New commissioner David Saint-Onge questioned why the City was considering the resolution.

“As a new guy on the commission, I’m not so sure why this issue comes before us, to be honest with you, why we’re taking the amount of time that we’ve taken to address this issue – not that it’s not important,” said Saint-Onge. “I do believe that there are some portions of the resolution that’s being offered this evening that are unnecessarily inflammatory.”

Saint-Onge said that, since the resolution was introduced he could not, according to City guidelines, abstain from a vote. The seemingly reluctant St. Onge endorsed the resolution with a quiet “yes” vote.

According to November 30 City Commission meeting minutes, the anti-ballot resolution was introduced in order to support “State Senator Prusi’s efforts to defend mining in the Upper Peninsula.” In a November 11 news release, endorsed by four other Upper Peninsula politicians, Prusi claimed the MiWater ballot would “BAN any future mining,” and would create “economic devastation for the families that live and work in the Upper Peninsula.” Although the proposed MiWater ballot would act as an amendment to legislation governing only metallic sulfide mining (the ballot would also require similar legislation for uranium mining), Prusi’s claim was invoked by two City commissioners.

Mayor Pro-Tem John DePetro, who introduced the anti-ballot resolution, suggested that the ballot effort was a “guise” that “would affect and stop future mining in the Upper Peninsula the rest of our lives.”

Commissioner Frederick Stonehouse agreed, claiming the ballot would “have a very negative effect on all mining in the Upper Peninsula, be it iron, copper, nickel, even limestone.”

During public comment, building contractor, Jorma Lankinen and Marquette resident, Tony Retaskie used rhetoric similar to that in Senator Prusi’s statement.

“The Michigan water ballot proposal is really an anti-economic, anti-jobs, anti-mining and anti-Upper Peninsula proposal, and it’s disguised under a clean water initiative derived from Grosse Pointe,” said Retaskie.

Retired professor, Jon Saari disagreed, saying that Retaskie’s comments represent “the whole hammer blow of what we’re going to be seeing in this debate over the next year.”

“Our public discourse, these days, is abysmal,” said Saari. “This Michigan water initiative is being presented as anti-UP, anti-UP economy, culture and future, and a trick by a bunch of Grosse Pointe elitists.”

Gene Champagne, spokesperson for Concerned Citizens of Big Bay (CCBB), introduced himself as from “Big Bay up the road, not Big Bay below the bridge, at Grosse Pointe, as some of our officials like to point out in the media.”

Champagne explained that CCBB introduced a resolution in 2003 or 2004 calling for independent hydrology studies.

“That resolution called for a third party, independent hydrology study on the Yellow Dog Plains before any hardrock or sulfide mining takes place,” said Champagne. “The hydrology is not a guise; it’s been at the forefront of this issue since the beginning.”

In 2005, Marquette County Board Chairman Gerald Corkin wrote to express similar concerns to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality:

“The Marquette County Board of Commissioners supports…recent requests for a United States Geological Survey (USGS) Baseline and Hydrologic Survey of the Yellow Dog Plains region. This request has the support of Marquette County residents and local government officials, the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, as well as State Senator Michael Prusi.”

The Marquette City Commission unanimously passed a resolution supporting independent hydrology studies and was supported by Marquette County and a number of townships.

In his support for the anti-ballot resolution, Commissioner Stonehouse noted that only three percent of Michigan’s voting population lived in the Upper Peninsula.

“We effectively have no functional voice on politics in this state – we are simply overwhelmed by the numbers,” said Stonehouse.

Commissioner Robert Niemi also took a practical view of the ballot initiative.

“The issue is too complex to do by initiative,” said Niemi. “The future of the mining industry is important to the UP and the vagaries of a political campaign are not the way to decide the question.”

Some comments in support of the resolution claimed disastrous economic consequences if the ballot proposal moved forward.

Amy Clickner, CEO of the Lake Superior Community Partnership (City commissioner and former Cleveland-Cliffs manager of public affairs, Don Ryan, helped form the group), along with some influential building contractors one of the main supporters of Rio Tinto’s Eagle Mine proposal, claimed that a water ballot proposal would threaten all other aspects of Michigan’s economy.

“Once we start this slippery slope, where does it end?” questioned Clickner. “Is the next ballot initiative what we can do in timber, is it what we can do in agriculture, is it what we can do in recreation?”

Jon LaSalle, chairman of Citizens to Protect Michigan Jobs, claimed that, if the proposed ballot were passed, “The economic consequences of all future mining would be horrendous.”

“There’s no proven contamination anywhere in this subject matter,” said LaSalle.

However, according to the US Forest Service, at least ten-thousand miles of rivers in the American West have been destroyed by metallic sulfide mining operations. In September 2008, one of Rio Tinto’s largest shareholders, the Norwegian government, divested and called the company “grossly unethical” for its operations at a controversial mine in West Papua, currently under Indonesian military control. In a statement, Norway’s Council on Ethics said that acid drainage from metallic sulfide mines is “considered one of the most serious mining-related environmental problems across the world.”

Promoted as a “citizen” campaign, the spokesperson for Citizens to Protect Michigan Jobs is Deb Muchmore. For years, Muchmore has been Rio Tinto’s lead spokesperson in efforts to open the proposed Eagle Mine.

LaSalle also said that claims of future uranium mining in Michigan were unfounded.

“Today, earth scientists agree that no one has found a commercially-viable uranium ore body in Michigan,” said LaSalle.

Retired Northern Michigan University chemistry professor, Gail Griffith, disagrees. According to Griffith, since 2004 the price of uranium has dropped from $139 a pound to less than $50 a pound, making uranium operations that may be economically viable in the future not viable today.

“If well water in the Jacobsville Sandstone formation is already contaminated with uranium it seems reasonable to develop stringent rules for uranium mining to protect these waters and to do it now,” said Griffith.

According to Michigan Messenger a joint venture between uranium giant, Cameco, and Bitteroot Resources, has been actively exploring the Upper Peninsula since 2003, spending over $700 thousand on uranium exploration in the first nine months of 2009 alone.  In a report issued to shareholders in July, the company noted that it had “identified several areas which warrant additional exploration.”

Commissioner Stonehouse seemed to agree with Griffith.

“If it only prevented uranium mining I would likely support it and would be the first one to sign the petition,” said Stonehouse. “If the issue were only about mining on the Yellow Dog Plains and its sensitivity to Lake Superior, that’s a different story too.”

Stonehouse said that a number of issues are affecting the Great Lakes that are more significant that metallic sulfide mining and cited his belief that Asian carp “will decimate a seven billion dollar fishing industry.

“From an environmental perspective that is a disaster of biblical proportions,” said Stonehouse.

For additional video from the meeting, please go to YouTube.

To make matters worse, the company continues to lay off its Ontario employees.

Cameco has been exploring the Upper Peninsula of Michigan for uranium deposits.

Further information on Cameco’s inglorious track record around the globe can be found elswhere at Lake Superior Mining News.

Marquette, Michigan – Despite the global economic downturn, debt-burden and deferment of its keystone Eagle nickel project, Kennecott Minerals is pushing forward with new prospecting activities on public forest land in the western Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Joining the fray is a Canadian junior exploration company, Trans Superior Resources, which is quietly continuing the search for uranium and metallic minerals.

The on applications submitted for mineral prospecting on approximately 2,160 acres of public forest land in Baraga, Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon counties.Ottawa National Forest (”Ottawa”) is accepting public comment

According to Lee Ann Atkinson, with the Lands and Minerals division of the Ottawa, Kennecott and Trans Superior’s applications are currently in a “scoping period” with no formal end to public comment. Once the Forest Service completes an environmental assessment for the projects, the public will again be invited to comment during a 30-day period.

Atkinson said that she is not sure when the comment period will begin for the environmental assessment.

Kennecott is pursuing three separate project areas located within the Ottawa. According to a Forest Service scoping letter, the company is looking for “all base and precious metals and other precious and semi-precious minerals”. The 640-acre “Watersmeet” parcel is located roughly four miles southeast of Watersmeet; the 200-acre “Haight” parcel is located roughly 8 miles northwest of Watersmeet; and the 395-acre “Bates” parcel is located on Perch Lake, roughly 20 miles north of the town of Iron River.

Kennecott has been trying to open the nickel-copper- precious metals Eagle Project mine, on the Yellow Dog Plains, southwest of Big Bay. The company has other metallic sulfide prospects, including exploration near the Huron River and on the L’Anse Indian Reservation.

Kennecott Exploration; Photo courtesy Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve

On February 12, 2009 the company announced that development of the Eagle Project is now “deferred until market conditions recover.” Australian media had been speculating, since May 2008, that “permitting delays and the collapse in the nickel price could mean this. . . project gets shelved.”

Kennecott has yet to obtain complete mining and surface use lease permits from the State of Michigan as well as mining permit amendments for its ore haul road and electricity plans for the mine. To open the Eagle Project, the company must secure an underground injection permit from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) before it can proceed with mining activities.

Kennecott is a wholly-owned subsidiary of London, England-based Rio Tinto.

Trans Superior is also pursuing three parcels, totaling 920 acres in an attempt to locate “nickel, copper, cobalt, platinum, palladium and associated minerals.” All are located just east of Prickett Lake and roughly 8 miles southwest of the town of Baraga. The company had previously obtained federal uranium prospecting permits from the Ottawa for exploration activities adjacent to the Sturgeon River Gorge Wilderness as well as for locations east and northeast of Lake Gogebic. The new Prickett Lake projects are immediately to the northeast of the Sturgeon Wilderness.

Trans Superior’s parent company, Bitterroot Resources, claims to own mineral rights to over 360 square miles in Baraga, Houghton, Iron and Ontonagon counties. In addition to its federal mineral leases within the Ottawa forest, Bitterroot has also obtained “leases or prospecting permits” with the State of Michigan and private land owners.

In 2003, Bitterroot began a 780 square mile joint venture agreement with uranium mining giant Cameco in efforts to locate a high-grade uranium deposit. Bitterroot cited Kennecott’s success in locating the Eagle ore deposit as the impetus behind its accelerated exploration. The company had previously been involved in a joint venture with Kennecott to explore for nickel, copper, platinum and palladium in the Upper Peninsula.

Federal mineral permits are approved and administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The Ottawa National Forest’s role is to conduct environmental analyses, in cooperation with the BLM, at the project locations, in addition to receiving public comment on the proposed exploration activities.

• Comments on Kennecott and Trans Superior’s exploration proposals should be addressed to:

Susan Spear, Forest Supervisor

Ottawa National Forest

E6248 E. US 2

Ironwood, MI 49938

Phone: (906) 932-1330

E-mail: comments-eastern-ottawa@fs.fed.us [put "Comments on Federal Minerals in the subject line]

• Comments can also be directed, orally, or hand-delivered to Ms. Spear’s office. Office hours are: 8am to 4pm, Central Time, Monday through Friday (excepting federal holidays)
• Information on the projects can be found at http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/ottawa/forest_management/projects/minerals/hardrock/index.htm

For additional information, contact Lee Ann Atkinson at (906) 932-1330, ext. 308, or e-mail leeannatkinson@fs.fed.us

Headquartered in Saskatchewan, Canada, Cameco is the world’s largest producer of uranium, accounting for roughly one-fifth of the global supply.

The company has earned a reputation, in recent years, for contaminating the Great Lakes, as well as groundwater and aquifers in Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska and Saskatchewan, with radioactive waste.

Below are a few examples of Cameco’s operation failures…

The Oglala Sioux Nation, along with other petitioners, recently filed a legal claim against Crow Butte Resources (CBR), a subsidiary of Cameco. The petitioners maintain that CBR’s in-situ uranium operations are contaminating private wells and the Brule, Arikaree and High Plains aquifers, major sources of freshwater stretching from Texas to South Dakota that supply irrigatable water for growing vegetables, grains and raising livestock.

At a January 2008 hearing, petitioners maintained that CBR’s operations have violated the Tribe’s rights under US law and federal and international treaties.

In April 2008, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) formally recognized that the case should be considered further, including concerns that the State of Nebraska issued a uranium mining permit to a foreignowned company, a possible violation of the 1954 Atomic Energy Act.

The NRC also agreed to consider a Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality letter critical of geological information provided by Cameco that disregards the possibility for underground faults and fractures to allow mine waste water to contaminate underlying aquifers. According to the NRC, Cameco’s request for an aquifer exemption demonstrates “a lack of relevant knowledge about faults and fractures that might allow for the mixing of the water in different aquifers.”

In July 2001, Cameco detected a radioactive leak at its nuclear fuel conversion plant in Port Hope, Ontario. Contamination was discovered, again, in June 2007. In May 2008, authorities discovered that radioactive uranium, arsenic and beryllium (from the plant) had reached Lake Ontario.

Cameco’s massive McArthur River uranium mine caved-in and flooded the mine with radioactive water in April, 2003, stopping production for three months. Cameco admitted that a consultant’s report had warned of caving and flooding as the mine did not possess adequate water pumping and treatment capacity or proper contingency plans in the event of an accident. Cameco also conceded that their engineering used non-standard methodology and could not relate to standard industry practice.

Cameco’s Cigar Lake mine flooded in October 2006. Cigar Lake is the world’s largest undeveloped underground uranium mine and was expected to begin supplying one-sixth of the world’s uranium by 2008. Cigar Lake flooded, yet again, on August, 12, further delaying the project.

In September 2008, Ottawa National Forest Ontonagon District Supervisor, Susan Spear, issued a “Notice and Finding of No Significant Impact” for Trans Superior Resources’ metallic mineral exploration project within the national forest’s boundaries. The project directly borders the federally-protected boundaries of the Sturgeon River, which is considered a National Wild and Scenic River. Trans Superior is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bitterroot Resources, located in Vancouver, Canada.

Bitterroot (Trans Superior) currently owns 363 square miles of mineral rights in Baraga, Houghton, Iron and Ontonagon counties. The Ottawa National Forest project encompasses roughly 2,330 acres.

According to Spear, the mission of the Ottawa National Forest is not conservation oriented but instead it is to “encourage, facilitate, and administer the orderly exploration, development, and production of mineral and energy resources on [national forest] lands.”

In addition to its metallic sulfide activities, Bitterroot also has uranium projects planned in the Upper Peninsula that are operated under a joint venture agreement with Cameco, considered the world’s largest producer of uranium.

In 2003, the joint venture began exploring 780 square miles of the Upper Peninsula for a high-grade uranium deposit, citing Kennecott Minerals’ success in locating its Eagle Project as the impetus behind its accelerated exploration. Bitterroot was previously involved in a joint venture with Kennecott Minerals in exploring for nickel, copper, platinum and palladium in the Upper Peninsula.

Although nearly 10,000 citizens have signed a petition opposing Kennecott Minerals sulfide mining plans, Bitterroot claims that, “recent meetings with representatives of Gogebic County and neighboring Ontonagon County have confirmed that mineral exploration enjoys strong local support in the western Upper Peninsula.”

On its website, Bitterroot had posted a link to a public health advisory. The advisory notes recorded levels of uranium in Keweenaw drinking water, flaunting to investors that uranium is present in the area.

In 2003, Bitterroot Resources entered into a partnership (option) agreement with Cameco Corporation to explore for uranium in the Jacobsville Basin of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

Cameco has already experienced a documented transportation accident in the Upper Peninsula. On November 24, 2005, an RSB Logistics semi-truck wrecked on M-117, in Mackinaw County, Michigan. The truck was transporting low-level radioactive calcined mining materials for Cameco from Blind River, Ontario to Blanding, Utah. The driver drove into the ditch while choking on a piece of beef jerky. M-117 was closed to traffic between US-2 and M-28 while a Cameco hazardous materials team unloaded the cargo. The Michigan State Police noted that the incident caused “no known health threat.”

The Director of the Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) Office of Geological Survey (OGS), Hal Fitch, has formed a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation with Kennecott and Bitterroot Resources, two companies seeking to open metallic sulfide and uranium mines in the Upper Peninsula.

In an October 2007 e-mail, Fitch acknowledged “that there would be a problem with a state agency forming a corporation” but “came up with an innovative way to address the problem: formation of a non-profit corporation that is not a part of any state agency, but in which OGS is a participating member.”

On October 8, 2008, Fitch confirmed that “the State cannot form a non-profit corporation.”

Fitch went on to file applications for the “Northern Michigan Geologic Repository Association” (NMGRA) with the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth’s Bureau of Commercial Services, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Michigan Office of the Attorney General, registering the non-profit under the DEQ’s address with himself as the primary contact.

A board was formed for the NMGRA consisting of Fitch, as President; Milton Gere (geologist with the Michigan Department of Natural Resource’s [DNR] Forest, Mineral & Fire Management division), as Secretary; Theodore Bornhorst (professor, Michigan Technological University’s Department of Geological/Mining Engineering & Sciences), as Treasurer; and additional board members Andrew Ware (geologist with Kennecott Minerals) and Michael Carr (President and Director of Bitterroot Resources).

While claiming, in a July 2008 application with the IRS, that the NMGRA “is not sponsored or organized by the MDEQ” or “any governmental unit,” NMGRA documents suggest, strongly, that the DEQ did, in fact, organize the non-profit.

As evidence of this, an April 2007 briefing paper expressed the intention of the OGS “to explore the possible establishment of a non-profit organization (NPO) to support and maintain the subsurface geology repository in Marquette.”

At a September 26 meeting of the Mineral Wells Advisory Committee, the DEQ and representatives from Kennecott, Bitterroot Resources, Prime Meridian Resources and Cleveland Cliffs International (now Cliffs Natural Resources) decided to establish an initial five-member Board of Directors for the NMGRA.

Additionally, NMGRA meetings were organized by Fitch’s DEQ secretary, Linda Sandborn, and held at the DEQ’s Lansing headquarters during regular business hours.

Steven Wilson, Minerals and Mapping Unit Supervisor at the DEQ’s OGS, crafted briefing papers, created a logo and offered to build a website for the non-profit. He was also listed as a contact on an NMGRA flyer. Wilson attended many of the board meetings and was occasionally joined by other DEQ staff, Melanie Humphries and Thomas Godbold.

A Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the DEQ confirmed that all documents associated with the NMGRA are official DEQ documents, further suggesting the DEQ as the organizing body for the nonprofit.

According to the Michigan Office of the Attorney General, “The Freedom of Information Act regulates and sets requirements for the disclosure of public records by all public bodies in the state.”

The law identifies “public records” as document “retained by a public body in the performance of an official function.”

At a November 2007 board meeting, Fitch expressed his uneasiness with having formed the non-profit. The minutes note that Fitch was attempting to remove his, and Gere’s, official titles from NMGRA documents because he did not want “the perception that the State of Michigan is establishing the corporation.” Additionally, January, 2008 meeting minutes note that Fitch and Gere’s addresses were changed, in the Articles of Incorporation, from their agency to residential addresses.

It was the November 2007 board meeting that the mining industry’s motivation for its involvement was introduced. Representatives from Kennecott Minerals and Bitterroot Resources questioned how much it would cost to build two core storage facilities. Andrew Ware and Michael Carr inquired as to costs associated with operating the NMGRA and associated construction. The minutes noted that “Steve Wilson will put some information together.”

In March 2008, Carr confirmed that since the project has many “benefits to industry,” mining companies would be likely to contribute (tax-deductible) donations to fund the NMGRA.

Board members of the NMGRA also expressed an interest in utilizing public grant money in order to achieve the groups’ objectives. At a January 2008 meeting, Ware asked if anything would prevent the NMGRA from applying for federal or state grants. Fitch suggested that the NMGRA should pursue these grants while Carr said, “we should probably develop a business plan and identify needs for grants.”

According to the IRS, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization “must not be organized or operated for the benefit of private interests.”

Eagle Rock from the Yellow Dog River and held a rally and sacred eagle feather ceremony at the site of the proposed Kennecott Eagle Mine. The event was sponsored by Yellow Dog Summer, Keepers of the Water and Students Against Sulfide Mining.

Citizens from Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan Walk to Eagle Rock, on the Yellow Dog Plains; Photo courtesy Teresa Bertossi

The event marked a turning point in the citizen movement to protect public land and valuable freshwater from metallic sulfide and uranium mining and was defined by its diversity of attendees and the unity and determination of those involved. Speakers affirmed that, by remaining active and asserting the power of community and sovereign rights, dangerous mining is not a done deal in the U.P and throughout the Great Lakes.

“A Permanent Victory” in Wisconsin

University of Wisconsin sociology professor, Al Gedicks, discussed the successful opposition to the proposed Crandon Mine, adjacent to the Mole Lake Sokaogon Chippewa’s reservation. A nearly 30-year battle pitting a coalition of five tribal groups, sports fishermen, farmers, union workers and students against mining giants Exxon, BHP-Billiton and Rio Algom effectively ended, in 2003. The committed opposition had made the project so unattractive to investors that the mining giants were encouraged to leave the area for good. According to Gedicks, this represented the “first time anywhere in the world where not only a large corporation [had] been defeated but defeated in such a way that it is a permanent victory.”

Gedicks emphasized that this victory was accomplished when tribal and grassroots groups rejected a compromise stance taken by mainstream environmental groups. Describing what is commonly called a “consensus process,” Gedicks explained “the entire process is dominated by the mining company lawyers. For example, the whole process of permitting the metallic mining regulations in the state of Michigan were premised on the fact that there would be no consideration of a mining moratorium law. People that were in favor of the mining moratorium were excluded from participation in that process.”

Retired iron worker and summit speaker, Bob Tammen, commented that “the consensus process compromises what we stand for.”

Another Way

Gedicks asserted that alternatives exist to mining metals, such as copper, nickel and zinc. He stressed the importance of accessing recycled metals found in landfills. Currently, in the US, the amount of metal thrown in landfills, each year, equals the amount found in roughly 35 Kennecott Eagle Projects. Recycling opportunities abound also in the reuse of metals from abandoned military equipment. According to Gedicks, “Nickel is a war metal. You cannot wage war without nickel….all the equipment that has ever been used in any wars, from prehistoric times to now, that metal is still available. That metal is not now being recycled because it is more profitable to go after virgin sources of metal than there is to go after recycled metal.”

Gedicks warned attendees that “Everywhere you go, mining companies tell communities we’re going to have a mining project here. The first thing they say is that my state [e.g. Michigan] has the most strict environmental legislation . . . none of the state’s have strict environmental legislation. The strictest environmental legislation is in Ecuador.”

“There Will Be No Mine, As Long As I’m Alive”

Traditional Anishinaabe Dancer, Megan Tucker, at Presque Isle; Photo courtesy Teresa Bertossi

The event culminated with a rally on the Yellow Dog Plains and took a focus on treaty rights and community rights. After a jubilant 2-mile walk from the Yellow Dog River, Mole Lake member, Jerry Burnett, performed a highly emotional eagle feather ceremony, prior to presenting the feather to members of U.P. opposition. The eagle feather was offered by Sandy Lyons, one of the founders, along with Walt Bresette and Jim Schlender, of the Protect the Earth Gatherings, in Wisconsin.

Burnett told attendees, “It’s an honor and it’s a privilege to be here with you people. That’s one of the biggest things I’ve said to Exxon, Rio Algom, BHP, including Kennecott. I told them there will be no mine as long as I’m alive. And you have to believe that in your heart. Keep coming back for this and keep doing it until they’re gone.”

Following the eagle feather ceremony KBIC member, Stan Spruce, raised the Mole Lake water staff and said, to applause, “Kennecott can only hope to have this much power.”

Recovering the Sacred

Susan LaFernier, vice-president of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community urged attendees to remember that “Water is a gift of life and is sacred. Sulfide mining is not a done deal… Remember that we do have the power to effectively stop developments of unpopular mining plans and we must do so…I pray that our ancestors vision and our determination will be honored and that we allow our water to continue to purify itself as it knows how to best, since Creation.”

Fred Ackley, Mole Lake tribal judge and instrumental figure in stopping the Crandon Mine project, spoke with a sacred pipe in hand, “The Creator has given us all these things you see here…We have all these things he gave us. He also gave us a way how to live. So I pray for the nibi , the water; I pray for the fish in the water; I pray for all the human beings who drink water.”

Encapsulating the Summit’s theme, Al Hunter, poet and author from the Rainy River First Nation, in Ontario, told attendees that the mining companies “might have economic power, they might have political power, but they don’t have the spiritual power and that will trump everything, every single time. I want you to remember that.”

Organizers intend to hold a similar rally, next year, to address themes of treaty rights and the role citizens can play in actively stopping unpopular and dangerous metallic and uranium mining in the Great Lakes region.

Since opening its McArthur River uranium mine, in 1999, Cameco Corporation has become a global leader in uranium production and groundwater contamination. Over the past decade, Cameco has been criticized for mine collapses, extensive groundwater contamination, major uranium and cyanide spills, and transportation accidents – most recently in Nebraska, Wyoming and Saskatchewan….

“A lack of relevant knowledge about faults and fractures”

The Oglala Sioux Nation, along with the Western Nebraska Resources Coalition, Owe Aku/Bring Back the Way, the Clean Water Advocacy Project, Rock the Earth, and other petitioners are filing a legal claim against Crow Butte Resources (CBR), a subsidiary of Cameco. The petitioners maintain that CBR’s in-situ uranium operations, near the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, are contaminating the Brule, Arikaree and High Plains aquifers, a major source of freshwater stretching from Texas to South Dakota that supplies irrigatable water for growing vegetables, grains and raising livestock. The Crow Butte mine currently produces roughly 800,000 pounds of uranium “yellowcake”, yearly, which is used for power generation in Canada.
CBR is currently attempting to expand its operations to include in-situ extraction of uranium from the High Plains Aquifer – one of Cameco’s three planned uranium mining expansions near Crawford, Nebraska. The in-situ leaching process requires injection of a bicarbonate solution that extracts uranium from a sandstone ore body. “Treated” wastewater is then injected back into the aquifer. The process releases radioactive and toxic chemicals such as arsenic, radium, radon, and thorium into the aquifer. Petitioners maintain that in-situ uranium mining always prevents water quality from being returned to baseline levels.

At a January 16 hearing, petitioners maintained that CBR’s operations have violated the Tribe’s rights, under the Ft. Laramie treaties of 1851 and 1868, US Indian law and environmental justice policies, the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous People, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as the Winters Doctrine, which ensures the Pine Ridge Reservation continued access to a sufficient amount of quality water.

According to petitioners, CBR has reported 23 leaks of radioactive material at its facility in Dawes County, Nebraska and has admitted to “a spill of approximately 300,000 gallons of radioactive waste at its mine in Crawford, Nebraska….failure to clean up one-third of the spills equalling approximately 100,000 gallons of radioactive liquid waste….admission….to a one gallon per minute leak for several years into the Brule aquifer….admission of a leak that contaminated 25,000 sq. ft. of the Brule aquifer.”

Petitioners maintain that CBR’s previous activities have led to the closure of at least 98 wells on the Pine Ridge Reservation due to associated arsenic contamination that ensued from the Chadron well-casing failure. Well contamination resulted in an increase in kidney and cancer problems.

Affidavits supporting the petitioners’ claims expressed the need for “continued access to local, pristine water for medicines and ceremonies.” Supporters include acclaimed indigenous rights activist and writer, Winona LaDuke, from Honor the Earth.

On April 29, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) agreed that the Western Nebraska Resources Coalition and Owe Aku/Bring Back the Way (a Lakota group from the Pine Ridge Reservation) have legal standing and that the Oglala Sioux should be considered as a potential participant. The NRC recognized concerns regarding potential groundwater contamination and threats to human health should be considered further. The NRC also agreed to hear petitioners’ objections to the State of Nebraska issuing a uranium mining permit to a foreign-owned company, a possible violation of the 1954 Atomic Energy Act.

The NRC also agreed to allow consideration of a Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) letter critical of geological information provided by Cameco that disregards the possibility for underground faults and fractures to allow mine waste water to contaminate underlying aquifers. According to the NRC, Cameco’s request for an aquifer exemption demonstrates “a lack of relevant knowledge about faults and fractures that might allow for the mixing of the water in different aquifers.”

“Routine” Spills

In neighbouring Wyoming, Cameco has recently been criticised by the state’s Department of Environmental Quality (WDEQ) for its Smith-Highland Ranch uranium operations, north of Douglas. The in-situ mine is operated by Power Resources Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cameco.

The six-page investigation details several “long-standing” environmental violations, such as delays in restoring contaminated groundwater, “routine” spills and the existence of a bond grossly inadequate to cover full site restoration.

Company spokesperson, Gord Struthers, claims the issues are related to poor company documentation and insists that Cameco is committed to the environment. According to Struthers, “It’s real hard to trumpet our values in this situation, but I think that over the years it’s pretty clear the company has been a solid performer. The environment is one of our top priorities.”

Adding to the company’s reputation for routine spills and contaminating groundwater, contractors discovered a leak from Cameco’s Rabbit Lake mill, on January 26, which was caused due to seepage of a process solution through the mill’s floor. According to company spokesperson, Struthers, at no point did the leak did not place workers or groundwater at risk and there will be no long-term damage. Struthers claims that groundwater surrounding the facility “naturally” flows into a tailings management facility, where it is fully contained.

Kevin Scissons, director of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) said Cameco will not be required to pay penalties for the leak, which has become a regular occurrence at many of Cameco’s operations. According to Scissons, “The penalty to them, of course, if you look at it, [Cameco] has extended their mill shutdown and they spent considerable dollars remediating and preventing this.”

Cameco previously reported an underground leak at Rabbit Lake in November, 2007, at the Eagle Point Mine.

“Non-standard methodology and industry best practice”

While Canada supplies roughly 30% of the world’s uranium, Cameco’s McArthur River uranium mine, alone, provides 20% of the world’s supply and is the largest high-grade, underground uranium mine in the world.

An April, 2003 cave-in and flood of radioactive water at McArthur stopped production for three months. Cameco admitted that consultant’s reports had warned of caving and flooding as the mine did not possess adequate water pumping and treatment capacity or proper contingency plans in the event of an accident. Cameco also conceded that their engineering used non-standard methodology and could not relate to standard industry practice.

A Canadian Broadcasting Channel (CBC) report revealed that Cameco was expecting a flood months prior to the incident. Following the accident, the company increased the allowable amount of radiation its workers could be exposed to. The report revealed that McArthur miners, working without ventilation equipment were exposed to high levels of radon during the containment and rebuilding of the mine because contaminated water was accidentally pumped into the clean water line.

Cameco’s other Saskatchewan-based operations are at Rabbit Lake and Key Lake. Now mined-out, Key Lake is currently the world’s largest uranium milling facility, processing 18 million pounds of milled uranium oxide (U3O8) yearly that comes from the company’s McArthur River mine. While nearly exhausted of its uranium, Rabbit Lake will process uranium mined from the Cigar Lake Mine once that facility is operating.

Cigar Lake suffered its own setback, in October 2006, when that mine flooded. Cigar Lake is the world’s largest undeveloped underground uranium mine and was expected to begin supplying 1/6 of the world’s uranium by 2008. Production has been delayed at least a year.

January 2007 uranium prices were ten times more than only six years ago, making even marginal deposits valuable. Uranium mining in Saskatchewan has proven particularly valuable as ore deposits can contain as much as 24% uranium. This, combined with a relative lack of local opposition and the isolation of the mines, allows Cameco to post massive profits even with a temporary closure of its operations.

Cyanide spills, too

Cameco has found there are other regions where the company can avoid using industry best practice. The company operates its Kumtor gold mine in Kyrgyzstan, where cyanide-laced tailings are dumped on top of a glacier, untreated and unlined. In 1998 Cameco was responsible for a cyanide spill into the Kumtor River that killed at least two citizens and devastated the area’s Lake Issyk-Kul tourist industry.

UP Uranium and more spills

In 2003, a Cameco and Bitterroot Resources Ltd. Option/joint venture agreement (JVA) began exploring 780 square miles of the Upper Peninsula for a high-grade uranium deposit, citing Kennecott Minerals’ success in locating its nickel/copper/PGE deposit (Eagle Project) as the impetus behind its accelerated exploration. Bitterroot had previously been involved in a JVA with Kennecott Minerals in exploring for nickel, copper, platinum and palladium in the Upper Peninsula.

Recently, the company has posted a public health advisory on its website. The advisory notes recorded levels of uranium in Keweenaw drinking water, suggesting to investors that 1., uranium is present in the area and 2., although the company is prone to accidents that contaminate groundwater, the area surrounding some of its projects may represent a tolerance to certain levels of contamination, enabling the company to operate in the style to which it is accustomed.

On November 24, 2005, an RSB Logistics semi-truck wrecked on M-117, in Mackinaw County, Michigan. The truck was transporting low-level radioactive calcined mining materials for Cameco from Blind River, Ontario to Blanding, Utah. The driver drove into the ditch while choking on a piece of beef jerky. M-117 was closed to traffic between US-2 and M-28. A Cameco hazardous materials team unloaded the cargo. The Michigan State Police noted that the incident caused “no known health threat.”

Doing it Down-Under

Cameco has received approval from the Northern Territory Government, in Australia, to proceed with exploration plans for its Angela and Pamela uranium deposits, south of Alice Springs. The exploration is a joint-venture project with Australian mining company Paladin. The Territory’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment denies claims that Alice Springs’ water supply could be contaminated due to uranium mining.

Native title holders have expressed their opposition to the project due to potentially hazardous human health affects due to groundwater and aquifer contamination.

According to Cameco Australia’s regional director, Jennifer Parks, “One of the first things we’ll need to do is to consult with the community to ensure anything that we’ll do will be environmentally and socially sustainable.”

Parks maintains the project would produce numerous local jobs and other opportunities.

The project could also potentially affect Tattersall’s Finke Desert Race, a multiple-day off-road event, as well as hinder restoration of the transcontinental Old Ghan railway, according to the National Road Transport Hall of Fame.

While Cameco stresses the project is only in the exploration stage, at a May 7 meeting on the proposed exploration, Monash University lecturer, Gavin Mudd, told the crowd of roughly 150, “You don’t spend money on a mineral deposit unless you’re going to mine it, and I think it’s fanciful to believe that you spend several million dollars exploring and then walk away and do nothing.”

Native title holder, Tahnia Edwards explained that all decision-making power rests with government officials and urged the audience to “stand with us in fighting this issue….I see things like this as being an opportunity for us to come together in reconciliation because, as I said before, this isn’t just an issue and a burden for Aboriginal people. It’s an issue and a burden for us all.”

Tailings coverup/Uranium spills/Controversial Utah exploration/Salmon-Trout erosion/Aboriginal artifacts/New China partnership….

Kennecott under investigation for tailings cover-up

Kennecott is currently under investigation for covering-up, since 1988, the potential for a major earthquake-caused tailings disaster at the company’s tailings impoundment, in Magna, Utah.  The impoundment holds roughly 1 billion tons of fine mine wastes.

Utah’s Dam Safety Inspector is siding with the company, although legislators, officials and the public are calling for an independent investigation, saying the company’s current data cannot be trusted.

The cover-up implicates the Utah State Engineer’s office and Kennecott officials, from 1988 up to the present.

For more information read NWR’s original article on the cover-up:  http://www.northwoodswild.org/component/content/article/57-sulfide-and-uranium-mining-news/119-kennecott-hides-potential-for-deadly-tailings-disaster

Or visit the Salt Lake Tribune:  http://www.sltrib.com/

Cameco criticized, in Wyoming, for “routine” uranium spills

Cameco Corporation has recently been criticized by the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (WDEQ) for its Smith-Highland Ranch uranium operations, north of Douglas.  The in-situ mine is operated by Power Resources Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cameco.

The six-page investigation details several “long-standing” environmental violations, such as delays in restoring contaminated groundwater, “routine” spills and the existence of a bond grossly inadequate to cover full site restoration.

Company spokesperson, Gord Struthers claims the issues are related to poor company documentation and insists that Cameco is committed to the environment.  According to Struthers, “It’s real hard to trumpet our values in this situation, but I think that over the years it’s pretty clear the company has been a solid performer. The environment is one of our top priorities.”

Kennecott attempting to explore for metals in newly-created public open-space

The Salt Lake Tribune is reporting that Kennecott Minerals is attempting to explore for minerals within a newly-created public open space, in Salt Lake County, Utah.

Salt Lake County officials spent $8.7 million for the 1,700 acre Rose Canyon Ranch, in the Oquirrh Mountains, in November, 2007.  The purchase was made as part of a $48 million bond approved by voters for park and open-space development.  The parcel, combined with the adjacent Yellow Fork Park, also owned by the County, and a BLM parcel creates a 4,000 acre preserved public open space.

Within one week of the purchase, Kennecott filed 70 mining claims with the BLM.

Although Salt Lake County now owns Rose Canyon Ranch, the BLM can grant Kennecott exploration access without the County’s consent.

Although Kennecott is currently being investigated for a 20-year cover-up of its Magna tailings facility, company representative, Erik Best, assured the Salt Lake County Council that “Kennecott has high environmental standards.”

Kennecott activities continue to cause sediment erosion into trout spawning habitat

A Sunday, April 6, trip to the Yellow Dog Plains ended shortly after the junction with the Triple A and Northwestern Road.  The Spring melt, combined with Kennecott’s heavy truck traffic, has caused major road ruts and runoff, particularly at stream crossings.

One local camp owner recently contacted the DEQ about erosion occurring at the Northwestern crossing of a Salmon Trout River tributary, citing disruptions to trout spawning habitat.

Following the complaint, DEQ staff placed straw bales at the crossing and sent Kennecott a letter.

In Spring, 2005, a Salmon Trout River crossing washed out due to Kennecott’s activities, releasing 90 tons of sediment into the small river.

35,000 year-old Aboriginal artifacts located at Rio Tinto iron mine

Archaeologists in Australia have discovered ancient Aboriginal tools in the Pilbara region, in Western Australia.  The artifacts, radiocarbon-dated to be at least 35,000 years old were found on the Hope Downs iron mine site, which is jointly-owned and operated by Rio Tinto and Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting.

The find represents one of the oldest prehistoric sites in Australia and will likely be considered an internationally-significant “prehistoric record of humanity.”

The local Martidja Banyjima people hired archeaologist Dr. Neale Draper, managing director of Australian Cultural Heritage Management Ltd., to investigate the site.

According to Draper, “We are thrilled at the test results. This is a major scientific discovery. It contains a large number of stone tools and it is one of the most data-rich ancient sites in Australia, with an exceptional amount of information about climate change through the last ice age, the earliest occupation of the Pilbara and North-West Australia.”

Archaeologists hired by the Aboriginal traditional owners have released the results of radiocarbon tests indicating that it is one of the oldest-dated sites in Australia and internationally significant as a prehistoric record of humanity.

Most of the tools, which appear to have been used for cutting, contain traces of organic matter that archaeologists believe will provide evidence of prehistoric food supplies and climate change.

Rio Tinto committed to China despite egregious environmental and human rights record

Rio Tinto is expressing an increased interest in working with Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in order to have great access to capital, engineering and technology for mine projects in Asia, Africa and South America.  SOEs would include Chinese government-owned steel companies and investment institutions.

According to CEO, Tom Albanese, Rio Tinto wants to become the “partner of choice” for Chinese companies by forming “opportunities for cooperative relationships with senior Chinese SOEs on large-scale development” in “very remote locations that require a lot of infrastructure.”

Rio Tinto chairman, Paul Skinner, predicts that a US recession will not impact Rio Tinto’s output, due to strong economic growth in China and India:  “The U.S. is now somewhat less important in world commodity demand than it was five years ago.”  According to Skinner, “Projections for Rio Tinto’s main product groups, iron ore, aluminum and copper, suggest that demand could potentially triple over the next 25 years.”

Albanese asserted that, despite China’s egregious record on human rights and environmental degradation, Rio Tinto remains committed to working with the communist nation as a mineral supplier and joint-venture partner.  Citing recent government crackdowns on protests in Tibet, Albanese stated, “I think it’s fair to say that every country has legacies that have to be confronted….It’s important not to isolate a country because it still has those legacies to resolve.”

Rio Tinto, itself, has been accused of human rights violations in Namibia, Chile, West Papua New Guinea, among other places.  It is currently involved in a US District Court lawsuit concerning its role assisting the Indonesian military in killing and torturing citizens near is Grasberg Mine.

The Marquette County Resource Management/Development Department completed a “Hazard Mitigation Plan” for the Marquette County Sheriff’s Department, Emergency Management Division.  The plan, funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), outlines areas of concern to local and regional law enforcement.

The comprehensiveness of the plan is debatable as it lacks any published citations to support its numerous claims.  Perhaps one of the more misplaced and wild claims is that “Terrorism and Sabotage…” represent a significant risk to the County.  The plan also lacks consideration of metallic sulfide and uranium mining as potential risks to groundwater supplies and public health in the area.

The plan ignores, in its sections on “Public Health Emergencies” and “Hazardous Materials,” the possibility for public exposure to uranium contamination.  With multiple mining companies, including Bitterroot Resources and Cameco Corporation, exploring for uranium in the region, consideration of the potential for this highly hazardous substance to impact public health should have been included in the plan.

The potential for uranium contamination is actually very real.  On November 24, 2005, an RSB Logistics semi-truck wrecked on M-117, in Mackinaw County, Michigan. The truck was transporting low-level radioactive calcined mining materials for Cameco from Blind River, Ontario to Blanding, Utah.  The driver drove into the ditch while choking on a piece of beef jerky.  M-117 was closed to traffic between US-2 and M-28. A Cameco hazardous materials team unloaded the cargo.

As with uranium, the potential for impacts to public health with the rail transport of sulfide materials from Kennecott’s Eagle Project and other proposed sites is also very real, and ignored, in the plan.  The plan notes that “over the years, the County has experienced a number of rail incidents, several of which were serious or had the potential to be serious.”  Because Kennecott plans to transport its ore by rail, the Eagle Project should be outlined as a potential risk to public health.

The risks of Kennecott’s projects should have also been considered in the section, “Unstable Ground.”  The plan notes the proven risk for ground subsidence to occur on the Yellow Dog Plains:

“In 1996, significant landslide occurred during a major spring snowmelt along the Yellow Dog River. At least one research paper has been written which identifies that area as geologically unstable. That paper predicts that as the Yellow Dog River and Salmon Trout River systems mature through the natural erosion process, the Salmon Trout River will steal the headwaters of the Yellow Dog River. In this incident, a steep sand slope encompassing approximately 40 acres failed and slid into the channel of the river. Past logging activity, poor road construction, and ditch maintenance may have contributed to this event. Occurring in a remote forested region, the event did not endanger human life or cause significant property damage. It did affect the trout habitat. This event is a good example of what could happen because of building on unstable slopes and improper construction of roads, ditches, and culverts.”

The plan also outlines the potential for water contamination in areas with sandy/porous soils, such as those found on the Yellow Dog Plains:  “Porous soil has rapid permeability…the underlying aquifer is vulnerable to contamination. In addition, the loose soil makes excavation projects in this area difficult. The soils are vulnerable to wind and water erosion.”

In the introduction, the plan notes that, in northwestern Marquette County, “Due to narrow channels and bedrock close to the surface, flash flooding can occur during periods of excessive rain, rapid snowmelt, or blockage by ice or debris.”  This observation is especially relevant as problems associated with heavy rainfall in Rusk County, Wisconsin, in September 1994, caused a tailings pond at Kennecott’s Flambeau Mine to nearly overflow into the Flambeau River, a common occurrence at metallic sulfide mines.  In that instance, the company used sulfide waste rock to give the protective berm an additional four feet and the river came within 3 ½ feet of flooding the mine site.

The Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) ranked the listed risks based upon five measures:  1) history of occurrence, 2) probability of occurrence, 3) potential affected area, 4) impact on county population and, 5) significance of impact.  The LEPC ranked “Terrorism and Sabotage…” higher than industrial building fires, urban flooding,drought, residential structural fires and shoreline flooding/erosion.

The plan lists the “Kennecott Project Eagle Sites” as one of the sites with “terrorist potential.”  The Plan includes a subsection on “Eco-Terrorism”:

“Since 1996, there have been over 600 eco-terrorist events in the United States, including the placement of a bomb at a forestry building at Michigan Technological University in the Upper Peninsula. Several area loggers have reported vandalism to their equipment. The assumption is that they were based upon differing viewpoints on use of the environment. Damage in the U. S. caused by a single eco-terrorist group has exceeded $10 million over a ten-year period. Larger organizations are believed to engage in intelligence gathering against potential targets. However, one of the major problems with eco-terrorism is the number of small cells without organizational structure.”

The eco-terrorist claims likely stem from FBI testimony at a February 12, 2002 House Ecoterror Hearing.  The FBI alleged that the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) and the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) had “committed more than 600 criminal acts in the United States since 1996.”  The FBI, which submitted information for use in the County’s Plan, has never substantiated that the Michigan Tech. incident or vandalism to logging equipment was linked to ELF or ALF.  In recent years, the FBI, at Kennecott’s behest, has questioned three prominent citizens around the Big Bay area regarding their involvement in fighting Kennecott’s Eagle Project.  While “eco-terrorism” activities have not caused a loss of life, the FBI continues to list “eco-terrorists” as the nation’s number one domestic terrorist threat, beating out violent extremist militia groups that adopt a Timothy McVeigh-style ethic.

Rather than highlighting assumed risks stemming from local citizen activity and tacitly branding opponents of mining projects as potential “eco-terrorists,” the County could have considered the high potential for groundwater contamination and rail disasters relating to uranium and metallic sulfide mining activity.  These activities have a proven record of risk to public health and local economic systems, whereas allegations of terrorist threats