nuclear-news

Cape Cod’s tourism and water endangered by uranium industry

the same kind of issue has arisen again out in Colorado, concerned not with nuclear waste disposal and reprocessing as with the aborted “Atomic Park,” but with uranium mining and processing…..Even if no leak ever occurred, however, the presence of a large scale uranium industry in the area would kill the booming tourist industry -a real concern for the Cape fifty years ago as well…..

Nuclear Idiocy Redux -From Cape Cod To Telluride, Cape Cod Today,  5 Jan 2011, “………Proponents of the Atomic Park scheme, including the Buzzards Bay and Barnstable Chambers of Commerce, said it would be a huge boon for the Cape. In actuality, the idea was conceived as a huge boondoggle for the nuclear industry, a way to save billions in the proper handling and disposal of nuclear waste that would jeopardize the health and safety of all Cape Cod residents.

Fortunately, we had a cadre of real scientists centered in Woods Hole, people who were knowledgeable about both radiation and aquifers, and they knew even more knowledgeable nuclear scientists from major universities and research centers. Dr. Albert Szent-Gyorgi, Nobel prize winner in medicine, was one of the first and most outspoken opponents of the proposed “Atomic Park.”

There was enough opposition to this crackpot scheme here in Falmouth, including the Falmouth Chamber of Commerce as well as the Falmouth Enterprize, that our sole Republican state rep, Allan Jones, along with state senator Edward Stone -both staunch Republicans from the old school, decided it would be prudent to hold public hearings here on the Cape before presenting a bill on Beacon Hill for leasing part of Camp Edwards to the nuclear industry.

As a result of the local hearings, no bill was presented to lease Camp Edwards to the glow-boys in the nucular waste biz, and the whole idea gradually fizzled out -but not before the Chamber types in Buzzards Bay and Barnstable got in their hackneyed licks about all us “Communists” here in Falmouth.

Now, however, the same kind of issue has arisen again out in Colorado, concerned not with nuclear waste disposal and reprocessing as with the aborted “Atomic Park,” but with uranium mining and processing. Land speculators and the Canadian Energy Fuels corporation are seeking to cash in on the energy crisis by proposing that the Pinon Ridge mill in Montrose County be reactivated, promising jobs, prosperity and all the usual blah, blah, blah.

Significant opposition there is coming from the tourist industry based in Telluride and San Miguel County, as opposed to an established scientific community as in Woods Hole fifty years ago, but there is one overridingly important issue in common -the aquifer.  Here, we have a sole source aquifer which, once contaminated by radioactive leakage, would shut down the Cape for good.  In Colorado, though, they have an actual history of increased cancer rates from both air and water contamination dating back to when Pinon Ridge and other mining and milling facilities were operational through the early 1980s.

The developers and speculators, naturally, downplay those risks while overstating the economic benefits of their proposal.  Even if no leak ever occurred, however, the presence of a large scale uranium industry in the area would kill the booming tourist industry -a real concern for the Cape fifty years ago as well…..

Nuclear Idiocy Redux -From Cape Cod To Telluride

January 6, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, USA