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Earth Justice and native peoples fight to save Grand Canyon from uranium mining

Uranium Industry Attack on Grand Canyon, Earth Justice 17 MARCH 2012,  Yet another toxic mining threat  “……..The new foes of protecting the Grand Canyon region look a lot like Mr. Cameron.  They are uranium miners who’ve staked thousands of claims ringing the national park.

Uranium mining has left a toxic legacy  in the area, polluting water that run through the Park, which has prompted the Park Service to warn hikers not to drink the water of certain streams, iincluding Horn Creek . (New mines are supposed to be better and cleaner. But the water pollution threatened by the “modern” flooded mines shows otherwise.)

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar stood up for protecting the lands around the national park, putting a million acres  off limits to new mining claims.

The uranium industry, like Mr. Cameron, doesn’t like protecting the Grand Canyon . And like Mr. Cameron, they are attacking not only the Grand Canyon protection measures, but also the Interior Secretary’s authority to protect lands. (Industry claims the Interior Department can’t protect more than 5,000 acres at a time from uranium mining claims.)

This time, Earthjustice and our clients – the Havasupai Tribe , Grand Canyon Trust , Center for Biological Diversity , Sierra Club , and National Parks Conservation Association  – will be fighting to protect the Grand Canyon.  (We filed legal papers to formally intervene in the first of three industry suits last week.)

If history is going to repeat itself, with miners hoping to degrade wildlife habitat, waters and one of America’s natural wonders for profit, we’ll work to ensure the courts again recognize the Canyon’s majesty and again reject the miner’s attacks.  http://earthjustice.org/blog/2012-march/uranium-industry-attack-on-grand-canyon

March 19, 2012 Posted by | Legal, Uranium, USA | Leave a comment

Radioactive isotopes in ocean plankton, from Fukushiam

 follow-up studies will be necessary because the radioactive cesium is likely to have accumulated in fish that eat plankton, the team said

In the latest survey, the team also found cesium-134 — which has a two-year half-life — in plankton at the same levels as cesium-137, whose half-life is three decades.

Cesium found in plankton almost 375 miles from Fukushima nuclear plant, Boston Herald, By The Yomiuri Shimbun http://news.bostonherald.com/news/international/asia_pacific/view/20120318cesium found_in_plankton_almost_375_miles_from_fukushima_nuclear_plant/srvc=home&position=recent,March 18, 2012 – TOKYO — Radioactive cesium believed to have been released during the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in Japan following last year’s major earthquake has been found in plankton about 600 kilometers (nearly 375 miles) east of the facility, according to a Japan-U.S. joint research team. Continue reading →

March 19, 2012 Posted by | Japan, oceans | Leave a comment

Taxpayer cleaning up many millions of tons of uranium wastes,since company went bankrupt

Five Million Tons Of Uranium Tailing Disposed, The U.S. Department Of Energy Says They Are A Third Of The Way Done With Their Entire Project To Move All Of The Tailings To Crested Junction KJCT8.com Janelle Ericsson  MOAB, UT. — Five million tons of uranium tailings has been removed from an old waste site near the river in Moab. The U.S. Department of Energy says they are a third of the way done with their entire project to move all of the tailings to Crested Junction.
Once they reach their destination they will be put in an engineered cell that will prevent contamination to ground water for a thousand years…

. The UMTRA project was originally started in 2001 when the a corporation went bankrupt. Through legislative actions, the project was given to the Department of Energy to take responsibility of the clean up.

March 19, 2012 Posted by | Uranium, USA, wastes | Leave a comment

Israel agrees that Iran has not decided to develop nuclear bomb

[includes video]  Israel: Iran Nuclear Bomb Construction Not Yet Decided On, Huffington Post,18 Mar 12,   JERUSALEM (AP) — Despite saber-rattling from Jerusalem, Israeli officials now agree with the U.S. assessment that Tehran has not yet decided on the actual
construction of a nuclear bomb, according to senior Israeli government and defense figures. Continue reading →

March 19, 2012 Posted by | Iran, Israel, politics international | Leave a comment

3 categories of compensation payments for Japan’s nuclear evacuees

Japanese government panel urges compensation for nuclear evacuees (includes video) http://news.bostonherald.com/news/international/asia_pacific/view/20120318japanese_government_panel_urges_compensation_for_nuclear_evacuees/srvc=home&position=recent By The Yomiuri Shimbun , March 18, 2012   TOKYO – Residents who will be unable to return to areas around the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant for at least five years should be paid 6 million yen (US$71,813) each as compensation for their mental suffering, a Japanese government panel has decided. Continue reading →

March 19, 2012 Posted by | Japan, politics | Leave a comment