Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Interior Department Allows Death and Destruction Near Grand Canyon




B. Loomis (2013, April 1) Canyon Uranium Mine Draws Ire: Environmentalists, Tribe Sue After Feds Allow Company to Proceed Despite Ban on New Mining Near Grand Canyon. The Arizona Republic


[Excerpted] Energy Fuels Resources intends to reopen its [Grand] Canyon Mine despite a 20-year federal ban on new uranium mining, imposed early last year by the Interior Department, that covers 1 million acres near the Canyon. 


The company says the ban doesn’t apply because its rights are grandfathered, and the federal government agrees.


Environmentalists and the Havasupai Tribe counter that those rights were granted before science was able to show the full  potential impact of uranium mining, which opponents fear will poison water that feeds natural springs in the Canyon…

Majia here: ultimately the contamination will reach the Colorado River, poisoning it for all whom drink its waters, including yours truly. The article explains that there has been NO research examining whether the ‘breccia pipe’ type uranium formation will contaminate the underlying water aquifer during drilling.

Another tribe, the Navajo, are still living in Arizona with contamination and the subsequent diseases caused by uranium mining on their land.

Uranium Mines Dot Navajo Land, Neglected and Still Perilous By LESLIE MACMILLAN ublished: March 31, 2012  http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/01/us/uranium-mines-dot-navajo-land-neglected-and-still-perilous.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

[Excerpted] For years, unsuspecting Navajos inhaled radioactive dust and drank contaminated well water. Many of them became sick with cancer and other diseases.


The radioactivity at the former mine is said to measure one million counts per minute, translating to a human dose that scientists say can lead directly to malignant tumors and other serious health damage, according to Lee Greer, a biologist at La Sierra University in Riverside, Calif. Two days of exposure at the Cameron site would expose a person to more external radiation than the Nuclear Regulatory Commission considers safe for an entire year.


The E.P.A. filed a report on the rancher’s find early last year and pledged to continue its environmental review. But there are still no warning signs or fencing around the secluded and decaying site. Crushed beer cans and spent shell casings dot the ground, revealing that the old mine has become a sort of toxic playground.[end]

Majia here: Native people have their land stolen and poisoned. Enough is enough. The Colorado River water is the drinking source for millions of people. Enough is enough.

Nuclear energy is the energy of DESTRUCTION AND DEATH.
 

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