Spokane Tribe members dying of cancer, uranium mine investigated

“ 'I watch them die, young and old,' Campbell [a grave digger for the tribe] said. 'I think it’s caused by the radiation.'

"The radiation is from the Northwest’s only open-pit uranium mines – an all-but- forgotten chapter of Washington’s Cold War history. Uranium ore was blasted out of the Spokane Reservation’s arid hillsides and sold to the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. The truckloads of radioactive material that rumbled daily through the reservation helped build the country’s nuclear weapons arsenal.

"With each new cancer diagnosis, people wonder: Is it from the radiation?

It’s a haunting question. Bob Brisbois, the tribe’s executive director, lost five members of his extended family to cancer in a single year." Spokane Spokesman Review

Planned uranium mine in Mali cancelled

From our colleagues in Mali comes this piece of good news: "Following different activities of our friends in Mali (West Africa), Many CAMARA, Nouhoum KEITA and many others of ARACF (the association of present and former inhabitants of Falea); following the solidarity activities of the Forum Civique Europeen (European Civil Forum), the City of Geneva (Switzerland) and friends such as Agnes SINAI, Jacques MIRENOWICZ; thanks to the contributions of partners such as Senancounia and now the visit of the delegation of Mme Eva JOLY, Michel RIVASI and CRIIRAD (Independent French Committee of Research and Information on Radioactivity) from 26 to 30 of March, 2011,
the President of the state of Mali (West Africa), Amadou Toumai Toure just declared that there will NOT be a uranium mine in Falea. Falae will not be transformed into a uranium wasteland ...
We hope that the decision of the chief of state of Mali will not just be a promise made due to the circumstances (Fukushima).

Pinon Ridge uranium mill clears state hurdle

A proposed uranium mill in western Colorado -- potentially the first in the nation in over 25 years -- has generated concern among environmentalists and health advocates: “...cautionary tales abound from the uranium past. The deaths of many sick uranium workers and residents still haunts the area…(and) imporoved environmental regulations have found many problems with uranium milling in the united states.” High Country News. Please note this is a video.

Uranium mine cleanup "an overwhelming problem"

The contamination left behind by irresponsible uranium mining companies never obliged to clean up their mess is considered an "overwhelming problem" according to an article in the December 30 issue of Scientific American. An assessment by the Environmental Protection Agency found "radiation levels at the mine that were higher than the EPA's Geiger counters could measure." The article looked at contamination on the Navajo Indian reservation where residents are exposed to uranium through airborne dust and contaminated drinking water. However, the story repeats itself at similar abanoned uranium mine sites around the world. (Photop of an abandoned uranium mine near Cameron, Ariz. by Jarrett Wheeler, courtesy of Forgotten People.)

Uranium from proposed Colorado mine would go to Asia

If government environmental overseers grant a license to build the nation's first uranium mill since the Cold War in western Colorado, project leaders then would turn their attention to China, Korea and other Asian powers.

That's where Energy Fuels Inc. would seek financing for its proposed $140 million uranium-processing facility, officials said last week. And yellowcake uranium made in Colorado likely would be sent to fuel Asian power plants. The Denver Post.