered in Saskatchewan, Canada.
Cameco, Inc. is the worlds’ largest Uranium producer. This Crow Butte Uranium Mine has spilled or leaked thousands of gallons of contaminated water into our land, air, and ground water.
The High Plains Aquifer that is under the Crow Butte Resources (CBR) Uranium Mine also flows under the Eastern portion of the Pine Ridge Reservation. The High Plains Aquifer contains portions of the Arikaree Aquifer.
The Crow Butte Uranium Mine is auhtorized to use 5,000 to 9,000 gallons of Aquifer water per minute the “In Situ Leach” method.
The CBR has at least three “evaporation ponds” where they store the contaminated water. The ponds are as big as a football field, lined with plastic and vinyl. And filled with radioactive sludge.
The “monitoring wells” where CBR stores contaminated water after the Uranium has been leached out are actually underground cement containers which hold the water for a period of time before it is placed in the “evaporation pond”.
The CBR Uranium Mine produces one million pounds of “Yellow Cake” per year at its processing plant onsite. This “Yellow Cake” is stored in 55-gallon steel drums until transported. “Yellow Cake” is used to power Nuclear Power Plants and to make Nuclear Bombs through production of the world’s most powerful and most dangerous element: Plutonium.
Crow Butte Resources well soon seek renewal of their existing license and is proposing to expand their Uranium Mine north of Crawford, Nebraska, to an area near Whitney Lake and Dam, and the White River. The names of these two satellite ISL mines are the North Trend Area and the Three Crow area. The existing mine currently has 4,000-8,000 wells at Crow Butte.
There is more information regarding the proposed North Trend Satellite Mine, which Owe Aku and others have filed, in November 2007, an intervention asking for a hearing from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ISL Uranium Mining is also planned to occur in the Black Hills area near Edgemont, SD by the Powertech Uranium Company which is now drilling exploratory wells for their proposed In Situ Leach Uranium Mine, and at the Wild Horse Sanctuary near Hot Springs, SD by the Newtron Energy Corporation.
Impacts of Mining on Humans and the Environment
The scientific community has conclusively determined that Inorganic Arsenic and Alpha Emitters are cancer causing to humans. Arsenic and Alpha Emitters are pulled out of the ground during the mining process, entering the groundwater, people drink the groundwater and become contaminated.
There can be a 5, 10, or 20-year latency period of exposure to Arsenic and Alpha Emitters before cancer develops.
CBR proposes 20 more years of Uranium Mining near Crawford, Nebraska. The Cameco, Inc. website states they have “a proven reserve of 60 million pounds of Uranium to extract”.
How much water is that at 9,000 gallons per minute? 24 hours per day, 365 days per year for 20 more years… What will the number of gallons increase to once the two new Uranium Mines are developed and running?
There are about 321 people diagnosed with Diabetes each year on Pine Ridge. Currently, of our 25,000 residents, 10% of our Tribal Members have Diabetes.
What will that number be after 20 more years of mining which has the potential of contamination of our groundwater?
Our people who are Diabetic patients seem to move to the Dialysis stage of the disease quickly, can this be a result of kidney damage sustained over many, many years of contamination of ingesting even low doses of Arsenic and Alpha Emitters?
The homes across the Pine Ridge whose test results revealed an illegal MCL of Arsenic now have filters provided by the Indian Health Service to filter Arsenic out of the water as it comes out of our kitchen faucet to purify the water we drink and cook with, but the water we bath our children in, wash our clothes with, water our lawns with, and shower with is not filtered. The Arsenic is still pouring into our homes.
According to the Indian Health Service official at the Aug 15, 2007 Environmental Health Tech Team meeting, “this shouldn’t be a concern because you have to drink it to be effected by it”. I wonder what scientists from other parts of the world say about that? Western Science is not the only science who studies such matters, a German scientist states he has proof that a low dose over time can have a more dramatic result than previously understood.
With the Crow Butte Resources’ existing mine and two new proposed mines 38 miles to the southeast of Pine Ridge, and the proposed Powertech Uranium Mine 60 miles to the Northwest of Pine Ridge, In Situ Leach Mining for Uranium has the potential to contaminate all of the groundwater our people depend on for drinking water.
The Crow Butte Resources Uranium Mine has had leaks and spills every year since they have been in operation: License Violations at Crow Butte ISL uranium mine (Nebraska) (www.wise-uranium.org)
* Sept 26, 2006: Monitor well placed on excursion status
* May 5, 2006: leak detected at Pond 4
* Jan 19, 2006: Monitor well placed on excursion status
* Oct 27, 2005: Injection well leak detected
* Aug 4, 2005: Monitor well placed on excursion status
* June 28, 2005: Monitor well placed on excursion status
* June 17, 2005: Monitor well placed on excursion status
* May 2, 2005: Monitor well placed on excursion status
* May 14, 2004: leak detected at Pond 1
* Dec 23, 2003: Monitor well placed on excursion status
* Dec 26, 2002: Monitor well placed on excursion status
* Sept 10, 2002: Monitor well placed on excursion status
* April 4, 2002: Monitor well placed on excursion status
* Dec 4, 2001: Monitor well placed on excursion status
* March 2, 2001: Monitor well placed on excursion status
* Sept 10, 2000: Monitor well placed on excursion status
* May 26, 2000: Monitor well placed on excursion status
* April 27, 2000: Monitor well placed on excursion status
* March 6, 2000: Monitor well placed on excursion status
* July 2, 1999: Monitor well placed on excursion status
* Aug 7, 1998: Spill of 10,260 gallons of injection fluid
* March 21, 1998: Monitor well placed on excursion status
* Aug 12, 1997: Discovery of Pinhole Leaks in Upper Liner of Process Water Evaporation Pond
When an ISL well is placed in “excursion status” it is because some part of the pipes or containers or other parts of the apparatus is LEAKING/SPILLING the water/solution/Uranium mix back into the groundwater (Aquifer).
“The most critical part of the ISL process is to control the movement of the chemical solutions within the aquifer. Any escape of these solutions outside the ore zone is considered an excursion, and can lead to contamination of surrounding ground-water systems. Some of the most common causes of excursions, identified by international operations in the United States and across Europe, can be through old exploration holes that were not plugged adequately, plugging or blocking of the aquifer causing excess water pressure buildup and breaks in bores, and failures of injection/extraction pumps.” ("An Environmental Critique of In Situ Leach Mining :
The Case Against Uranium Solution Mining" at www.sea-us.org.au)
Uranium Corporations say that ISL mining is environmentally friendly and safe, but according to researchers in the scientific community, “The ISL technique can lead to permanent contamination of groundwater and can contaminate land which was otherwise good productive land.”
According to news reports in Nebraska, Crow Butte Resources, Inc. experienced such a massive spill of more than 300,000 gallons of contaminated water that the area has been designated as “unfit for future use”—it is now considered a sacrifice area. (Instate News) as they were unable to clean it all up.
How will 20 more years of injecting contaminated water into all of the Aquifers that our people drink from effect our coming generations?
Inorganic Arsenic crosses the placenta and can cause fetal death, it can be detected in Mothers’ breast milk.
Children’s bodies are more susceptible to the damaging effects of Inorganic Arsenic.
Are these contaminants connected to our high numbers of infant deaths? Of infant/children brain seizures? Of Down Syndrome babies born to young mothers? Of babies born with extraordinarily short umbilical cords?
In April 2005 the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council declared a situation of Eminent Threat due to test results of individual and community water wells exceeding the EPA Standard MCL of Gross Alpha Particle Radionuclide and Arsenic.
Oglala Sioux Tribal Council Resolution #2005-46 states that
Indian Health Service negligence in testing for safe drinking water has resulted in tribal members becoming ill.
The Resolution states that: the wells our people were drinking from were declared “Unfit for Consumption” due to illegal MCL’s.
Health on the Pine Ridge
Do we need a comprehensive health study on the Pine Ridge?
According to the South Dakota Cancer Report of 2003, counties on the Pine Ridge have a “significantly higher rate of cancer, diabetes, and infant mortality than the SD state average for the time period of 2001-2005”.
SD health records also state that in the “2003 Study, the American Indian cancer death rate was 30% higher than that of whites in South Dakota.”
The state records include the data that from the years “1999-2003 while the cancer death rate decreased for whites in SD, it increased for American Indians”.
For the years “2003 through 2005, the American Indian infant mortality rate increased at almost twice the rate for the white people in South Dakota.”
The report: Cancer in South Dakota, 2003 states “that American Indians had the highest age-adjusted rates for Years of Potential Life Lost” and that “American Indians are dying at a much younger age compared to whites”.
Why is this so?
"An In Situ Leach Mine is a Liquid Radioactive Nuclear Waste Dump.”
The Oglala Lakota People and the people of Nebraska and the surrounding area deserve to be informed about what impacts the Crow Butte Resources, Inc. Uranium Mine and the newly proposed North Trend and Three Crow In Situ Leach Uranium Mines will do to our water, land, people, animals, plants and future generations. The Oglala Sioux Tribe can and should do the right thing: investigate and produce a comprehensive report on this energy company’s violations and investigate how to hold them accountable to the EPA laws and other principles of respect for Mother Earth and our Sacred Water; and to hold the EPA and Federal Government responsible in upholding our Treaty and Human Rights to clean water, land, air, and health conditions based on a clean environment. By passing OST Ordinance 07-40 on August 7, 2007, this is the responsibility Tribal Council made a commitment to. Communities, towns, local governments can create Law that ban any corporate development that will produce toxic waste, can create Law that holds the producer of toxic waste liable, can create Law that acknowledges Mother Earth has a right to be contaminant-free. Interested folks and organizations in and around Nebraska -- or any community who wishes to protect itself from deadly poisons -- can engage in such work.
Indeed, this environmental issue truly goes beyond the boundaries of race, county lines, townships, state borders -- it effects all of life in this area, and can reach far into the future generations of all living things: the two-legged, the four-legged, the winged, the standing silent nation (plants), those that crawl and swim, and our Sacred Water, Sacred Land, and Sacred Air.
For the Lakota Oyate (Lakota People) a clean environment is a matter of life and death. To expose our people to the deadly toxins of uranium mining is a threat to our survival as a people, we have no island from which we can draw more membership, this is environmental racism.
Without Water There Is No Life.
In Speaking of Radioactive Waste: “They have created something that cannot be destroyed” –Winona LaDuke
On August 7, 2007 the OST passed Ordinance #07-40 which recognizes the responsibility of the OST to protect the land, air, water, and people of the tribe and which criminalizes nuclear contamination on the Pine Ridge and within 1851 & 1868 Ft. Laramie Treaty boundaries.
“No Uranium Mining on Lakota Land”
lakota1@gwtc.netThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Research Conducted by:
* Rayette Camp
* Victorio Camp
* Aaron Price
* Matt Rankin
* Chris Soverow
* The late Marlin “Moon Weston”
* Debra White Plume
Source Materials:
* Oglala Sioux Tribe Mni Wiconi Program Annual Reports 1999-2006 (Rural Water)
* OST Water & Sewer Program Reports
* OST Ordinances and Resolutions OST Archives Office
* Environmental Protection Agency
* Instate News (Nebraska)
* US Geological Study 1992-1997
* Wise Uranium
* Indigenous Mining
* SD Dept of Health & Human Services
* Indian Health Service, Pine Ridge Agency, Aberdeen Area Office
· The Case Against Uranium Solution Mining "An Environmental Critique of In Situ Leach Mining” at www.sea-us.org.au
· Cancer in South Dakota, 2003
For info contact:
Owe Aku (Bring Back the Way), PO Box 325, Manderson, SD 57756
Debra White Plume, Director 605-455-2155
cryingearth_riseup@yahoo.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it (email address)
DONATIONS: WE ARE ACCEPTING DONATIONS TO HELP US IN OUR WORK TO PROVIDE AWARENESS AND EDUCATION REGARDING IN SITU LEACH/RECOVERY URANIUM MINING AND ITS EFFECTS ON OUR ENVIRONMENT, PEOPLE, AND FUTURE. YOUR CONTRIBUTION CAN BE MAILED TO: OWE AKU, P.O. BOX 325, MANDERSON, SD 57756
Owe Aku: Bring Back the Way
"We Do Not Inherit Mother Earth From Our Ancestors, We Borrow Her From Our Children." --Crazy Horse
_ _ _
According to website of the Defenders of the Black Hills, the SD Department of Environment and Natural Resources is making determinations on lands of critical interest to the native peoples. Additionally, the Defenders have recently had to
"...submit comments to federal agencies, tabling at Pow Wows, giving speeches, and attending a hearing in Pierre, SD... (regarding the) Nuclear Regulatory Commission GEIS Comments, Defenders submitted comments before Nov. 7th to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on their Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement for areas in Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska and New Mexico. Our comments were specific to the area as delineated in the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868.
Craven Canyon Exclusion from mining - The US Forest Service filed an application with the Bureau of Land Management to withdraw 3,968.7 acres in Fall River County to protect the existing Native American petroglyphs in the Craven Canyon area from damage by mining. The site will be protected for the next 20 years. Defenders submitted comments thanking the Forest Service for their foresight and also supported the withdrawal of the land to protect and preserve this area sacred to many Native American nations.
Presentation given to DIA - Democracy in Action is a women’s group located in western South Dakota interested in legislative action. Charmaine (Whiteface) gave a presentation on Nov. 18th and spoke about the need for state and federal legislation. In this region of SD, WY, NE, she recommended a moratorium in SD on further uranium exploration and mining until the 230 open pit abandoned uranium mines and prospects in SD are cleaned up, and the more than 4,000 uranium exploratory wells are filled, capped, and marked.
Three federal bills are needed to protect the public and the environment from further radioactive pollution.
1) A federal bill to monitor and regulate radioactive particles in the smoke from coal-fired power plants needs to be passed by Congress.
2) A federal bill is needed to regulate and monitor radioactive particles in oil.
3) A federal bill needs to be passed to clean up ALL of the abandoned open-pit uranium mines and prospects in the United States, and to seal all exploratory bore holes or wells.
Sources for above articles:
Bring Back The Way: Revitalize and preserve the Lakota way of life
Defenders of the Black Hills
Jeff Garritsen is active in Oregon with such projects as Portland Peak Oil, the cable access show TV Set, and Sail Transport Network.
http://www.culturechange.org/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=336&Itemid=65
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Environmentalist: Edgemont uranium mine not financially feasible
By Steve Miller, Journal staff
The proposed Powertech uranium mining project northwest of Edgemont isn't financially feasible and won't provide enough protection against groundwater contamination, says Paul Robinson, an environmental critic of the project.
A local company spokesman disputed Robinson's arguments.
Robinson, billed as an environmental scientist with the Western Mining Action Network, spoke at the group's biennial conference in Rapid City on Friday.
In a news conference before his appearance, Robinson, research director of the Southwest Research and Information Center in Albuquerque, N.M., said there isn't enough demand for uranium worldwide and that the current spot price of $43 a pound isn't enough to cover the cost of production for the uranium mine proposed in the Dewey-Burdock area, 13 miles northwest of Edgemont.
"My chief concern is that the company is marketing its program to produce uranium when there is no demand for new uranium mines or their products," Robinson told reporters. "Therefore, it is building interest around a project that has very little likelihood of producing because the market won't support new uranium mines."
Robinson said prices have dropped back to levels that existed before a spike in prices a few years ago.
Uranium reached $140 a pound in 2007 before dropping back to about $47 a pound earlier this year.
Robinson said there aren't enough nuclear reactors being built to even replace the ones that are aging.
Mark Hollenbeck of Edgemont, project manager for Powertech USA, said Friday he could not divulge the dollar figure at which the proposed mine would break even financially. But last spring, Hollenbeck said the $47 to $49 price for uranium on the spot market was well within the range that Powertech needed to make a profit on its project.
He said that even at $43 a pound, the price is more than six times higher than the $7 per pound uranium brought in 2003.
"Currently, there are about 35 reactors under construction in the world, and every country in the world is looking at expanding their nuclear fleet," Hollenbeck said.
He said the United States produces only about 10 percent of the 55 million pounds of uranium it uses each year to produce 20 percent of the nation's electricity.
In any case, Hollenbeck said, the project won't proceed unless it is financially viable. Meanwhile, he said, project plans are moving forward.
Robinson also said state and federal reclamation rules are too lax for in situ uranium mines.
Like such mines in Nebraska, Wyoming and Texas, Powertech USA, a subsidiary of Canadian company Powertech Uranium Corp., plans to inject chemically treated water into wells to dissolve the uranium, then pump out the solution and collect the uranium for processing.
Opponents argue the process could damage the environment, contaminate water and threaten the health of area residents. The company says the process is safe.
Robinson said neither the Nuclear Regulatory Commission nor state regulators require in situ uranium mines to return affected groundwater to its pre-mining condition.
"The NRC does a very bad job of protecting groundwater," he said. Robinson said disturbing the uranium and the accompanying heavy metals underground could cause release of contaminants into groundwater.
In Wyoming, Texas and Nebraska, regulators have allowed the in situ uranium mines to leave contamination at higher levels than existed before the mining, Robinson said.
Hollenbeck said the groundwater at Dewey/Burdock is already highly contaminated and unfit for drinking. "The radionuclides are through the roof on this groundwater. It does not meet any kind of drinking water standard whatsoever," he said. "If there weren't all these radionuclides in there, we wouldn't be going after it."
Hollenbeck acknowledged that the water after mining won't be exactly the same as before.
"It'll be the same kind of water when we started, but it won't be the exact same water," he said. "It is nowhere close to being drinking water today."
Robinson also said there is a danger of a plume of underground contaminants spreading out from the mine area and between monitoring wells that are spaced too far apart. Such an event is called an "excursion."
"These kinds of excursions have occurred beyond the well field at the Nebraska, Wyoming and Texas operations," he said.
Hollenbeck said that in addition to monitoring wells encircling the mine area, the NRC requires all in situ uranium mines to have buffer zones outside the monitoring wells.
"If, as these people claim, one of these excursions get out from the monitoring well ring, you have to go out and drill more wells and make sure it is controlled," he said.
Hollenbeck said that no excursion of contaminants has ever gotten outside the buffer zone of any of the NRC-regulated uranium mines.
Hollenbeck, the former mayor of Edgemont, said he and other area residents are going to make sure the environment where they live is protected.
He grazes some of his cattle on land he leases on the Dewey/Burdock mine site.
"I have a certified organic ranch," he said. "I raise grass-fed organic beef and lamb. So I have the highest standards of environmentalism for my ranch. That's why I'm involved in this project. I believe it's the safest environmental way of extracting minerals that we've come up with."
The Western Mining Action Network continues its conference through Sunday at Hotel Alex Johnson. The nonprofit organization says its mission is to foster a strong network to protect the environment by reforming mining practices.
About 160 people are attending the conference, organizers said.
Contact Steve Miller at 394-8415 or steve.miller@rapidcityjournal.com
http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2009/10/02/news/top/doc4ac6ae41b1afb588768105.txt
The proposed Powertech uranium mining project northwest of Edgemont isn't financially feasible and won't provide enough protection against groundwater contamination, says Paul Robinson, an environmental critic of the project.
A local company spokesman disputed Robinson's arguments.
Robinson, billed as an environmental scientist with the Western Mining Action Network, spoke at the group's biennial conference in Rapid City on Friday.
In a news conference before his appearance, Robinson, research director of the Southwest Research and Information Center in Albuquerque, N.M., said there isn't enough demand for uranium worldwide and that the current spot price of $43 a pound isn't enough to cover the cost of production for the uranium mine proposed in the Dewey-Burdock area, 13 miles northwest of Edgemont.
"My chief concern is that the company is marketing its program to produce uranium when there is no demand for new uranium mines or their products," Robinson told reporters. "Therefore, it is building interest around a project that has very little likelihood of producing because the market won't support new uranium mines."
Robinson said prices have dropped back to levels that existed before a spike in prices a few years ago.
Uranium reached $140 a pound in 2007 before dropping back to about $47 a pound earlier this year.
Robinson said there aren't enough nuclear reactors being built to even replace the ones that are aging.
Mark Hollenbeck of Edgemont, project manager for Powertech USA, said Friday he could not divulge the dollar figure at which the proposed mine would break even financially. But last spring, Hollenbeck said the $47 to $49 price for uranium on the spot market was well within the range that Powertech needed to make a profit on its project.
He said that even at $43 a pound, the price is more than six times higher than the $7 per pound uranium brought in 2003.
"Currently, there are about 35 reactors under construction in the world, and every country in the world is looking at expanding their nuclear fleet," Hollenbeck said.
He said the United States produces only about 10 percent of the 55 million pounds of uranium it uses each year to produce 20 percent of the nation's electricity.
In any case, Hollenbeck said, the project won't proceed unless it is financially viable. Meanwhile, he said, project plans are moving forward.
Robinson also said state and federal reclamation rules are too lax for in situ uranium mines.
Like such mines in Nebraska, Wyoming and Texas, Powertech USA, a subsidiary of Canadian company Powertech Uranium Corp., plans to inject chemically treated water into wells to dissolve the uranium, then pump out the solution and collect the uranium for processing.
Opponents argue the process could damage the environment, contaminate water and threaten the health of area residents. The company says the process is safe.
Robinson said neither the Nuclear Regulatory Commission nor state regulators require in situ uranium mines to return affected groundwater to its pre-mining condition.
"The NRC does a very bad job of protecting groundwater," he said. Robinson said disturbing the uranium and the accompanying heavy metals underground could cause release of contaminants into groundwater.
In Wyoming, Texas and Nebraska, regulators have allowed the in situ uranium mines to leave contamination at higher levels than existed before the mining, Robinson said.
Hollenbeck said the groundwater at Dewey/Burdock is already highly contaminated and unfit for drinking. "The radionuclides are through the roof on this groundwater. It does not meet any kind of drinking water standard whatsoever," he said. "If there weren't all these radionuclides in there, we wouldn't be going after it."
Hollenbeck acknowledged that the water after mining won't be exactly the same as before.
"It'll be the same kind of water when we started, but it won't be the exact same water," he said. "It is nowhere close to being drinking water today."
Robinson also said there is a danger of a plume of underground contaminants spreading out from the mine area and between monitoring wells that are spaced too far apart. Such an event is called an "excursion."
"These kinds of excursions have occurred beyond the well field at the Nebraska, Wyoming and Texas operations," he said.
Hollenbeck said that in addition to monitoring wells encircling the mine area, the NRC requires all in situ uranium mines to have buffer zones outside the monitoring wells.
"If, as these people claim, one of these excursions get out from the monitoring well ring, you have to go out and drill more wells and make sure it is controlled," he said.
Hollenbeck said that no excursion of contaminants has ever gotten outside the buffer zone of any of the NRC-regulated uranium mines.
Hollenbeck, the former mayor of Edgemont, said he and other area residents are going to make sure the environment where they live is protected.
He grazes some of his cattle on land he leases on the Dewey/Burdock mine site.
"I have a certified organic ranch," he said. "I raise grass-fed organic beef and lamb. So I have the highest standards of environmentalism for my ranch. That's why I'm involved in this project. I believe it's the safest environmental way of extracting minerals that we've come up with."
The Western Mining Action Network continues its conference through Sunday at Hotel Alex Johnson. The nonprofit organization says its mission is to foster a strong network to protect the environment by reforming mining practices.
About 160 people are attending the conference, organizers said.
Contact Steve Miller at 394-8415 or steve.miller@rapidcityjournal.com
http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2009/10/02/news/top/doc4ac6ae41b1afb588768105.txt
Thursday, October 1, 2009
The Red Rock Wilderness Act: Our Chance to Be Present at the Creation
Photo of Gooseneck of Colorado River taken by Ray Bloxham for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.
Posted: September 30, 2009 11:42 AM
Robert Redford,Actor, Director, and Environmental Activist
This week marks an historic turning point for people who love the wild canyon country and sweeping mesas of Southern Utah. For the first time, the U.S. House Subcommittee on National Parks, Forest, and Public Lands will consider a bill designed to protect millions of acres of spectacular Utah lands as wilderness.
All of these lands -- some of the last great places on earth -- are owned by the public, but most of them remain vulnerable to industrial development. America's Red Rock Wilderness Act would protect them from oil and gas development, uranium mining, and off-road vehicle use. Meanwhile, hunters, anglers, hikers, and families could continue to enjoy these lands, including the renowned Cedar Mesa, San Rafael Swell, and the Book Cliffs.
This is our chance to be present at the creation. If we pass the Red Rock Wilderness Act, we can tell our grandchildren that we helped birth the latest Yellowstone. We can say we preserved treasures equal to Zion, Arches, and Canyonlands National Parks. We can add to the wilderness inheritance of future generations, and they will thank us for it.
I love the extraordinary lands encompassed in America's Red Rock Wilderness Act. I have spent decades exploring them, and I am still awed by the beauty of their serpentine canyons and alcoves filled with stone houses built by the ancestors of today's Pueblo people. I have profoundly inspiring memories of the time I've spent hiking with my family under sculpted arches, through pink sand dunes and across mesas that open up to a sea of redrock vistas.
Fortunately, there is growing support in Congress for protecting precious wildlands like these. This February, Congress passed the Omnibus Public Lands Act -- the most significant conservation law in decades. The law designated more than 2.1 million acres of wilderness in nine states. Significantly, this was a bipartisan effort.
America's Red Rock Wilderness Act, introduced by true champions Senator Richard Durbin and Congressman Maurice Hinchey, also has bipartisan support. It has a remarkable 139 cosponsors in the House and 31 in the senate--that's almost 1 out of every 3 Members of Congress.
I believe two key forces are fueling this renewed desire to protect the public's lands.
First, lawmakers are finally recognizing the toll climate change is taking on fragile landscapes like Southern Utah. The highly regarded NRDC is releasing a report tomorrow documenting the impacts of global warming on national parks, and Zion is one of the 25 most imperiled. The same extreme heat and drought that plague Zion stretch across the region.
Already, conditions are so dry that high winds are picking up Utah's red dust and dumping it hundreds of miles east on Colorado's San Juan Mountains. Skiers call this red snow or watermelon snow.
When you build roads and lay drill pads and pipelines on this kind of delicate landscape, it rips apart the biological soils that retain precious water and prevent erosion. Scientists agree that protecting large roadless areas is critical for combating climate change.
Lawmakers are also beginning to realize that we can power our nation with cleaner, more sustainable options than dirty fossil fuels. Energy efficiency and plug-in hybrids will do far more to free us from our oil addiction than the tiny amount of fuel found in Utah -- home to just 2.5 percent of the nation' natural gas reserves and 1 percent of oil reserves.
But there is also a second force behind the growing movement for America's Redrock Wilderness Act: the American people. I don't think popular support for wilderness has ever waned in this country -- exploring untrammeled ground is too deeply embedded in American tradition. But I do believe that during the Bush administration, those voices were not heard above industry's clamor.
Still, Americans burst through the din last November, when the Bush administration gave 77 drilling leases as a parting gift to their friends in the oil and gas industry. The leases were all in Southern Utah and many of them were in full view of beloved national parks. More than 150,000 people filed protest comments with the Bureau of Land Management, and the successful effort to block the leases received national attention. It became clear just how much Americans care about this corner of Utah.
There is also strong local support for America's Redrock Wilderness Act. The lands included in the bill were inventories by hundreds of Utah volunteers, and Utah activists, religious leaders, and businesspeople have called on politicians to pass it. The natural assets of the state of Utah and the quality of life they provide continue to be a primary reason individuals and families move there and stay there.
As well, many Utah residents see the economic benefits of choosing wilderness over industrialization. Back when President Clinton first proposed protecting the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, some locals hated the idea. Now many say it was one of the best things that happened to their region. According to a report by the Sonoran Insitute, using data from the U.S. Department of Commerce, labor income and personal earning power increased significantly in the years after the monument was designated.
The truth is no generation regrets setting aside land for another. No generation looks back and chastises the previous one for leaving a wilderness inheritance.
The America's Redrock Wilderness Act is our chance to add to this natural heritage. You can do your part by telling your lawmakers to support the bill.
Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-redford/the-red-rock-wilderness-a_b_304281.html
Posted: September 30, 2009 11:42 AM
Robert Redford,Actor, Director, and Environmental Activist
This week marks an historic turning point for people who love the wild canyon country and sweeping mesas of Southern Utah. For the first time, the U.S. House Subcommittee on National Parks, Forest, and Public Lands will consider a bill designed to protect millions of acres of spectacular Utah lands as wilderness.
All of these lands -- some of the last great places on earth -- are owned by the public, but most of them remain vulnerable to industrial development. America's Red Rock Wilderness Act would protect them from oil and gas development, uranium mining, and off-road vehicle use. Meanwhile, hunters, anglers, hikers, and families could continue to enjoy these lands, including the renowned Cedar Mesa, San Rafael Swell, and the Book Cliffs.
This is our chance to be present at the creation. If we pass the Red Rock Wilderness Act, we can tell our grandchildren that we helped birth the latest Yellowstone. We can say we preserved treasures equal to Zion, Arches, and Canyonlands National Parks. We can add to the wilderness inheritance of future generations, and they will thank us for it.
I love the extraordinary lands encompassed in America's Red Rock Wilderness Act. I have spent decades exploring them, and I am still awed by the beauty of their serpentine canyons and alcoves filled with stone houses built by the ancestors of today's Pueblo people. I have profoundly inspiring memories of the time I've spent hiking with my family under sculpted arches, through pink sand dunes and across mesas that open up to a sea of redrock vistas.
Fortunately, there is growing support in Congress for protecting precious wildlands like these. This February, Congress passed the Omnibus Public Lands Act -- the most significant conservation law in decades. The law designated more than 2.1 million acres of wilderness in nine states. Significantly, this was a bipartisan effort.
America's Red Rock Wilderness Act, introduced by true champions Senator Richard Durbin and Congressman Maurice Hinchey, also has bipartisan support. It has a remarkable 139 cosponsors in the House and 31 in the senate--that's almost 1 out of every 3 Members of Congress.
I believe two key forces are fueling this renewed desire to protect the public's lands.
First, lawmakers are finally recognizing the toll climate change is taking on fragile landscapes like Southern Utah. The highly regarded NRDC is releasing a report tomorrow documenting the impacts of global warming on national parks, and Zion is one of the 25 most imperiled. The same extreme heat and drought that plague Zion stretch across the region.
Already, conditions are so dry that high winds are picking up Utah's red dust and dumping it hundreds of miles east on Colorado's San Juan Mountains. Skiers call this red snow or watermelon snow.
When you build roads and lay drill pads and pipelines on this kind of delicate landscape, it rips apart the biological soils that retain precious water and prevent erosion. Scientists agree that protecting large roadless areas is critical for combating climate change.
Lawmakers are also beginning to realize that we can power our nation with cleaner, more sustainable options than dirty fossil fuels. Energy efficiency and plug-in hybrids will do far more to free us from our oil addiction than the tiny amount of fuel found in Utah -- home to just 2.5 percent of the nation' natural gas reserves and 1 percent of oil reserves.
But there is also a second force behind the growing movement for America's Redrock Wilderness Act: the American people. I don't think popular support for wilderness has ever waned in this country -- exploring untrammeled ground is too deeply embedded in American tradition. But I do believe that during the Bush administration, those voices were not heard above industry's clamor.
Still, Americans burst through the din last November, when the Bush administration gave 77 drilling leases as a parting gift to their friends in the oil and gas industry. The leases were all in Southern Utah and many of them were in full view of beloved national parks. More than 150,000 people filed protest comments with the Bureau of Land Management, and the successful effort to block the leases received national attention. It became clear just how much Americans care about this corner of Utah.
There is also strong local support for America's Redrock Wilderness Act. The lands included in the bill were inventories by hundreds of Utah volunteers, and Utah activists, religious leaders, and businesspeople have called on politicians to pass it. The natural assets of the state of Utah and the quality of life they provide continue to be a primary reason individuals and families move there and stay there.
As well, many Utah residents see the economic benefits of choosing wilderness over industrialization. Back when President Clinton first proposed protecting the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, some locals hated the idea. Now many say it was one of the best things that happened to their region. According to a report by the Sonoran Insitute, using data from the U.S. Department of Commerce, labor income and personal earning power increased significantly in the years after the monument was designated.
The truth is no generation regrets setting aside land for another. No generation looks back and chastises the previous one for leaving a wilderness inheritance.
The America's Redrock Wilderness Act is our chance to add to this natural heritage. You can do your part by telling your lawmakers to support the bill.
Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-redford/the-red-rock-wilderness-a_b_304281.html
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Full disclosure shouldn't be problem for uranium industry
Wednesday, September 30, 2009 9:08 AM EDT
If uranium mining is so safe as that company says it is, then the company and its supporters should be able to list all the possible problems of mining and milling and waste as they understand them to the press and the citizens of Virginia without delay.
Full disclosure shouldn't be a problem.
And if there were any kind of accidents, who actually would be responsible for cleaning up the mess, and how they would do it. And when they would do it.
The ones that actually do the work, not the ones that do town hall meetings.
Phillip Barr
New Mexico
http://www.wpcva.com/articles/2009/09/30/chatham/opinion/opinion02.txt
If uranium mining is so safe as that company says it is, then the company and its supporters should be able to list all the possible problems of mining and milling and waste as they understand them to the press and the citizens of Virginia without delay.
Full disclosure shouldn't be a problem.
And if there were any kind of accidents, who actually would be responsible for cleaning up the mess, and how they would do it. And when they would do it.
The ones that actually do the work, not the ones that do town hall meetings.
Phillip Barr
New Mexico
http://www.wpcva.com/articles/2009/09/30/chatham/opinion/opinion02.txt
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Mining Our Treasures
An 1872 Law Paves the Way for a Rush of Claims in the West
By Jane Danowitz and Richard Wiles
Monday, August 27, 2007
Some 5 million Americans will visit the Grand Canyon this year, heeding the advice of Theodore Roosevelt to enjoy one of "the great sights, which every American, if he can travel at all, should see." But while the canyon may be timeless, its surroundings are not. There's a race afoot -- within miles of the park's majestic rim -- to snatch up mining rights on public lands for extracting uranium, gold and other hard-rock metals. What's worse, a 135-year-old federal law not only makes the practice legal but underwrites mining at taxpayer expense.
A recent analysis of government records conducted by the nonprofit Environmental Working Group found a dramatic surge in claims to mine metals on public lands in the West, threatening national parks and other special places. The group found that the number of active claims in 12 Western states has increased 80 percent over the past five years. More than 50,000 claims have been grabbed up in the past nine months. The proliferation of claims in Colorado and Utah has been especially high, with a 200 percent increase since 2003.
Mining is a messy business. Anyone who visits or values our national parks has cause to worry about the mushrooming number of new claimholders, who hold the rights to explore, extract and ultimately even purchase public land regardless of its proximity to treasured landscapes.
For instance, the analysis found that 815 active mining claims lie within five miles of the Grand Canyon, 805 of them staked since 2003. Just outside Arches National Park in Utah, 869 claims have been snatched up, almost all within the past five years. In California, more than 2,000 active mining claims lie within five miles of Joshua Tree, Death Valley and the venerable Yosemite national parks. Almost a third of these have been staked since 2003.
Why the rush? Metal prices today are sky-high, and global demand is great. But the real culprit is the antiquated federal statute governing mining, virtually unchanged since it was signed by Ulysses S. Grant in 1872 to encourage settlement of the West. The law -- which has been on the books since before the light bulb -- often gives metal mining special priority over recreation, ranching and conservation.
Moreover, the law allows mining companies -- even those that are foreign-owned -- to take precious resources from public lands virtually for free; this is in contrast to the oil, gas and coal industries, which have been paying royalties since the 1920s. And in what is arguably one of the great boondoggles of all time, both individual and corporate claimholders can purchase public land for $5 an acre or less. They don't even have to mine the property but can use it -- and have -- to build hotels, condominiums and casinos.
Congress may finally be ready to say enough is enough. Rep. Nick J. Rahall (D-W.Va.), who chairs the House Committee on Natural Resources, has initiated bipartisan legislation that would modernize the antiquated law. The bill would not end or ban mining in the West but would ensure that it's done within modern legal parameters.
The measure would set up long-overdue environmental standards for operations and cleanup, require metal mining companies to pay an 8 percent royalty (oil, gas and coal companies often pay more) and establish a fund to deal with the hundreds of thousands of abandoned mines that scar our landscape. Most important, it would end the priority status that mining has long been afforded on some of our most valued public lands, protecting parks, national forest roadless areas, and wild and scenic river corridors from degradation.
Not surprisingly, the proposal faces stiff opposition from the mining industry's allies in the administration and Congress, who have invoked the specters of compromised national security and damage to the economy. But some of our greatest national treasures and open spaces are on the line.
The threat of hundreds of mining claims for uranium, gold and other metals within a stone's throw of the Grand Canyon should serve as a wake-up call. It's time to reform the 1872 Mining Act and protect some of America's most important places.
Jane Danowitz directs the Pew Environment Group's Campaign for Responsible Mining. Richard Wiles is executive director of the Environmental Working Group.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/26/AR2007082600907.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns
By Jane Danowitz and Richard Wiles
Monday, August 27, 2007
Some 5 million Americans will visit the Grand Canyon this year, heeding the advice of Theodore Roosevelt to enjoy one of "the great sights, which every American, if he can travel at all, should see." But while the canyon may be timeless, its surroundings are not. There's a race afoot -- within miles of the park's majestic rim -- to snatch up mining rights on public lands for extracting uranium, gold and other hard-rock metals. What's worse, a 135-year-old federal law not only makes the practice legal but underwrites mining at taxpayer expense.
A recent analysis of government records conducted by the nonprofit Environmental Working Group found a dramatic surge in claims to mine metals on public lands in the West, threatening national parks and other special places. The group found that the number of active claims in 12 Western states has increased 80 percent over the past five years. More than 50,000 claims have been grabbed up in the past nine months. The proliferation of claims in Colorado and Utah has been especially high, with a 200 percent increase since 2003.
Mining is a messy business. Anyone who visits or values our national parks has cause to worry about the mushrooming number of new claimholders, who hold the rights to explore, extract and ultimately even purchase public land regardless of its proximity to treasured landscapes.
For instance, the analysis found that 815 active mining claims lie within five miles of the Grand Canyon, 805 of them staked since 2003. Just outside Arches National Park in Utah, 869 claims have been snatched up, almost all within the past five years. In California, more than 2,000 active mining claims lie within five miles of Joshua Tree, Death Valley and the venerable Yosemite national parks. Almost a third of these have been staked since 2003.
Why the rush? Metal prices today are sky-high, and global demand is great. But the real culprit is the antiquated federal statute governing mining, virtually unchanged since it was signed by Ulysses S. Grant in 1872 to encourage settlement of the West. The law -- which has been on the books since before the light bulb -- often gives metal mining special priority over recreation, ranching and conservation.
Moreover, the law allows mining companies -- even those that are foreign-owned -- to take precious resources from public lands virtually for free; this is in contrast to the oil, gas and coal industries, which have been paying royalties since the 1920s. And in what is arguably one of the great boondoggles of all time, both individual and corporate claimholders can purchase public land for $5 an acre or less. They don't even have to mine the property but can use it -- and have -- to build hotels, condominiums and casinos.
Congress may finally be ready to say enough is enough. Rep. Nick J. Rahall (D-W.Va.), who chairs the House Committee on Natural Resources, has initiated bipartisan legislation that would modernize the antiquated law. The bill would not end or ban mining in the West but would ensure that it's done within modern legal parameters.
The measure would set up long-overdue environmental standards for operations and cleanup, require metal mining companies to pay an 8 percent royalty (oil, gas and coal companies often pay more) and establish a fund to deal with the hundreds of thousands of abandoned mines that scar our landscape. Most important, it would end the priority status that mining has long been afforded on some of our most valued public lands, protecting parks, national forest roadless areas, and wild and scenic river corridors from degradation.
Not surprisingly, the proposal faces stiff opposition from the mining industry's allies in the administration and Congress, who have invoked the specters of compromised national security and damage to the economy. But some of our greatest national treasures and open spaces are on the line.
The threat of hundreds of mining claims for uranium, gold and other metals within a stone's throw of the Grand Canyon should serve as a wake-up call. It's time to reform the 1872 Mining Act and protect some of America's most important places.
Jane Danowitz directs the Pew Environment Group's Campaign for Responsible Mining. Richard Wiles is executive director of the Environmental Working Group.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/26/AR2007082600907.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns
Monday, September 28, 2009
Lethal Legacy? Abandoned uranium mines bring health worries
Sunday, May 01, 2005
By Jomay Steen, Journal Staff Writer
BUFFALO -- In a series of bluffs and buttes near the Montana and South Dakota border are the leavings of the atomic age.
A decade after the United States dropped atomic bombs at Hiro- shima and Nagasaki, uranium mining claims were filed on the 65,000 acres of the North Cave Hills, South Cave Hills and Slim Buttes areas of Custer National Forest's Sioux Ranger District, about 100 miles north of Rapid City.
By 1965, the mining companies had closed operations, packed up offices and equipment and disappeared from the prairie.
Left behind and nearly forgotten were the 89 mined sites on national forest system land on the South Dakota portion of the Sioux Ranger District.
Harding County residents worry that the abandoned uranium mines might have caused a higher incidence of cancer in the area. But state health officials say their fears are unfounded.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Forest Service has taken steps to remediate problems caused by the mines in the North Cave Hills and has asked one of the mining companies to help with clean up.
Conscious of cancer
On March 15, abandoned uranium mines were the last things on the minds of Buffalo residents.
Calving and lambing seasons were in full force. Many area ranchers and farmers had broken away from barnyard chores to drive to Harding County Courthouse in Buffalo to renew land leases.
Linda Stephens greeted friends at a local diner and talked about the disappearance of an area businessman on his way to Rapid City. Part owner and publisher of the Nation's Center News, Stephens eventually turned the talk to health.
"Talk to anyone here, and they have a brother, uncle or cousin who has cancer," Stephens said. She, too, has cancer.
Eleven cases of rare brain tumors have been diagnosed in Harding County in the past decade.
In the past 24 months, Stephens, Krystyna Nible, Janice Peck and Frank Clark were diagnosed with brain tumors.
Doctors told Stephens, 60, and Krystyna Nible, 9, that they had pituitary tumors.
Rose Blake, 50, of Camp Crook and LaQueta "Lucky" Teigen, 52, of Buffalo were diagnosed with pituitary tumors about 10 years ago and survived through surgery and treatment. The four females with pituitary tumors were the first in their families to develop brain tumors.
Cancer may be caused by external factors, such as tobacco, chemicals, radiation and infectious organisms, or internal factors such as hormones, age, immune conditions and mutations that occur from metabolism, the American Cancer Society says.
These factors may act together or in sequence to cause cancer. Ten or more years often pass between exposure to external factors and detectable cancer, according to the American Cancer Society.
A letter from South Dakota Department of Health officials stated that pituitary tumors occur in one in 10,000 people at autopsy.
Stephens said that Harding County, with a population of 1,500 people, has four pituitary cancer patients.
Deena Nible, 36, received the devastating news that her daughter had a brain tumor in October 2003.
"It just rips you in two," she said.
The youngest of Deena and Jeff Nible's four children, Krystyna experienced severe headaches, vision problems and frequent urination.
On Oct. 29, Krystyna underwent six hours of surgery by a nine-doctor surgical team at Children's Hospital in Denver. The team removed a third of the tumor. Krystyna began six weeks of radiation in December 2003.
"They didn't say that anything environmental had caused it," her mother said.
The doctors explained to the family that a sac encases the pituitary gland at birth, and the sac breaks as the child grows. The cells that remain from the sac may develop into a tumor later in life, Nible said.
But Nible said her daughter's doctors did think it was unusual that several people in the same town would be diagnosed in the same year.
"It doesn't happen very often," she said.
In September 2003, Peck underwent surgery at St. Anthony Central Hospital in Denver for acoustic schwannoma, a walnut-sized tumor lodged in the canal of her right ear.
Peck, 68, lived most of her life in the Reva area before marrying Arlie Peck and moving to his ranch 30 years ago. "We lived real close to the Slim Buttes area and the uranium mines," Peck said.
Retiring to Sturgis in 2001, she said she experienced pin-prickling sensations on her face, hearing loss and severe loss of balance before seeing a doctor. Healthy for most of her life, it was a shock to learn the seriousness of her ailments.
"A brain tumor is a surprise," she said.
Peck's doctors wouldn't speculate about what had caused her tumor, saying there were a number of external factors that may have contributed to her illness, including two serious concussions Peck had at an earlier age, she said.
"If one thing doesn't get you, something else will," Peck said.
Stephens grew up in Harding County near Ralph and has lived the majority of her life in Buffalo.
On July 10, 2004, Stephens underwent 28 days of radiation at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. The treatments arrested the growth of her tumor, a condition she had lived with undetected for nearly 20 years.
Stephens believes the abandoned uranium mines about 25 miles north of Buffalo may be the culprits in Harding County's health problems. She said if she were to draw a circle on a map within a 65-mile radius from the mining sites, the number of people with cancer abounds.
"In the late '50s and early '60s, everyone out here thought they would get rich if they had uranium on their property," Stephens said.
Stephens said a uranium processing plant was across the border in Griffin, N.D., between Rhame and Bowman. Locals dug out the uranium and hauled the radioactive material to Griffin in open trucks and stock trailers.
"They dug holes all over. They cut the top off Ludlow Hill," she said.
While Stephens was at Mayo Clinic, one of the first questions she asked her neurologist, Dr. Joon Uhm, was the cause that would have placed four people in different age groups, different careers and lifestyles with this particular type of cancer.
"His reply was, ‘uranium,'" Stephens said.
Mining history
In 1962, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission pushed for major uranium mining operations throughout the nation, including South Dakota.
Uranium was mined in Harding and Fall River counties. The state ranked as the nation's sixth-largest uranium producer in 1964 and 1965. South Dakota produced 1 million tons of uranium ore and 3 million pounds of processed uranium between 1951 and 1973.
According to Laurie Walters-Clark, on-scene coordinator of the U.S.F.S. Sioux Ranger District, unrestricted mining was permitted under the General Mining Laws and Public Law 357 and required no restoration. Active mining of the Slim Buttes and Cave Hills occurred from 1962 through 1964.
Prospecting was conducted by bulldozer cuts, backhoe, rim cutting and drilling. Bulldozers removed dirt to allow access to the uranium-bearing lignite coal beds, which, in places, were 80 feet below the surface. During the mining, much of the spoils were piled on the outer edges of the pits. Today, the erosive spoils remain piled on the pit floors and rims.
The uranium mining at the Riley Pass site in the North Cave Hills left behind areas with elevated radiation and heavy metal levels both in the mine area and the sediments, which are eroding.
"Elevated levels of arsenic, boron, molybdenum and selenium are in the exposed spoils," Walters-Clark said.
Reclamation effort
In 1989, heavy erosion spurred the Forest Service to build five catch basins to trap sediment washing down from the former mine sites. By the next year, the Forest Service removed more than 6,700 cubic yards of sediment from the basins. With an estimated $2 million price tag, Forest Service officials decided against further reclamation efforts.
Seven years later, Custer National Forest officials began reviewing soils tested in 1990 in the area to qualify for the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, or CERCLA, administered by the Environmental Protection Agency. The project qualified for CERCLA, which provides reclamation funds to restore inactive hazardous waste sites.
Results from the soil analyses showed 13 bluffs as sources of hazardous substances. The hazardous materials testing greater than three times the normal levels included arsenic, molybdenum, thorium, total uranium, radium 226 and uranium 235.
As part of the CERCLA process, the Forest Service tracked Kerr-McGee as one of the businesses responsible for mining the area and abandoning eight bluffs considered hazardous.
In 1972, Kerr-McGee paid for construction of dikes and dams at two locations and moved a segment of road at Riley Pass. In 2002, Forest Service officials negotiated with Kerr-McGee to clean out the sediment ponds. Kerr-McGee has declined to help with further cleanup, and no law requires them to do so.
This year, the Forest Service plans to clean the sediment ponds and build a catch basin and diversion ditch. It will also release an engineering evaluation providing recommendations for reclamation and cost analysis later this month, Walters-Clark said.
Expected to be finalized this summer, the report will be available for public review and comment at Harding County Courthouse for at least 60 days.
The Forest Service will continue to work with representatives from Harding County and other interested groups regarding status and restoration activities in the project area.
Worried about water
Laurel Foust's ranch is three miles from the North Cave Hills and the open uranium mines there.
Like Stephens, she suspects that contaminants have reached her livestock through wind and water systems. They may also have been a factor in her husband's cancer.
Richard Foust was diagnosed with colon cancer in 1993.
He died in 1994 at age 44.
"He lived here all of his life," Foust said.
Growing up close to the rugged terrain, he spent a great deal of his life hunting, riding and exploring the hills, she said.
She acknowledges that her husband came into contact with the defoliant Agent Orange while serving in the military in Vietnam. But Foust and her children continue to drink bottled water because of her concerns about the water that comes from the taps.
"People have spent thousands of dollars on water lines and wells here so their livestock won't have to drink the water out of dams and creeks," she said.
Drinking from water sources that has runoff affects the livestock, Foust said.
The animals develop copper deficiency, which can cause spontaneous abortions in cattle.
Cattle's hair turns white after drinking the water for about six years, Foust said.
A neighbor, Randy Feist, 47, said loss of livestock production and copper deficiencies led him to suspect something was wrong with his water.
On his ranch 2-1/2 miles from the North Cave Hills, Feist had his water tested and discovered bad news.
"There's arsenic in our drainages," he said.
Before environmental and reclamation laws enacted in the '70s, mining companies were legally allowed to abandon the sites without sealing or reclamation of any kind. These abandoned sites have undergone natural erosion from 41 years of wind, rain and snow, he said.
"There were no reclamation laws when these companies did the mining," he said.
Feist said contaminants may have caused his two sisters' and a brother's health problems.
"Half of my siblings have thyroid problems. It's one of the first symptoms of radiation poisoning," Feist said.
He has also had his share of health problems. Last September, doctors removed a cancerous kidney from the father of four children.
Feist has since recovered after surgery.
But at night, when thoughts of his and his wife's relatives dying of cancer chases away sleep, he wonders about his own family.
"What am I subjecting my kids to?" he asked.
Skeptical response
South Dakota State University Extension beef specialist Trey Patterson said graying or losing color in the hides of cattle is a symptom of copper deficiency.
But he said copper deficiency in cattle is a common ailment in western South Dakota and not a symptom of radiation poisoning.
Patterson said that high concentrations of sulfur in water, molybdenum in feed and iron in water or feed or both lead to this condition.
"It is consistent with what I've seen on ranches in southwestern South Dakota," Patterson said.
State veterinarian Sam Holland, head of the South Dakota Animal Industry Board, said animals would exhibit the same symptoms as people if exposed to acute radiation — bloody stools, welts and hair loss.
But Holland said in his 18 years as assistant and state veterinarian he has never treated animals sickened from radiation poisoning because of hazardous materials.
However, it isn't the first time Holland has dealt with questions about livestock being exposed to uranium. As many as 100 uranium mines operated from the 1950s through the 1970s in the Edgemont area. Years after the mines closed, Fall River County livestock owners complained of animals sickened by runoff and contamination from those mines. None of the complaints was ever substantiated, he said.
"The anecdotal records never matched what was actually reported to us," Holland said.
No safe level
But for humans, there is no safe level of exposure to radiation, according to Diane D'Arrigo of the Nuclear Information and Resource Service, a private environmental organization in Washington, D.C.
Low levels of radiation damage tissues, cells and other vital functions, causing cell death, genetic mutations, cancers, leukemia, birth defects and reproductive, immune and endocrine system disorders, D'Arrigo said.
The endocrine system includes the thyroid and pituitary glands.
"Every amount of radiation increases all these health effects," D'Arrigo said.
The organization's Web site, www.nirs.org, says long-term exposure to low levels of radiation can be more dangerous than short exposures to high levels.
D'Arrigo said federal officials who write regulations are unduly influenced by the energy industry, which gives a skewed perspective of what is acceptable.
"The science at any level will tell you any exposure is an increased risk," D'Arrigo said.
Cindy Folkers, energy and radiation spokeswoman at Nuclear Information and Resource Service, said depleted uranium broken down into small particles can be suspended in the air and inhaled or ingested.
Once absorbed into the blood stream, the particles are deposited mostly into bone and kidneys. Most of what is deposited in the kidneys cycles out in urine, but it can remain in bone for years, Folkers said.
"It collects around the DNA molecules and muscles, and the body thinks it is potassium. This is a problem," Folkers said.
She said that although companies took the uranium ore, what was left behind is still toxic and includes thoriums and heavy metals such as mercury or lead.
"Meanwhile, people stuck in the community are dying," Folkers said.
But statistics from the South Dakota Cancer Registry don't back up D'Arrigo and Folkers' claims about cancer links to exposure to hazardous contaminants from the uranium mines in Harding County, state officials said.
Barb Buhler, information officer at the South Dakota Department of Health, said sparsely populated areas such as Harding County are simply too small for statistics to prove a cause.
"The numbers are just not there," Buhler said.
She checked into Harding County cancer rates listed in the South Dakota Cancer Registry. From 1996-2001, 21 cancer cases were reported in Harding County, an average of four per year.
But Buhler said the age- adjusted cancer rate in Harding County was much lower than state and national rates.
During 2001, South Dakota had 40 cases of thyroid cancers, the cancer most associated with uranium and fallout. The age-adjusted state rate was less than the national rate, Buhler said.
But people such as Randy Feist are convinced there is a link between the local cancer victims and the uranium mines.
Feist said most people in Harding County — and especially in his neighborhood — don't expect to live without their names going into the cancer registry at some point in their lives.
"When we die, we're going to die of cancer," he said.
Contact Jomay Steen at 394-8418 or jomay.steen@rapidcityjournal.com
http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2005/05/01/news/local/top/news01.txt
By Jomay Steen, Journal Staff Writer
BUFFALO -- In a series of bluffs and buttes near the Montana and South Dakota border are the leavings of the atomic age.
A decade after the United States dropped atomic bombs at Hiro- shima and Nagasaki, uranium mining claims were filed on the 65,000 acres of the North Cave Hills, South Cave Hills and Slim Buttes areas of Custer National Forest's Sioux Ranger District, about 100 miles north of Rapid City.
By 1965, the mining companies had closed operations, packed up offices and equipment and disappeared from the prairie.
Left behind and nearly forgotten were the 89 mined sites on national forest system land on the South Dakota portion of the Sioux Ranger District.
Harding County residents worry that the abandoned uranium mines might have caused a higher incidence of cancer in the area. But state health officials say their fears are unfounded.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Forest Service has taken steps to remediate problems caused by the mines in the North Cave Hills and has asked one of the mining companies to help with clean up.
Conscious of cancer
On March 15, abandoned uranium mines were the last things on the minds of Buffalo residents.
Calving and lambing seasons were in full force. Many area ranchers and farmers had broken away from barnyard chores to drive to Harding County Courthouse in Buffalo to renew land leases.
Linda Stephens greeted friends at a local diner and talked about the disappearance of an area businessman on his way to Rapid City. Part owner and publisher of the Nation's Center News, Stephens eventually turned the talk to health.
"Talk to anyone here, and they have a brother, uncle or cousin who has cancer," Stephens said. She, too, has cancer.
Eleven cases of rare brain tumors have been diagnosed in Harding County in the past decade.
In the past 24 months, Stephens, Krystyna Nible, Janice Peck and Frank Clark were diagnosed with brain tumors.
Doctors told Stephens, 60, and Krystyna Nible, 9, that they had pituitary tumors.
Rose Blake, 50, of Camp Crook and LaQueta "Lucky" Teigen, 52, of Buffalo were diagnosed with pituitary tumors about 10 years ago and survived through surgery and treatment. The four females with pituitary tumors were the first in their families to develop brain tumors.
Cancer may be caused by external factors, such as tobacco, chemicals, radiation and infectious organisms, or internal factors such as hormones, age, immune conditions and mutations that occur from metabolism, the American Cancer Society says.
These factors may act together or in sequence to cause cancer. Ten or more years often pass between exposure to external factors and detectable cancer, according to the American Cancer Society.
A letter from South Dakota Department of Health officials stated that pituitary tumors occur in one in 10,000 people at autopsy.
Stephens said that Harding County, with a population of 1,500 people, has four pituitary cancer patients.
Deena Nible, 36, received the devastating news that her daughter had a brain tumor in October 2003.
"It just rips you in two," she said.
The youngest of Deena and Jeff Nible's four children, Krystyna experienced severe headaches, vision problems and frequent urination.
On Oct. 29, Krystyna underwent six hours of surgery by a nine-doctor surgical team at Children's Hospital in Denver. The team removed a third of the tumor. Krystyna began six weeks of radiation in December 2003.
"They didn't say that anything environmental had caused it," her mother said.
The doctors explained to the family that a sac encases the pituitary gland at birth, and the sac breaks as the child grows. The cells that remain from the sac may develop into a tumor later in life, Nible said.
But Nible said her daughter's doctors did think it was unusual that several people in the same town would be diagnosed in the same year.
"It doesn't happen very often," she said.
In September 2003, Peck underwent surgery at St. Anthony Central Hospital in Denver for acoustic schwannoma, a walnut-sized tumor lodged in the canal of her right ear.
Peck, 68, lived most of her life in the Reva area before marrying Arlie Peck and moving to his ranch 30 years ago. "We lived real close to the Slim Buttes area and the uranium mines," Peck said.
Retiring to Sturgis in 2001, she said she experienced pin-prickling sensations on her face, hearing loss and severe loss of balance before seeing a doctor. Healthy for most of her life, it was a shock to learn the seriousness of her ailments.
"A brain tumor is a surprise," she said.
Peck's doctors wouldn't speculate about what had caused her tumor, saying there were a number of external factors that may have contributed to her illness, including two serious concussions Peck had at an earlier age, she said.
"If one thing doesn't get you, something else will," Peck said.
Stephens grew up in Harding County near Ralph and has lived the majority of her life in Buffalo.
On July 10, 2004, Stephens underwent 28 days of radiation at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. The treatments arrested the growth of her tumor, a condition she had lived with undetected for nearly 20 years.
Stephens believes the abandoned uranium mines about 25 miles north of Buffalo may be the culprits in Harding County's health problems. She said if she were to draw a circle on a map within a 65-mile radius from the mining sites, the number of people with cancer abounds.
"In the late '50s and early '60s, everyone out here thought they would get rich if they had uranium on their property," Stephens said.
Stephens said a uranium processing plant was across the border in Griffin, N.D., between Rhame and Bowman. Locals dug out the uranium and hauled the radioactive material to Griffin in open trucks and stock trailers.
"They dug holes all over. They cut the top off Ludlow Hill," she said.
While Stephens was at Mayo Clinic, one of the first questions she asked her neurologist, Dr. Joon Uhm, was the cause that would have placed four people in different age groups, different careers and lifestyles with this particular type of cancer.
"His reply was, ‘uranium,'" Stephens said.
Mining history
In 1962, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission pushed for major uranium mining operations throughout the nation, including South Dakota.
Uranium was mined in Harding and Fall River counties. The state ranked as the nation's sixth-largest uranium producer in 1964 and 1965. South Dakota produced 1 million tons of uranium ore and 3 million pounds of processed uranium between 1951 and 1973.
According to Laurie Walters-Clark, on-scene coordinator of the U.S.F.S. Sioux Ranger District, unrestricted mining was permitted under the General Mining Laws and Public Law 357 and required no restoration. Active mining of the Slim Buttes and Cave Hills occurred from 1962 through 1964.
Prospecting was conducted by bulldozer cuts, backhoe, rim cutting and drilling. Bulldozers removed dirt to allow access to the uranium-bearing lignite coal beds, which, in places, were 80 feet below the surface. During the mining, much of the spoils were piled on the outer edges of the pits. Today, the erosive spoils remain piled on the pit floors and rims.
The uranium mining at the Riley Pass site in the North Cave Hills left behind areas with elevated radiation and heavy metal levels both in the mine area and the sediments, which are eroding.
"Elevated levels of arsenic, boron, molybdenum and selenium are in the exposed spoils," Walters-Clark said.
Reclamation effort
In 1989, heavy erosion spurred the Forest Service to build five catch basins to trap sediment washing down from the former mine sites. By the next year, the Forest Service removed more than 6,700 cubic yards of sediment from the basins. With an estimated $2 million price tag, Forest Service officials decided against further reclamation efforts.
Seven years later, Custer National Forest officials began reviewing soils tested in 1990 in the area to qualify for the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, or CERCLA, administered by the Environmental Protection Agency. The project qualified for CERCLA, which provides reclamation funds to restore inactive hazardous waste sites.
Results from the soil analyses showed 13 bluffs as sources of hazardous substances. The hazardous materials testing greater than three times the normal levels included arsenic, molybdenum, thorium, total uranium, radium 226 and uranium 235.
As part of the CERCLA process, the Forest Service tracked Kerr-McGee as one of the businesses responsible for mining the area and abandoning eight bluffs considered hazardous.
In 1972, Kerr-McGee paid for construction of dikes and dams at two locations and moved a segment of road at Riley Pass. In 2002, Forest Service officials negotiated with Kerr-McGee to clean out the sediment ponds. Kerr-McGee has declined to help with further cleanup, and no law requires them to do so.
This year, the Forest Service plans to clean the sediment ponds and build a catch basin and diversion ditch. It will also release an engineering evaluation providing recommendations for reclamation and cost analysis later this month, Walters-Clark said.
Expected to be finalized this summer, the report will be available for public review and comment at Harding County Courthouse for at least 60 days.
The Forest Service will continue to work with representatives from Harding County and other interested groups regarding status and restoration activities in the project area.
Worried about water
Laurel Foust's ranch is three miles from the North Cave Hills and the open uranium mines there.
Like Stephens, she suspects that contaminants have reached her livestock through wind and water systems. They may also have been a factor in her husband's cancer.
Richard Foust was diagnosed with colon cancer in 1993.
He died in 1994 at age 44.
"He lived here all of his life," Foust said.
Growing up close to the rugged terrain, he spent a great deal of his life hunting, riding and exploring the hills, she said.
She acknowledges that her husband came into contact with the defoliant Agent Orange while serving in the military in Vietnam. But Foust and her children continue to drink bottled water because of her concerns about the water that comes from the taps.
"People have spent thousands of dollars on water lines and wells here so their livestock won't have to drink the water out of dams and creeks," she said.
Drinking from water sources that has runoff affects the livestock, Foust said.
The animals develop copper deficiency, which can cause spontaneous abortions in cattle.
Cattle's hair turns white after drinking the water for about six years, Foust said.
A neighbor, Randy Feist, 47, said loss of livestock production and copper deficiencies led him to suspect something was wrong with his water.
On his ranch 2-1/2 miles from the North Cave Hills, Feist had his water tested and discovered bad news.
"There's arsenic in our drainages," he said.
Before environmental and reclamation laws enacted in the '70s, mining companies were legally allowed to abandon the sites without sealing or reclamation of any kind. These abandoned sites have undergone natural erosion from 41 years of wind, rain and snow, he said.
"There were no reclamation laws when these companies did the mining," he said.
Feist said contaminants may have caused his two sisters' and a brother's health problems.
"Half of my siblings have thyroid problems. It's one of the first symptoms of radiation poisoning," Feist said.
He has also had his share of health problems. Last September, doctors removed a cancerous kidney from the father of four children.
Feist has since recovered after surgery.
But at night, when thoughts of his and his wife's relatives dying of cancer chases away sleep, he wonders about his own family.
"What am I subjecting my kids to?" he asked.
Skeptical response
South Dakota State University Extension beef specialist Trey Patterson said graying or losing color in the hides of cattle is a symptom of copper deficiency.
But he said copper deficiency in cattle is a common ailment in western South Dakota and not a symptom of radiation poisoning.
Patterson said that high concentrations of sulfur in water, molybdenum in feed and iron in water or feed or both lead to this condition.
"It is consistent with what I've seen on ranches in southwestern South Dakota," Patterson said.
State veterinarian Sam Holland, head of the South Dakota Animal Industry Board, said animals would exhibit the same symptoms as people if exposed to acute radiation — bloody stools, welts and hair loss.
But Holland said in his 18 years as assistant and state veterinarian he has never treated animals sickened from radiation poisoning because of hazardous materials.
However, it isn't the first time Holland has dealt with questions about livestock being exposed to uranium. As many as 100 uranium mines operated from the 1950s through the 1970s in the Edgemont area. Years after the mines closed, Fall River County livestock owners complained of animals sickened by runoff and contamination from those mines. None of the complaints was ever substantiated, he said.
"The anecdotal records never matched what was actually reported to us," Holland said.
No safe level
But for humans, there is no safe level of exposure to radiation, according to Diane D'Arrigo of the Nuclear Information and Resource Service, a private environmental organization in Washington, D.C.
Low levels of radiation damage tissues, cells and other vital functions, causing cell death, genetic mutations, cancers, leukemia, birth defects and reproductive, immune and endocrine system disorders, D'Arrigo said.
The endocrine system includes the thyroid and pituitary glands.
"Every amount of radiation increases all these health effects," D'Arrigo said.
The organization's Web site, www.nirs.org, says long-term exposure to low levels of radiation can be more dangerous than short exposures to high levels.
D'Arrigo said federal officials who write regulations are unduly influenced by the energy industry, which gives a skewed perspective of what is acceptable.
"The science at any level will tell you any exposure is an increased risk," D'Arrigo said.
Cindy Folkers, energy and radiation spokeswoman at Nuclear Information and Resource Service, said depleted uranium broken down into small particles can be suspended in the air and inhaled or ingested.
Once absorbed into the blood stream, the particles are deposited mostly into bone and kidneys. Most of what is deposited in the kidneys cycles out in urine, but it can remain in bone for years, Folkers said.
"It collects around the DNA molecules and muscles, and the body thinks it is potassium. This is a problem," Folkers said.
She said that although companies took the uranium ore, what was left behind is still toxic and includes thoriums and heavy metals such as mercury or lead.
"Meanwhile, people stuck in the community are dying," Folkers said.
But statistics from the South Dakota Cancer Registry don't back up D'Arrigo and Folkers' claims about cancer links to exposure to hazardous contaminants from the uranium mines in Harding County, state officials said.
Barb Buhler, information officer at the South Dakota Department of Health, said sparsely populated areas such as Harding County are simply too small for statistics to prove a cause.
"The numbers are just not there," Buhler said.
She checked into Harding County cancer rates listed in the South Dakota Cancer Registry. From 1996-2001, 21 cancer cases were reported in Harding County, an average of four per year.
But Buhler said the age- adjusted cancer rate in Harding County was much lower than state and national rates.
During 2001, South Dakota had 40 cases of thyroid cancers, the cancer most associated with uranium and fallout. The age-adjusted state rate was less than the national rate, Buhler said.
But people such as Randy Feist are convinced there is a link between the local cancer victims and the uranium mines.
Feist said most people in Harding County — and especially in his neighborhood — don't expect to live without their names going into the cancer registry at some point in their lives.
"When we die, we're going to die of cancer," he said.
Contact Jomay Steen at 394-8418 or jomay.steen@rapidcityjournal.com
http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2005/05/01/news/local/top/news01.txt
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