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DECEMBER 19th , 2008 Editor's
note: It's been an interesting year from so many perspectives and, as
it draws to a close, CCAMU wishes all of you peace and happiness. The
work we do to assure safe water, food and air, will continue, but more
and more people are taking up the task - one we cannot afford to lose.
Thank you for your part in keeping the planet livable for the grandkids.
Donna |
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In
this issue: 1)
CHIEF DAVIS' DEAL It was no surprise that the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation (AAFN) and Community Coalition Against Mining Uranium (CCAMU) have rejected the "accommodation agreement" reached by the Shabot Obaadjiwan and the province of Ontario and Frontenac Ventures Corporation. article at: http://www.frontenacnews.ca/2008/08-49_dec_11/editorial_08-49.html
2)
URANIUM DEAL, OR NO DEAL? Is the Sharbot
Lake uranium mining dispute really settled? article at: http://www.thewhig.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1338389 3)
AND SO IT GOES:
Letter to the editor, Frontenac News, Dec. 4, 2008: After centuries of failure, some things never change. Canada and its provinces have yet to learn that colonial muscle only leads to more resentment and conflict. The recent agreement between one First Nation, a surrogate First Nation, Ontario and a prospector have left a bitter taste in the mouths of honest people. For the most part, Shabot Obaadjiwan will be permitted to look over the shoulder of Frontenac Ventures while deep core drilling for lucrative uranium deposits takes place. Ontario calls it a victory, while many residents know that it was a defeat brought about with the threat of a $77 million lawsuit, court costs, fines and jail sentences. The agreement between these colluding parties allows Frontenac Ventures to do what they intended to do in the first place. If they are not stopped the results of their exploration will be sold to a larger mining company that will develop an open pit uranium mine. That mine will operate for a decade or so and then close, leaving behind toxic tailing that will poison the Mississippi watershed. The most conservative research indicates that no environmental or health protection regulations have ever limited the development of an open pit uranium mine in Canada. Governments just don't care to get involved. The aftermath is as predictable, every uranium mining site opened in Canada remains a toxic wasteland. There is no technology for containment of radio-active tailings that is good beyond 30 years; just long enough for your grandchildren to grow up. The affects are already obvious. Beautiful land near Crotch Lake has been scraped clean for drilling and roads (called trails) have been forced across cold water streams and wetlands. Local real estate values have plummeted around the exploration area and lifelong tourists are relocating or looking elsewhere for other "little pieces of heaven". People who are the "salt of the earth" have been threatened and feel powerless as Ontario ignores their petitions and intelligent concerns. I suppose for some, the fortunate few, Shabot Obaadjiwan, can at least relax now, their fight is over, they have played their part in the colonial dance with Ontario. For the rest of us it is not over, our responsibilities to the land and one another will continue. Robert Lovelace
4)
NET NIT: Reader responds to First Nations'
deal - Canadian Mining Journal "My understanding is that the Shabot Obaajwan negotiated with the threat of fines and a law suit hanging over them. I understand that these were dropped as part of the negotiations. I wonder how it is possible to negotiate in good faith if one of the parties has a big stick," wrote Eleanor Archer of Westport, Ontario. article
at: http://www.canadianminingjournal.com/issues/ 5)
UPDATES FROM PAULA SHERMAN Our email list is continuing to grow by the day which is great. Thanks you all for your continued support. There have been a couple of updates to the uranium site (www.uraniumdefense.ca) that provide more context for the struggle. Relationships in Context. This is a statement written by Leanne Simpson, who is Anishinaabe and who works with various Indigenous communities who are struggling as we are with irresponsible development. Her statement illustrates the fallacy of isolating sites and ascribing vague cultural values as a mechanism to protect lands. The section of Aboriginal Title has been added as well. Which discusses the different discourses on title that exist in academica and in the courts. The article then goes on to illustrate the fact that Indigenous conceptions of "title" are different still and that the courts are lagging behind in recognition of this fact. The report on the impacts of uranium exploration prepared by Paula Sherman has been published in book form by Arbeiter Ring press out of Winnipeg. In addition to the chapter on the impacts of uranium exploration, the book also has a forward by Leanne Simpson and an introduction to the issue of resource extractions on Indigenous lands. The book is relatively inexpensive and is available for $12.95 from the publishers website (www.arbeiterring.com). All the proceeds from the royalties from the book go directly to Ardoch Algonquin First Nation. Miigwech!
6)
CCAMU's submission on the Modernizing Ontario's Mining
Act is linked at 7)
LAKOTA WINS STANDING IN CAMECO NUCLEAR FIGHT Pine Ridge, South Dakota: An Atomic Licensing Board (ALB) judges' panel of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) ruled in favor of petitioners who filed interventions in the 10-year license renewal of Cameco, Inc.'s In Situ Leach (ISL) uranium mine near Crawford, Nebraska. "This is about the Human Rights of my clients and their future generations to have clean drinking water," said Bruce Ellison, attorney for White Plume and Owe Aku. article at: http://censored-news.blogspot.com/2008/12/lakota-win-standing-in-cameco-nuclear.html
8)
THE LAND PROVIDES WHAT MINING CAN'T: by Jon Thompson - Dec. 3, 2008: The Dominion - http://www.dominionpaper.ca Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug, ON-When Ontario imprisoned six of Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) First Nation's leaders in March, Canada turned its back. In response, the Northwestern Ontarian First Nation, fighting to keep mining exploration off of their traditional land, is going over Canada's head. The community has made formal accusations of treaty violations and human rights charges against Canada for standing by while Ontario jailed Chief Donny Morris and his council for contempt when they stopped Platinex corporation workers at their airport. The case will be presented to the United Nations in February. article at: http://www.dominionpaper.ca/articles/2177 The Dominion
mining issue is now online, here: 9)
EXTRACTING A DISASTER: The effects of uranium mining are
disastrous; The increased sourcing of raw uranium that will arise from nuclear new build is an ethical and environmental nightmare currently being ignored by the government. article
at: 10)
NUKE PURSUIT ANYTHING BUT POWERWISE Quotes from
article ...Energy conservation makes a lot more sense, and it has been proven to be effective. After the rolling brownouts engineered in California by Enron in 2001, the state embarked on a conservation program that slashed usage and saved billions of dollars. ...Building new plants will be incredibly costly. Every nuclear power plant built in Ontario so far has had huge cost overruns, has been behind schedule, has failed to deliver the amount of electricity promised, and has had a shorter lifespan than promised." article
at: 11)
SAFETY RESEARCH ON NUKES; As plans progress for a radioactive-waste site buried deep in Ontario limestone, the federal nuclear watchdog says the related safety research is full of holes. Ontario
Power Generation wants a licence by 2012 to bury low-to It's the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission's job to approve or reject that application.
12)
GREEN ENERGY OUR BEST SHOT Look, if you had one shot, or one opportunity to seize everything you ever wanted - one moment - would you capture it or just let it slip away?'' If you're a fan of rapper Eminem those words might sound familiar. They're the opening line to his hit single Lose Yourself. And it might as well be the same message coming out of a coalition of environmental, farming, community and native groups that are urging the Ontario government to create a green energy act for the province. artcile at: http://www.thestar.com/article/549945 13)
CCAMU LETTER Objecting to Uravan Garry
Lake Project To Leslie
Payette, Manager of Environmental Administration for Nunavut. The Community
Coalition Against Mining Uranium (CCAMU) is writing to add The CCAMU is very concerned about the proposed exploration for uranium in the Beverly caribou herd's calving ground in the Kivalliq region. We are concerned about the negative impacts that exploration activities will have on wildlife, and the health and well being of people living in the area and who depend on caribou for sustenance and ceremony. Surveys show that the herd is at risk. There should be no added stressors to the herds from exploration activities. It is imperative that long-range protection of the caribou calving range be established without the complication of mineral tenure. Disentanglement of mining claims and leases interferes with, and may require compensation, when a decision is made to protect the area. The Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board recommended that a uranium exploration project for drilling 20 holes near the Thelon River should not proceed under any circumstances. The CCAMU urges you to make a decision that the Uravan Garry Lake Project should not proceed. Therefore, CCAMU asks the Environmental Administration for Nunavut and the Nunavut Impact Review Board (NIRB) do everything within their mandate to: Deny Uravan's application to gain access to mining claims to conduct low-impact entry-level exploration programs for uranium; Refuse to issue permits for mineral exploration in the area; Cancel or refuse to renew the 727 active mineral tenures-permits, claims and leases- on the Beverly calving ground; and Adopt recommendations
of the Beverly and Qaminirjuaq Caribou Management Please receive CCAMU's strong opposition to Uravan's plans for mineral exploration on the calving grounds of the Beverly caribou. Please advise us of your decision. Marilyn
Crawford Cc: Strahl.C@parl.gc.ca ; Prentice.J@parl.gc.ca ; DShewchuk@gov.nu.ca ; Background: At the North West Territory Barren-ground Caribou Summit in 2007, delegates voted overwhelming in favour of establishing their first priority as "Protect the calving grounds in the NWT and Nunavut" and directed the Government of the NWT to "Meet with Nunavut to begin discussions about protection calving grounds." In late November of 2008, the GNWT revealed their evidence at a meeting of the BQCMB that "the numbers of adult female caribou (cows) seen on the Beverly calving ground during June systematic reconnaissance surveys dropped from 5,737 in 1994 to 93 in 2008, and that very few calves were seen during the 2008 survey - only 15 calves for every 100 cows. (In comparison, usually about 80 calves for every 100 cows are seen on the calving grounds of healthy barren-ground caribou herds near the peak of calving, as was the case with the Bathurst herd in June 2008.)" As reported by Canadian Press, the CBC, The Globe and Mail, and elsewhere, "The massive Beverly herd, which roams the tundra from northern Manitoba and Saskatchewan and well into the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, once numbered about 276,000 animals. But a just-released survey suggests the number of caribou cows on the calving grounds of the massive Beverly herd have fallen by a stunning 98 per cent over the last 14 years." In the past few years, while caribou numbers have been dropping, disruptive mineral exploration activity on the calving ground and the adjacent post-calving aggregation areas has risen dramatically. As of December, there are 727 active mineral tenures (permits, claims and leases) on the Beverly calving ground. This level of industrial activity is clearly not sustainable. Major mining companies - De Beers, Areva, and Cameco - have declared that they will no longer conduct activities on caribou calving and post-calving grounds in Nunavut, because they understand the implications of this activity. 14)
U.S. GIANTS JOIN BLUE-CHIP ANTI-NUKE GROUP A slew of the nation's best-known foreign policy figures from both parties are joining a new group called Global Zero that has enlisted 100 world leaders - including billionaire businessman Richard Branson and Jordan's Queen Noor - for a campaign to eliminate nuclear weapons over the next 25 years. article
at: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1208/16265.html 15) 300+ NGOS SAY NO to Mickey Mouse Climate Solutions A press
advisory and backgrounder can be found on the CCAMU website at http://www.ccamu.ca/pdfs/nuclear-action.pdf 16) WIND, WATER AND SUN BEAT OTHER ENERGY ALTERNATIVES, study finds Stanford
University/Energy & Environmental Science -- The best ways to improve energy security, mitigate global warming and reduce the number of deaths caused by air pollution are blowing in the wind and rippling in the water, not growing on prairies or glowing inside nuclear power plants, says Mark Z. Jacobson, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford. And "clean coal," which involves capturing carbon emissions and sequestering them in the earth, is not clean at all, he asserts. article at: http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2009/january7/power-010709.html
See the
letter on: http://www.elysee.fr/documents/index.php?lang=fr&mode= 18)
GRAND CANYON PROTECTION FROM MINING ABOUT TO END The Bureau of Land Management today is expected to eliminate a regulation that gave two congressional committees the ability to block future uranium mining and exploration on public lands near the Grand Canyon. The little-used provision, which is buried in Section 204 of the 1976 Federal Land Policy and Management Act, has for decades provided the House and Senate natural-resources committees with the authority to take emergency action to protect threatened federal land. 19)
WE MUST WATCH OVER ONTARIOS' FAR NORTH Last July, Premier Dalton McGuinty announced that half of Ontario's vast Far North would be protected from industrial development. Environment groups praised a "bold" and "visionary" move to preserve much of the province's remaining boreal forest as well as the endangered woodland caribou and other species that live there. Yet the announcement was actually not about saving one of the planet's last great wilderness areas from tree-strippers and earthmovers. It was about opening up the territory. article
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