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Cree Nation stand against uranium mining in Quebec

many concerned groups and individuals are now joining the Crees in urging the Quebec government to conduct an independent and comprehensive assessment of the long-term environmental, social and ethical challenges presented by the uranium industry

When the mining is done and the profits have been taken, these tailings will be left behind in my people’s backyard, where we have lived for thousands of years, and where we hunt, fish and trap, raise our children and bury our dead.

It is indisputable that these uranium tailings will remain radioactive and highly toxic for hundreds of thousands of years.

The Cree Nation will not be intimidated or silenced

 Quebec should support Cree moratorium on uranium mining http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Opinion+Quebec+should+support+Cree+moratorium+uranium+mining/7695600/story.html By Matthew Coon Come, Montreal Gazette December 13, 2012 This summer, my people, the James Bay Cree Nation, enacted a permanent moratorium on uranium exploration, mining, milling and waste emplacement in our territory on the east shore of James Bay, Eeyou Istchee. I was

mandated to take all necessary steps to ensure full recognition of our stand.

As part of this mandate, I’d like to speak to recent public
discussions about the proposed Matoush project in Eeyou Istchee, by
operator Strateco Resources. The project would open the door to
Strateco doing advanced exploration and then, if the results are
deemed positive, opening up Quebec’s first uranium mine and mill
there.

Despite Cree opposition, federal regulators, including the Canadian
Nuclear Safety Commission, have authorized the Matoush project.
However, before this project can proceed, provincial authorization is
also required. Last week, questions were raised in the National
Assembly about why the Quebec government has not yet made a decision.
But many concerned groups and individuals are now joining the Crees in urging the Quebec government to conduct an independent and comprehensive assessment of the long-term environmental, social and ethical challenges presented by the uranium industry.
In response to this growing debate in Quebec, Dr. Michael Binder,
president of the CNSC, recently released an “open letter,” expressing
“dismay” that “recent statements and discussions over the safety of
uranium mining have been based neither on fact nor science,” and
declaring that “activists, medical practitioners and politicians who
have demanded moratoriums may have various reasons for doing so, but
their claims that the public and environment are at risk are
fundamentally wrong.”

For the record and Dr. Binder’s information, the science and facts
underpinning my people’s position are readily and simply stated.

Uranium mining necessarily produces vast amounts of waste. In Eeyou
Istchee, the uranium oxide of commercial interest would constitute
under 1 per cent of the mineralized ore — so more than 99 tonnes of
finely milled waste would be produced for every tonne of marketable
product. These tailings contain over four-fifths of the radioactivity
of the original ore.

When the mining is done and the profits have been taken, these tailings will be left behind in my people’s backyard, where we have lived for thousands of years, and where we hunt, fish and trap, raise our children and bury our dead.

It is indisputable that these uranium tailings will remain radioactive and highly toxic for hundreds of thousands of years. As for the
lessons of recent history, the record of tailings management and
regulatory oversight throughout Canada’s 80-year history of uranium
mining is from reassuring.
n the Sahtu Dene territory, radium and uranium mining began in the
1930s. Hundreds of thousands of tons of tailings were simply dumped in
Great Bear Lake. When mining ceased in 1982, the tailings were left in
the lake and all these years later, they remain in Great Bear Lake.

In Saskatchewan, exposed uranium tailings remain at the abandoned
Gunnar and Lorado mines. Water contamination and radioactive
dispersion issues were identified decades ago, but governments spent
years playing hot-potato. To this day, no remediation plans are in
place for these sites. CNSC’s ingeniously rigorous solution has been
to simply exempt both sites from regulatory requirements.

These are just a few of the facts that have led my people to oppose
uranium mining. These facts have galvanized communities across Quebec
to reject uranium projects and demand a province-wide moratorium.

The Cree Nation will not be intimidated or silenced by dismissive
comments like those from Dr. Binder that show so little respect for
his proper role or for us. We are confident that when Quebecers learn
the facts about uranium mining and waste, they will join us in our
moratorium stand — a stand already taken by the governments and
citizens of B.C. and Nova Scotia.

December 14, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Canada, indigenous issues, Uranium