And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1998 23:25:20 EST >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >X-Mailer: AOL 4.0 for Windows 95 sub 226 >Mailing-List: list [EMAIL PROTECTED]; contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Delivered-To: mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: [DOEWatch] Tribe Says Plan to Store Radioactive Dirt on Reservation is Racist > >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Source: ><A HREF="http://www.sltrib.com/1998/dec/12171998/nation_w/67986.htm"> >http://www.sltrib.com/1998/dec/12171998/nation_w/67986.htm >========================================================= >December 17, 1998 > >Tribe Says Plan to Store Radioactive Dirt on Reservation is Racist > >THE ASSOCIATED PRESS > > WELLPINIT, Wash. -- Importing radioactive dirt from the East to fill a pit >at a defunct uranium mill near the Spokane Indian Reservation is >``environmental racism,'' the tribe's attorney contends. > Dawn Mining Co. has proposed the plan to ship slightly radioactive dirt >from sites in New York, Missouri and elsewhere to fill a pit at its closed >uranium mill at Ford, about 30 miles northwest of Spokane on the border of the >tribe's northeast Washington reservation. > Dawn is seeking renewal of a Washington state license that allows it to >import U.S. government waste to pay for reclamation of the former mill. > At a public hearing on the licensing Tuesday night at the tribe's >longhouse, members called the mill closure plan a taxpayer ripoff. > ``The shifting of the burden from Washington state taxpayers onto the >tribe is environmental racism,'' tribal attorney Shannon Work said. The >contaminated material ``is not needed for reclamation. It's only needed to >bail out Dawn Mining Co.'' > Newmont Inc. of Denver, the largest gold producer in North America, owns >51 percent of Dawn, but contends it has no obligation to help pay for the Ford >cleanup. > U.S. taxpayers would bear the cost of the multimillion-dollar import deal >under Dawn's plan. > Tribal members complain that radioactive runoff from the mill already has >leaked into Chamokane Creek, a source of fish, plants and spiritual >sustenance. It makes no sense to import more waste, they said. > ``These waters belong to the tribe, not to the state of Washington,'' >tribal elder Robert Sherwood said. ``When I look 50 years down the road, what >will happen to our creek?'' > A state geohydrologist told the audience that uranium levels in the creek >are low. > Most of the contamination that has seeped into the creek from the mill >site has passed through the reservation, said Dorothy Stoffels of the state >Department of Health. > However, groundwater that seeps into the creek southwest of the mill is >still a concern. Some measure more than half the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory >Commission radiation limit, Stoffels said. > In addition, the tribe will suffer from traffic disruptions along >Washington 231 from Reardan to Ford, Work said. In Dawn's proposed plan, the >Cold War-era wastes would be shipped by rail to Spokane and then trucked to >Ford. > That would mean up to 50,000 heavily laden trucks in five to seven years >on a narrow, rural road that's well-traveled by schoolchildren and tribal >members going to Spokane, Work said. > Dawn needs contracts with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to generate >millions of dollars to pay for the old uranium mill's closure, said David >Delcour, Dawn's executive vice president. > The company has spent $6 million on the site, has a $14.4 million >reclamation bond in place and will post a $6 million transportation bond >before any wastes are imported, Delcour said. > The tribe in August filed a lawsuit against the state in U.S. District >Court in Spokane. Dawn was recently permitted to enter the case to defend >itself against the charges. > The lawsuit could ``seriously jeopardize'' Dawn's chances of getting >competitive federal contracts to import waste, Delcour said. >========================================================== > > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ >To unsubscribe from this mailing list, or to change your subscription >to digest, go to the ONElist web site, at http://www.onelist.com and >select the User Center link from the menu bar on the left. > &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment ...http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ `"` `"` `"` `"` `"` `"`
