Save Crow Butte

UPDATE:  Lakota Organization OWE AKU Scores Interim Victory in Fight Againt Uranium Mine!

The entire issue is water, which is life itself, and our struggle is to protect it.
-Thomas Cook

Lakota chief Joseph American Horse speaks about the expansion
of the Crow Butte uranium mine. January 16th, 2008

There is nothing more important to do than protect and preserve our water supplies from radioactive contamination and depletion.

Overview:
Located near Crawford, Nebraska, The Crow Butte Mine produces 800,000 to 1 million pounds of yellowcake uranium per year (current price $89lb).  The Crow Butte Mine is owned by Canadian-based Cameco, Inc. which calls itself the largest uranium company in the world.  Cameco Resources (formerly Crow Butte Resources 'CBR') a Cameco subsidiary that owns the mine, represents 10% of Cameco's uranium reserves.
 

The Issue at Hand:
Petitioners are asking a three member panel of Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) administrative judges to allow them to participate as parties in the license amendment proceeding to allow a proposed 50% expansion of the mine.  The judges' decision will be based on NRC regulations and some federal law principles to make up for large gaps in applicable regulations - and will be subject to appeal to a federal district court on very limited grounds under the Administrative Procedure Act.

The petition challenges CBR's request for an additional 2.4 billion gallons a year to expand its operations.  CBR's application is made while drought is depleting the aquifers at 160% of recharge.

In addition to the use of additional valuable water resources, CBR has admitted to:
1. A spill of approximately 300,000 gallons of radioactive liquid waste at its mine in Crawford, Nebraska
2. Failure to clean up one-third of the spills equaling approximately 100,000 gallons of radioactive liquid waste
3. Admission that a broken coupling led to a one gallon per minute leak for several years into the Brule aquifer

CBR has also filed its 10 year renewal application and there may be petitions to intervene in that as well.

Meanwhile at the national level, the NRC is attempting to push through Dick Cheney's initiative to have a 'Generic' EIS for ISL mining with site specific environmental assessments that will have the effect of limiting the opportunity for public comment.  Many objections were filed, including comments by New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and the Natural Resources Defense Council.
 

The Key Players:
CBR, its counsel and the NRC staff in support of unfettered ISL Mining.

In opposition are an Indigenous led group of Debra White Plume and Owe Aku at Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Tom Cook of Chadron NE, & Slim Buttes Agricultural Development of Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, represented by its President, Chief Joe American Horse, Sr. (grandson of the shirt-wearer and treaty signer with the US) and Western Nebraska Resources Council, a community group working since 1983 to oppose the Crow Buttes Mine.

Uranium Mining and the Environment:
The CBR mine was one of the first ISL uranium mines and has been in continuous operation since 1991.  As a result, it is often cited as a precedent by other mining companies seeking to do ISL - and there may be up to 14 in the next 3 years.  ISL mining is happening in the Black Hills, Arizona, Colorado, Texas, Wyoming, and next to the Grand Canyon. 

No ISL mine has ever restored water quality to its pre-mining baseline.  Large water supplies are being converted from drinking water to undrinkable wastewater to promote nuclear power mostly for foreign profit.  ISL also releases radon into the air as well as thorium, radium, arsenic and other toxins into the water.  There is also frequent contamination from spills and leaks.


Citizen Action is Needed!
None of the Presidential contenders have taken a favorable position on nuclear materials mining, use, power, weapons or disposal and cleanup (other than some Democratic resistance to Yucca Mountain).  You Can!

• Write letters to editors, letters to congress and state reps to educate them about the true costs of nuclear material and the need to tighten controls and regulation at all steps.
• Donate to our effort and earmark for: general, legal, or public education/PR budgets.
• Transition to renewable energy to fulfill your personal, family and community needs.