It All Depends On Who You Ask

Las Vegas Water Offical Warns Radioactive Levels Rising

Sunday’s news was a bit disconcerting, when I read a small story at Tri-State Online.  Pat Mulroy, head of the Southern Nevada Water Authority was quoted as saying measurable quantities of uranium are showing up in Colorado River water, something difficult and expensive to remove before passing it on to consumers in Las Vegas.

She blames upstream uranium mining, especially in the Moab, Utah area, so I decided to take a look and see what’s happening up there.

To the best of my knowledge, there are no operating uranium mines in or near Moab, UT, or anywhere in the state of Utah.  So, I felt Ms. Mulroy was referring to the uranium mill tailings just outside Moab, where they’ve been for decades after the failure of the Atlas Minerals Corporation mill.

Well, the 16 million tons of radioactive dirt is still there, but according to Moab Mayor David Sakrison, they are no danger to the community or the river.

In a phone interview, the mayor said the federal government has done an exemplary job of mitigating dust and water runoff that would contaminate the Colorado.  Sakrison did say, however, this has been the case for the past eight years, and before that, Colorado River water was indeed being polluted.

Had the tailings pile presented a health risk to his community, especially through it’s drinking water?  “No”, said the mayor, “our aquifer is on the other side of the Colorado and our water supply is not contaminated.”

It was in 2000 that then Energy Secretary Bill Richardson promised to relocate the tailings pile, and Congress had given the Department of Energy authority to begin cleanup.  President Bush, however, included NO money in his 2000 budget for the removal project.

Cleanup About To Begin at Moab

Donald Metzler, Federal Project Director for the Moab cleanup, told me everything is in place to begin transporting the contaminated soil to a storage area at Crescent Junction, Utah.  The site is about 30 miles north of Moab, and is in a formation called Mancos Shale bedrock, a hard, almost impenetrable formation that will isolate the site from any aquifer.  After all the tailings have been removed from the Moab site and placed in storage, it will be capped and should be safe for at least 1000 years.

I asked Mr. Metzler about the possibility that the tailings were still polluting the river, and he assured me there is absolutely no contamination.  He said tests from a few hundred feet south of the Ajax site showed no increase in radiation other than background, caused by nature.

Taking my query a bit further, some 500 miles, I spoke with Mitch Basefsky, PIO for the Tucson Water District, and he assured me they are monitoring the level of radiation in water coming into the area from the Colorado River via the Central Arizona Project.  Basefsky said they have not seen a change in water radioactivity over the years, but remain concerned that eventually, if nothing is done to stem the release of radioactive materials into the river, it will become a problem here.

So, Where’s The Radiation Coming From?

Southern Nevada’s Mulroy has supposedly written federal Interior Secretary Dick Kempthorne, asking him to “carefully evaluate” further uranium mining along the Colorado to determine the risk of further contamination of the river.

I’ve tried for days to get someone in her office to talk with me about her statement and what they’re finding in the water near Las Vegas, but no one has been forthcoming, and I can find nothing on the SNWA website concerning the issue.

There are no operating uranium mines in Utah, and according to Mayor Sakrison, most of the abandoned sites have been cleaned up, and clean water is leaving the Moab area.  What’s the problem?

Grand Canyon Exploration and Possible Uranium Mining

While writing this story, word came to me from the Sierra Club, stating the House Natural Resources Committee has ordered the Bush administration to immediately stop mining claims on public lands surrounding the Grand Canyon.  Good news, because of fears that pollution from uranium mines could threaten the drinking water for more than 25 million people living in the southwest, and just the idea that mining operations are going on within three miles of the canyon is unthinkable.

Until I hear something concrete from the folks in Nevada, there appears little or no danger at this time from uranium-polluted Colorado River water.

Stay tuned.

Links to Related Articles:

Uranium Mining Claims in Grand Canyon Area Ordered Withdrawn

Does Sen. John McCain Approve of Proposed Uranium Mines Near the Grand Canyon?

Federal Judge Blocks Uranium Mining Near Grand Canyon

Our Discussion Forum:
Nuclear Energy, Good or Bad?

Image Source: http://flickr.com/photos/53074617@N00/2242825510

]]> http://planetsave.com/blog/2008/06/25/is-colorado-river-becoming-radioactive-from-upstream-uranium-mines/feed/ http://planetsave.com/blog/2008/06/25/uranium-mining-claims-in-grand-canyon-area-ordered-withdrawn/ http://planetsave.com/blog/2008/06/25/uranium-mining-claims-in-grand-canyon-area-ordered-withdrawn/#comments Wed, 25 Jun 2008 20:52:47 +0000 Max Lindberg http://planetsave.com/?p=2624 For the 5th time in history, the House Natural Resources committee invoked its authority and ordered the Bush administration to stop mining claims in the Grand Canyon.  The measure was urged by Arizona Congressman Raul Grijalva of Tucson, chair of the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forest and Public Lands.

The withdrawal halts thousands of mining claims in national forest areas surrounding the Grand Canyon amid fears that resumption of uranium mining presents a danger to drinking water for some 25 million people in the southwest.

Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano had requested that Interior Secretary Kempthorne withdraw the Grand Canyon area from mining.  The request was denied on the grounds that Congress must make the request.

The four previous emergency withdrawal authority requests were authored by Rep. Morris Udall, who was Chairman of the House Interior Committee.

Will the Bush administration abide by this authority, or is Bush still “the decider”?

Source:  Press Release from The Sierra Club

Image Credit:  www.inetours.com/…/ Tours/Grand_Canyon_7739.jpg

An Open Letter to Senator John McCain, Presumptive Republican Presidential Candidate

This hit me the other day; how does the Republican Presidential Candidate-in-Waiting view the possible mining of uranium just 3 miles from the Grand Canyon?

Senator John McCain (R-AZ) knows the canyon well, he’s reportedly hiked it a number of times, knows where the only uranium mine that operated there is located, yet has said nothing about the 1000 or more permits being sought to explore for uranium near the park.  I’ve searched his Senate website, news reports on the issue and his name is nowhere to be seen.  Why is that?

It’s even more puzzling, since he called for 45 new nuclear reactors in America within the next two decades.  Where will they get the fuel needed to operate those plants, from mines bordering the Grand Canyon and other sites in national forest areas?

And does he feel it’s safe to mine so close to the Colorado River?

What about the radioactive waste they will leave behind?

This is your state Senator McCain, the one you have represented well during your terms in office, are you going to abandon America’s crown jewel for some special interests?

Open letter to Senator John McCain.

• Do you approve of uranium mining in the Grand Canyon area, and in five western states where an estimated 43,000 new claims have been filed ?  Some of those areas are near Arches National Park, Capitol Reef National Park and Canyonlands National Park in Utah.  And what about the Dolores River Canyon in Colorado?
• Do you support revising the 1872 General Mining Law that allows companies to exploit minerals from public lands without paying a cent for the privilege, and then leaving their messes for the taxpayer to clean up?
• Arizona Congressman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), has introduced a “Resolution of the Committee on Natural Resources, United States House of Representatives“, calling for the Secretary of the Interior “to immediately withdraw 1 million acres of federal land surrounding Grand Canyon National Park from further claims under the 1872 General Mining Law.”
• The authority is derived from Section 204(e), (PDF page 9) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act which allows such action in what is termed “an extreme emergency“.  The procedure, according to Congressman Grijalva’s news release, was last invoked by the late Arizona Congressman Morris K Udall.
• Will you support this action, and immediately contact the Secretary of the Interior in support of this resolution?
• Do you believe that the in-situ leaching process is without danger to the environment?
• Do you believe that if mining is allowed, that the Colorado River and smaller tributaries will be safe from radiation contamination?  As you well know, the Colorado River supplies water to two major cities in Arizona, Phoenix and Tucson, not to mention Las Vegas, NV, and Southern California.
• Are you willing to take that risk?
• Are you in favor of licensing and completion of the nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada?

In all due respect, Senator, some of these questions require a “yes” or “no” answer.  I do hope you will give me, a registered voter and one of your constituents, and everyone concerned with this issue, the appropriate response.

You should also know, I’m sending a copy of this article to Sen. Barack Obama, asking him to respond to the same questions, and to Congressman Raul Grijalva, the Representative in my district, to show my support for sanity as it applies to nuclear concerns not only in Arizona, but America as well.

Thank you, Mr. McCain for your attention.  I know you’re busy, but I would like to hear from you personally instead of a “spokesperson”, after all, this is a very important issue.

I shall post your response, and that of Sen. Obama and Congressman Grijalva.

Respectfully,

Max Lindberg

Tucson, AZ

Image Credit: www.inetours.com/…/ Tours/Grand_Canyon_7739.jpg

BLM FAQ on filing claims.http://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/BLM_Programs/minerals/mining_faqs.html

Reference Files:

Uranium Claims Spring Up Along Grand Canyon Rim

House Waves Bye-Bye to 1872 Mining Law

McCain Wants 45 New Nuclear Reactors and Clean Coal

As I stated in an earlier article, the Navajo Nation is challenging the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in a Federal appeals court, over proposed in situ leach uranium mining on tribal lands. It’s the first time in history that the NRC will be challenged in court for its approval of a source materials license for an in situ leach uranium mine.

The Navajo communities of Crownpoint and Church Rock are represented by the New Mexico Environmental Law Center (NMELC), Eastern Navajo Dine against Uranium Mining (ENDAUM) and Southwest Research and Information Center (SRIC). They are demanding that a New Mexico mining company, Hydro Resources, Inc., stay off tribal lands.

Eric Jantz, a lawyer with the NMELC, spent some time with me, explaining the lawsuit and that organization’s role in other uranium related issues. I asked him for a briefing on the litigation.

Image: World Nuclear Association

I spoke with Kenneth Bossong, co-director of UAEA, about the anniversary, and asked him to tell us more about his organization.

National Geographic Photo

Yes, this is a reader poll, and it is not a statistical representation of the public attitude of any country in particular. But it is striking that the 133 readers who did vote, were all doing so from a blog network called Green Options. Get it? Simply put, the public attitude towards nuclear power has undergone a seismic shift in recent years. This evidence indicates that this is not the same environmental movement that emerged in the early 1970’s.

But as consumed as I am with energy issues and the politics that surround them, I remain somewhat agnostic about nuclear power. Why is that? There’s no simple answer. Part of it is not wanting to reconcile the tensions between nuclear power as a low-carbon alternative with the ecological dangers of mining uranium and the big issue of transporting and storing nuclear waste. [If you want to know more about the specific dangers and problems facing nuclear power, Judith Lewis has written an excellent article in the most recent issue of Mother Jones addressing these issues in great depth.]

I would also argue that the reason I (and many other greens my age) are not particularly averse to nuclear power is because the pressing environmental issues that were building blocks to my own environmentalism were generally not related to nukes. I vaguely remember the partial meltdown at Three Mile Island. And I was in high school when the more serious accident at Chernobyl happened. But that’s it. There has not been a new nuclear power plant built in this country in 30 years, and for that reason nukes have faded away as one of the critical rallying issues of the modern environmental movement.

With that said, I recognize that nuclear power must be part of “the discussion.” I just want to be sure that the discussion happens, and that it is thorough, and geographically specific. In other words, nuclear power will not be the answer everywhere. One of my biggest concerns is the issue of water. And I will leave you with the words of Judith Lewis, who also holds that concern. She wrote in Mother Jones,

“Light water” reactors, used at the majority of the world’s nuclear plants, use water both to moderate the chain reaction and produce steam to spin turbines—2 billion gallons per day on average. Most of it returns to the adjoining river, lake, or ocean up to 25 degrees warmer, an ecological impact that could significantly interfere with nuclear power’s chances as a climate-change solution. Already, wherever a light-water reactor sits near a sensitive body of water, its intake pipes kill fish and its outflow distorts ecosystems to favor warm-water species.”

In a news release, the Congressman was quoted as saying:

“I was pleased to introduce this legislation which will forever protect the magnificence of the Grand Canyon and the people who live near and in the Canyon from damaging uranium mining,” said Rep. Grijalva. “The federal government and mining companies still have not adequately dealt with the clean up of old uranium mine sites on the Navajo Nation and other areas that are causing ongoing health problems. Until these issues are resolved, we should not move forward with new mines, especially next to the crown jewel of our National Park System.”

The legislation came on the heels of a news story regarding exploratory drilling for uranium within a few miles of the Grand Canyon’s South Rim, a popular tourist destination.

Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano has requested the Bush administration to use it’s executive powers to withdraw areas in the vicinity of the Grand Canyon from mining.

The bill calls for protection of 628,000 acres in the Kanab Creek area, 112,655 in House Rock Valley and 327,886 acres in the Tusayan Ranger District of the Kaibab National forest south of the canyon.

A Congressional field hearing will be held on March 28th in the Flagstaff, AZ City Hall. Local elected officials, Tribal representatives, Grand Canyon area business and environmental representatives and uranium experts are expected to attend the hearing.

The legislation, The Grand Canyon Watersheds Protection Act of 2008 (H.R. 5583) has been referred to the Committee on Natural Resources. Congressman Grijalva serves on that committee.

What an outrage! But, before going on, I must say it isn’t the first time they’ve mined uranium in the Kaibab National Forest, near the Grand Canyon. That stopped when the price of uranium plummeted more than two decades ago.

Now, with the resurgence of interest in building new reactors across the country, the miners and prospectors are out again. Which I find rather interesting since the United States and Russia just signed an agreement allowing Russia to sell uranium to the United States. I gotta think about that one.

But, as we speak, according to the New York Times, more than 1,000 mining claims have been staked in the Kaibab forest, many as close as three miles from a popular lookout at the canyon.

The Forest Service has dominion over the forest, and it’s reported they approved the claims after limited public notice to local officials, environmental groups and tribal governments. Then, to add insult to injury, there was no public hearing on the matter. How arrogant can one get? Then I remember, this is still the Bush administration.

In allowing companies to drill exploratory wells, the Forest Service did not require an environmental assessment, saying the drilling will take less than a year and, may not lead to mining.

The Coconino County, AZ Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to block new uranium mines, asking the federal government to, “withdraw large sections of land immediately north and south of the national park from mineral leasing.” Residents are well aware of the dangers involved, citing cancers suffered by former uranium workers and their families. Trucks and trains laden with uranium pose a risk to the environment, they say, and mining could contaminate the aquifers and streams in northern Arizona.

The Kaibab National Forest spokeswoman on this issue, Barbary McCurry, said her agency “had little choice but to allow the drilling under the 1872 mining law that governs hard-rock mining claims. The exploratory drilling is pretty minimal,” she said, adding, “Our obligation is issuing a report on the claims and their possible effects.”

McMurray also pointed out that if prospectors found uranium and sought a permit to mine, then the government would begin a full environmental analysis and environmental impact statement.

What do you think? I’m mad as hell about this. First of all, there’s a 136-year-old mining law that’s in serious need of rewriting, and just the thought of uranium mines operating within three miles of one of our national treasures is incomprehensible.

Consider this scenario: You’ve had a great vacation at the canyon, the family is in the SUV and you’re headed south on that two-lane highway that seems to go forever. Suddenly, you come upon a slow-moving truck loaded with newly-mined soil containing uranium. You have the windows down, it’s a beautiful day, but some dust is blowing off the truck, radioactive dust, and you can’t pass because of oncoming traffic. Roll up the windows, don’t take a deep breath, turn on the AC and try to get around that truck as soon as possible. And you may find more of the same as you travel south to Williams, AZ where you can get on I-40, where you may find more uranium-laden trucks. Some vacation…

I’m not saying this is going to happen tomorrow or anytime soon (hopefully never), but mining of uranium should never be allowed in the Grand Canyon area. Never.

Here we are, in an election year with a lame-duck president apparently doing all he can to add more insult to the world in which we live, and I doubt any rewriting of the 1872 mining law will take place for some time to come, if ever.

What can we do? I’ve got this lump in the pit of my stomach as I write, and I feel very sad.

Marilyn was chief editor when she wrote the stories, Power Hungry, Gathering Clouds and Frontier Justice-in a Good Way. Wanting to know more, I picked up the phone and was honored with a few moments of her time.

She is a native Arizonan, her father ran the company that operates the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station west of Phoenix, AZ. It wasn’t until she left home that she decided to have a look at the facility her father managed.

I asked Marilyn how she felt after the visit…

Marilyn has since left the Sierra Club staff and ventured out on her own as a free-lance journalist. She has written for several important publications including the New York Times, Mother Jones, Harper’s, and the Los Angeles Times to name a few.

The Los Angeles Times article she referred to in the interview was actually a four-part series written by Judy Pasternak. This link will take you to that page. If you’d rather read them singley at your leisure, here are the links:

They Took Shelter Amid the Poison.

Oases in Navajo Desert Contained ‘A Witches Brew’.

Navajo’s Desert Cleanup no More Than a Mirage.

Mining Firms Again Eyeing Navajo Land.

Also for your information, I found an excellent website devoted to uranium Decommissioning Projects in the United States. There is a wealth of information for those who are interested in the subject.

Finally, Marilyn referred us to projects underway at the Southwest Research and Information Center.