nuclear-news

Black Hills Unitarian Universalist Fellowship opposes uranium mining

FORUM: Join Unitarian Universalists in opposing uranium mining
http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/opinion/forum-join-unitarian-universalists-in-opposing-uranium-mining/article_75fed94c-fb63-594b-9126-4845ba186bfc.html June 22, 2013   Carol Merwin Member of the Black Hills Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, who writes from Rapid City

The Black Hills Unitarian Universalist Fellowship has passed a resolution
opposing in-situ leach mining for uranium in the Black Hills. The
Canadian company, Powertech, wants 12.96 million gallons of water per
day from the Inyan Kara and Madison aquifers. We in Rapid City used
11.35 million gallons per day in 2012.

Our Unitarian Universalist principle that affirms and promotes the
inherent worth and dignity of every person includes those who are not
yet born. Clean water is essential for life; it would not be right to
deprive future generations of an irreplaceable resource. The demand
for clean water is growing; the supply is not.

Respecting the interdependent web of all existence is a principle that
requires us to regard all living beings as valuable. This value must
be upheld even when it is inconvenient or when it requires
thoughtfulness about unintended consequences. We consider caring for
the earth and everything on it a moral imperative.

A U.S. Geological Survey stated, “To date, no remediation of an ISR
(in-situ recovery) operation in the U.S. has successfully returned the
aquifer to baseline conditions. Often at the end of monitoring,
contaminants continue to increase.” Citizens in this area are well
aware of the arsenic from gold mining tailings leaching into Whitewood
Creek all the way to the Cheyenne River. The proposed Powertech
project includes ponds of polluted water, which will be detrimental to
all life.

Because of our belief in the right of conscience and the use of the
democratic process within our congregation and in society at large, we
encourage other religions and secular groups to join us in our
objection to in-situ mining for uranium in the Black Hills.

There is no safe waste disposal. Do we really want to risk so much for
an energy source that is an enormous gamble? Let us also contemplate
the fact that we have no say in how the yellowcake will be used when
it leaves here. Do we want to be responsible for the creation of more
nuclear weapons in the world? Let’s say, “No.”

June 24, 2013 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | ACTION, opposition to nuclear