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Keep uranium out of our water supply
Friday, Oct. 28, 2011 | 2:01 a.m.
Uranium mining on the Colorado River, near the Grand Canyon National Park, is a bad idea that needs to be rejected by Nevada’s representatives in Congress. Uranium mining contaminates rivers — even mines that closed years or decades ago leach toxic and radioactive material into our water. The mining industry wants to start mining about 90 miles northeast of Las Vegas on the Arizona Strip, within range of Lake Mead and our water supply.
The U.S. Department of Interior told the uranium mining industry this week that our water is too important to risk with its mines. Our entire congressional delegation should support the decision and keep the mines away from our drinking water.
The writer is a member of the Toiyabe Chapter of the Sierra Club.
Discussion: 6 comments so far…
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You are about 67 years late. The colorado river already cuts thru uranium deposits and has for several million years.
Should we start looking for dead bodies in the rivers?
This has been going on for a hundred year and now you decide it is a crisis and we have to throw thousands of jobs away.
Why not just make the contain the waste water
Can we TRUST MINING to monitor themselves with best practices in mining and be careful around our water resource?
That is the big question.
There are so many naturally occurring noxious elements that our water supply is exposed to while making the very long journey to our taps. The issue is about what WE can do to limit toxicity in order to assure water quality is safe and potable.
As an example, asbestos gets into the water supply while traversing through rocky streams and rivers. It is diluted down to parts per millions or billions by the time it reaches us. Only miniscule traces are usually present in municipal water samples. And the same goes for all the other elements. Water has hydrogen molecules, which attract and bond easily with other molecules. Water is the UNIVERSAL SOLVENT because of this.
Millions of people are dependent on this water resource. The United States needs to encourage mining within our nation for national security purposes and sustaining our own needs and industries.
We need the uranium. We possess the current technology and the placing of citizen/organization panels to watch over mining projects to make sure our safety is NOT compromised. Reducing the permitting time seems reasonable considering this is not a new industrial frontier. Also, mining should be TAXED FAIRLY, in favor of the People of the State, and the United States! No more paying a pittance for a precious resource that cannot regenerate itself.
I am deeply disappointed with the Sierra Club NOT going after the Nellis Air Force Base, City of North Las Vegas, and the Clark County Commissioners over the massive destructive kill of trees and animal habitats on the south end of the Nellis AFB Golf Course for the building of the City of North Las Vegas Waste Water Treatment Plant and the Nellis AFB Solar Panels. A real travesty and shame that the local neighborhood has NO resources to fight or voice their plight.
Is there any justice left in the United States? Only the elite, political, well-monied people seem to have a voice anymore.
Time to do things right and be fair to all parties concerned.
Launce, I'm having a problem with your geography. Where is the proposed mine, exactly? 90 miles Northeast of Las Vegas would put it SW of St. George. That part of the Arizona Strip is NOT on the Colorado. Its' drainage is to the Virgin River.
which drains into lake mead and the Colorado river basin.
Clyde, the Virgin is a minor contributor to the flow of the Colorado. It should be no problem to A) prevent contamination of the Virgin in the first place, and B) to build weirs on the Virgin to trap anything that does get through since Uranium is so much heavier than anything else that would be in the water.
Leric: I was just pointing out that everything flows to the colorado, major or minor. The author doesnt allow for whats already there in the path of the colorado river.
I wasn't disagreing with you.