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Organizations from Colorado, Nebraska, and South Dakota that are working against proposed uranium mines held a press conference on Saturday, June 21, 2008. Representatives from North Dakota and Wyoming joined in the press statement, which was issued from Mustang Hollow Ranch in rural Nunn in Weld County, CO. Mustang Hollow Ranch is a small business located immediately adjacent to an area where uranium exploration drilling is occurring as part of a proposed in situ leach uranium mine.
At least six companies are looking at uranium mining in northern Weld County, where exploration drilling began last year. Most proposals are expected to involve in situ mining, and an open pit mine is proposed seven miles from the City of Fort Collins. Exploratory drilling is also occurring in southwestern South Dakota on the edge of the Black Hills in an area where 4,000 wells are already located. Land has been leased in South Park, a high mountain valley in Colorado that is the source for the City of Denver’s drinking water, in far northeast Wyoming, and in western North Dakota. In Fremont County, exploration is proposed in an area that includes 14 subdivisions . In situ leach mining is occurring near Douglas, WY, where the two major mines in the state were cited recently for multiple violations involving water pollution, lack of mine restoration, and a variety of other problems. In situ mining is also occurring in northwest Nebraska at the Crow Butte project. “We all have common concerns about our water, our local economies, our health, and our ways of life,” said Robin Davis, who owns Mustang Hollow Ranch with her husband, Jay. “Wherever people are from, we have the same message – uranium mining is unclean, unsafe, and unwanted.” Charmaine White Face, Director of Defenders of the Black Hills, issued a statement saying, “Defenders of the Black Hills are encouraged by the work of Coloradoans Against Resource Destruction. In South Dakota, our aquifers are already cross-contaminated from thousands of uranium exploratory wells, and rivers and streams are radioactively polluted with the runoff from more than 100 abandoned open-pit uranium mines. It will take hundreds of thousands of years for these to be returned to normal.” Representatives of ACTion for the Environment (S.D.), Coloradoans Against Resource Destruction (CO.), Save Our South Park Water (CO.), powertechexposedcom (CO.), Tallahassee Area Community (CO.), and Western Nebraska Resources Council (NE.) are attending the event. Defenders of the Black Hills S.D.), Powder River Basin Resource Council (WY.), Owe Aku/Bring Back The Way (S.D.), and Dakota Resource Council (N.D.) are also involved in the regional partnership. “The issues are the same across our region,” observed Cindy Klein of Dakota Resource Council, who is working with other organizations represented at the regional meeting. “We’re getting slammed by this new uranium boom. In North Dakota, we’re working on new rules to govern in situ leach mining. So are people in Colorado and South Dakota. It’s important that we share expertise and work together.” The participating groups issued a common statement: “We want the uranium industry to know that we stand together on this issue. Whether in a rural setting or a populated area, uranium mining causes radioactive contamination. Past uranium sites continue to contaminate the air, land, and water. Any bonds designed to pay for clean up of former mining areas have not been sufficient, and taxpayers have been forced to pay the bill. These problems continue at modern uranium mines. We call on the public and all elected officials to do everything possible to protect water, land, health, and local economies from proposed uranium activities.” For more information: |
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