Will Cameco's Crown Butte uranium mine expansion go up in smoke?
A Nebraska uranium mine expansion is being challenged by Sioux activists, including hopeful commercial hemp farmers, who fear the mine may eventually harm water quality on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
Author: Dorothy Kosich
Posted: Monday , 21 Jan 2008
RENO, NV -
The proposed 2,100-acre expansion of Canadian uranium mega-miner Cameco's Crow Butte Resources uranium mine near Crawford, Nebraska, has raised the ire of members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, including proponents of a national movement to have the U.S. government legalize the cultivation of commercial hemp crops on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
A panel of three administrative law judges, representing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), have heard arguments concerning whether the petitioners have standing to contest the mine expansion plan and, later, regarding specific objections to the expansion. Among those opposed to the expansion are Tom Cook of Chadron, the Slim Buttes Agricultural Development Corp, the Western Nebraska Resources Council and the Lakota NGO Owe Aku.
Owe Aku--an NGO devoted to the preservation of the Lakota way on life on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation--fears that the expansion of Crown Butte in-situ leach mine will require too much water, and expressed concerns the mine may endanger water quality as far away as the Pine Ridge Reservation. Attorney Dave Frankel, who represents the opponents, said the people and groups opposing the expansion rely on underground water supplies.
Among those testifying against the project were Joe American Horse, a former president of the 0glala Sioux Tribe, and Oliver Red Cloud, a former chief of Oglala Lakota band. American Horse is the leader of a national movement to grow industrial hemp on the Pine Ridge Reservation, located near South Dakota's precious metals-rich Black Hills. Hemp cannot be legally grown commercially in the United States. Cook is also involved in the U.S. commercial hemp growing movement.
U.S. federal laws don't distinguish between hemp and its illegal cousin, marijuana. The Oglala Lakota, or Oglala Sioux, is a sovereign nation, whose tribal law views hemp as a legal crop. The Pine Ridge Reservation is one of the poorest Indian reservations in the country. Unlike previously planted crops, hemp grows well in the harsh climate and poor soil of the reservation. Members of the reservation have created bricks, stucco and shingles from hemp to build homes.
Several reservation families that have grown the plant want to use it to manufacture clothing and to press oil for cooking and lotion. Reservation-grown hemp has been used to manufacture paper, and has also been the subject of several documentaries including "Standing Silent Nation" on PBS.
Ironically, commercial hemp cultivation is legal in nearby Canada and also in China, India, and Europe.
Deborah White Plume, who represents Owe Aku in the seeking of legal status before the NRC, is, like Cook, a member of American Horse's family.
Tyson Smith, attorney for Crown Butte Resources, argues that the ISO 14001 environmentally certified mine is designed to prevent contamination, and that monitoring wells insure that any water flow diversions are detected and taken care of.
The mine has an annual production capacity of 1 million pounds of U3O8 and proven and probable reserves of 6.5 million pounds. During the third-quarter of last year, Crown Butte produced 173,000 pounds of U3O8
Presiding Administrative Law Judge Anne Marshall Young said that the panel would take the arguments under advisement and issue decisions later, according to the Rapid City Journal of South Dakota. Crown Butte Mine Manager Jim Stokey told the newspaper that additional hearings may take place if the panel decides the petitioners have legal standing.
RESERVATION FIGHT OVER URANIUM
Earlier this month, a group of seven individuals and organizations recently filed impeachment proceeding against Oglala Sioux Tribe President John Yellow Bird Steele, claiming he helped promote uranium exploration on the Pine Ridge Reservation. The tribal council exonerated Steele, who said he opposes any uranium mining or exploration activity.
The tribal council has also recently passed a resolution prohibiting any exploration or mining of uranium on the reservation.
The Oglala Band of the Black Hills Sioux Treaty Council has also opposed any mining or exploration within the homeland boundaries created by the 1851 and 1868 Fort Laramie treaties, including what are now the states of South Dakota, Wyoming and Montana. |
Thread abonnieren
