Posts belonging to Category Uranium Mining

As the Jackpile generation of miners passes, it is easy to forget the health dangers and corporate politics of energy production in this country. If you want to become informed about all aspects of uranium mining, nuclear power/war and its legacy then come watch some of these great films featuring New Mexican activists, scientists, and community members. Members from the Southwest Research Information Center (SRIC), Multicultural Alliance for a Safe Environment (MASE), and a few of our film’s producers and directors will participate in panel discussions after the screenings.

Photo by the Department of the Interior

The Interior Department has extended a ban for six months on new mining claims on more than 1 million acres near the Grand Canyon, outlined in red on this map. Interior is eyeing a 20-year ban on those lands, in addition to cross-hatched areas where mining is already banned.

By Matthew Trotter, Cronkite News

Link to original story

July 12, 2011

WASHINGTON – A proposal to reverse a federal ban on new mining claims near the Grand Canyon survived a committee vote Tuesday and could go to the full House as early as next week.

Opponents were unable to strip the language from the Interior-Environment appropriations bill, but not before contentious debate among House Appropriations Committee members about the true impacts of uranium mining near the Grand Canyon.

“Let’s not screw up the Grand Canyon,” said Rep. Ed Pastor, D-Phoenix, who asked what would happen to the environment and to the steady flow of tourism dollars if land around the Grand Canyon were industrialized.

But Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Mesa, who last week added the language to reverse the federal ban, defended his rider, saying Congress should be making such decisions and not the Secretary of Interior.

“The gulf between rhetoric and reality on this is as wide as the Grand Canyon,” Flake said, adding that in more than two years of study, the Interior Department has not been able to come up with a reason to stop uranium mining in the area.

Flake’s rider was a response to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, who last month announced an emergency six-month ban on new mining claims on more than 1 million acres near the Grand Canyon. He was extending a two-year ban that would have expired this month, saying the extra time is needed for Interior to finish analyzing potential impacts of uranium mining in the area.

Salazar said at the time that his preferred action once the analysis is complete is a 20-year moratorium.

Rep. James Moran, D-Va., urged the committee Tuesday to strike Flake’s rider, saying uranium mining would poison the Colorado River water that millions of Americans rely on and blight the canyon’s scenic landscape.

Others argued — for and against the rider — by citing concerns over the level of foreign influence on American uranium mining.

Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., said it is mostly foreign companies competing for uranium mining rights in the U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, R-Mo., echoed his concern and offered a cautionary tale from her home state: Only one beryllium mine in Missouri is under an American company’s control, she said.

Several committee Republicans expressed concern about the amount of uranium the U.S. buys from foreign sources, claiming the nation imports about 90 percent of its uranium, mostly from Russia. Opening land near the Grand Canyon to mining was necessary for America’s economy and security, they argued.

But Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., countered that there is a reason the U.S. buys so much Russian uranium. “We buy Russian uranium because it keeps it out of the hands of Iran,” Jackson said.

“We buy Russian uranium because it keeps it out of the hands of North Korea.”

He said Flake has a “particular interest” in mining going forward.

“This is a Flake earmark for the mining industry,” Jackson said, drawing a smirk from Flake, who built a reputation for battling earmarks. “And for companies we can’t even name.”

Moran had the last word before the vote on his amendment.

“It (the rider) should be struck, we should protect the Grand Canyon, we should leave these decisions to the Secretary of the Interior,” he said.

The amendment failed on a 23-26 vote that split mostly on party lines. Three Republicans voted for the amendment: C.W. Bill Young of Florida, Frank Wolf of Virginia and Steven LaTourette of Ohio.

Flake called Moran’s amendment an attempt to “go around the deliberative process” in deciding whether to allow new mining claims on more than 1 million acres around the Grand Canyon that contain significant uranium deposits.

Until the funding bill wins final approval from the House and Senate, the ban imposed by Salazar remains in effect.

A committee staffer said the bill could reach the full House for consideration by next week or it could be delayed until after the House takes its August recess, depending on other business.

Gallup and Church Rock, N.M. —The public is invited to two important events Saturday, July 16 to learn more about New Mexico’s unique position in the nuclear fuel cycle and acknowledge some of the painful history.  July 16 is significant for many reasons including the fact that the nuclear age was ushered in with the world’s first atomic detonation at Trinity Site on July 16, 1945.

The first event, the “Uranium Legacy Remembrance Day” takes place outside of Church Rock at the largest radioactive spill site in U.S. history. “Making Waves,” the second event, will be held in the Calvin Hall on the Gallup campus of the University of New Mexico.

“In response to many things including the Las Conchas fire burning on and around the Los Alamos National Laboratory now, the 66th anniversary of the Trinity Site, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in March and the 32nd anniversary of the Church Rock disaster (which also occurred on July 16), our community is organizing these two important events,” says Nadine Padilla, Multicultural Alliance for a Safe Environment (MASE). “The dangers of all things nuclear are forefront on minds worldwide. I’d like to thank Leona Morgan, Mike Butler, Teddy Nez, Robert Tohe and everyone involved for organizing these events. I hope the public can join us to learn more about these critical issues and help us find ways to protect our land and people from toxic uranium mining.”

URANIUM REMEMBRANCE DAY
Thirty two years ago onJuly 16, 1979 United Nuclear Corporation’s dam broke,in what is now known as the Church Rock disaster. More than 93 million gallons of liquid toxic waste were released into the Puerco River in Church Rock, N .M. Thousands of residents live with the lasting effects from this radioactive spill to this day. Teddy Nez and the Red Water Pond RoadAssociation have been working on remediation and healing from this catastrophe since that time.

In light of the renewed interest of uranium mining, the fires around Los Alamos and the recent disaster in Japan, the organizers felt it is especially important to host the event this year. The health effects of past mining and the Church Rock disaster will be remembered for many generations and is something the community is dealing with to this day. There has been no uranium waste clean-up in the past 40 years which impacts all of the areas around the spill including the Coyote Canyon, Standing Rock, Nahodishgish, Pinedale and Church Rock Chapters of the Navajo Nation.

Uranium Remembrance Day will start at 7 a.m. with a prayer at Teddy Nez’s home on Red Water Pond Road. People will then march to the site of the spill. Numerous elected officials and community leaders including Senator Lovejoy, Representative Ben Ray Luján and Clancy Tenley from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will be speaking about the health and environmental effects of the uranium. The first commemorative march took place in 2009 on the 30th Anniversary of the spill. That event ended with a proclamation signing by the President of the Navajo Nation Joe Shirley reinstating the 2005 Diné Natural Resources Protection Act which bans uranium processing on the Navajo Nation.

MAKING WAVES
“Making Waves,” takes place Saturday, July 16, 5-7 p.m. at Calvin Hall on the UNM Gallup campus and will address t he full nuclear fuel cycle and the resulting radioactive contamination. The event is hosted by community leaders and residents from New Mexico and Arizona living near nuclear activities.

“We are organizing this event to educate the public about the dangers of uranium mining and nuclear industry in the Southwest,” says Leona Morgan, co-organizer of the event and the Eastern Navajo Diné Against Uranium Mining Coordinator. “New Mexico holds an important and unique place in the nuclear fuel cycle. Unfortunately the nuclear industry has wreaked havoc on Southwestern communities; from weapons development and storage to uranium mining, milling,enrichment and disposal for more than 60 years. There are hundreds of families in New Mexico who have suffered health and environmental effects from the nuclear cycle and nuclear proliferation.”

New Mexico is home to Los Alamos National Labs, Sandia National Labs, Uranium Enrichment Plant (URENCO), Kirtland Air Force Base (AFB), Holloman AFB, Cannon AFB, the Trinity Site, and the Waste Isolation Pilot Project. In addition, there are numerous active and abandoned uranium mines and mills in all Four Corners states; New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Utah.

“Making Waves” will include screenings of short films and a panel discussion. Panelists include Robert Tohe from the Sierra Club’s Environmental Justice (EJ) office and Laura Watchempino from the Pueblo of Acoma. Tohe’s department works with tribes and community groups to protect their resources from contamination. Watchempino has worked for her tribe protecting and managing tribal water resources. She served as attorney for Indian Pueblo Legal Services in New Mexico in the 1980s and is currently working on the designation of nuclear free zones to combat the proliferation of the nuclear fuel cycle, from uranium mining and processing to the long-term disposal of the toxic radioactive wastes generated. Watchempino states that every part of the cycle poses dangers to the surrounding water, air, soil, human health and other life forms.

Organizers of these events are currently addressing requests for permits for uranium mining in and around the Grants mineral belt and stand united that they should not be granted in the aftermath of the health and environmental devastation in New Mexico. These groups are committed to see the United States transition from dirty and unsafe energy sources into renewable energy and embrace a clean and safe future.

These events are organized by members of the Multicultural Alliance for a Safe Environment. www.masecoalition.org

WHAT: Uranium Remembrance Day
WHERE: 29E Red Water Pond Road, (.5 miles west off end of. Rt. 566, 11.5 miles north of Church Rock)
WHEN: 7 a.m. Prayer; 8-10 a.m. March to site; 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Program
INFO: Teddy Nez, 505-879-2910, tntnez@yahoo.com

WHAT: Making Waves
WHERE: Calvin Hall, University of New Mexico – Gallup 705 Gurley Ave. Gallup, NM 87301
WHEN: Saturday, July 16, 2011, 5-7 p.m.
INFO: Leona Morgan, 505-879-8547, leona.morgan@yahoo.com

INTERVIEWS AND IMAGES ARE AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST

CONTACT:
Jennifer Marshall, 505-231-1776
jennifer@jmarshallplan.com
www.jmarshallplan.com

You’re invited to learn more about the current uranium projects going on in the Four Corners area and to discover what you can do to protect our land, our water, our air, and our people.

The Making Waves event will feature two short films on environmental justice struggles in Japan and the Southwest, followed by a panel discussion with speakers from areas affected by the nuclear fuel chain.

see attached flier for more information

When: Saturday, July 16th
Where: Red Water Pond Road Community
0.5 miles West of the end of State Road 566, 11.5 miles North of rock
What: March from Red Water Pond Road to the site of the 1979 Uranium Tailings Spill 7-10 AM
Statements from elected officials and community groups and luncheon 10 AM
Screenings of short environmental justice films, followed by panel discussion Calvin Hall, UNM Gallup 5-7 PM

MAKING_WAVES_July16

After a dark legacy of radioactive contamination, plans to re-open uranium mines near sacred Native American lands raise fears for the environment and human health.