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Show MORE SAN JUAN NUCLEAR WASTE In the last issue of the Zephyr, I reported once again our fear of International Urani Corporation's dumping of additional hazardous waste matter on us. We've been patsies and the company knows it. We've stood by and watched the ‘ OK...1 threatened last issue to run naked through my ad if my dog wasn't the Dog of the Month. So the shame falls on the Zephyr, not me. license amendment requests for the Tonawanda and Linde wastes from New York, the W.R. Grace wastes from Tennessee, and the St. Louis wastes from Missouri come sneaking through. And we've watched their trucks constantly rolling through Moab, Blanding, and Monticello carrying hazardous Tonawanda waste to the dump site at White Mesa -- the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) aiding and abetting on every count. And now once again International Uranium Corporation has requested the NRC to amend its NRC Source Material License to allow the White Mesa Uranium Mill near Blanding, Utah to receive additional “alternate feed material” (hazardous waste dumping material) from the Heritage Minerals Site located at Lakehurst, New Jersey International Uranium proposes to process the material for its small uranium content and then dispose of the remainder of the tailings in their tailing cells (the dump) at White Mesa. This material is much different than natural uranium ore, the normal feed material dug out of local uranium mines..The corporation would receive and process the hazardous “monazite sands” that are now stored at the Heritage Minerals, Inc. site in New Jersey. These sands were formerly processed for heavy minerals (primarily titanium mineral ilmenite). New Jersey desperately wants to get rid of the stuff, and it has found a community that Moab’s Canoe Specialists 702 South Main Street 259-7722 is so weak and desperate, some officials so non caring, and a company so conniving that (800) 753-8216 it will do anything for the millions of corporate welfare dollars it would receive. This hazardous material would be shipped by rail and truck in intermodal containers. These containers would then be loaded onto railcars and transported to Utah and then transferred at Cisco or from other points. Trucks would carry the hazardous material to the White Mesa mill. It would then be dumped into its hazardous-waste dumping ground that lies just off the highway. The NRC says it has provided the notice of an “opportunity” for a hearing on the license amendment. It says that any person whose interest may be affected by this proceeding may file a request for a hearing, The request must be filed within 30 days of the publication of the notice in the Federal Register which was on July 17, 2000. Well let me tell you, the thing is pretty well stacked. I've requested a couple of times previously on the Tonawanda wastes that I wanted the “opportunity” to make a statement. What a laugh!. On making my statement, International Uranium got its legal pack of attorneys out and went after me. Try it reader, try it. NRC administrative law judges will consistently reject you and rubber stamp whatever NRC wants. Even the state ar of Utah tried it, and its paper-tiger lawyers came back with their drawers down, deciding not to appeal again. What has been going on is criminal. Laws have been thwarted. The legal system has been taken over by powerful corporate interests abetted and aided by the NRC. Environmental laws have been flouted too. International Uranium has not sufficient licensed tailings capacity at this time even if it were to accept all of the waste for which it has already bargained. An Environmental Impact Statement must be completed. . And while better health care is desperately needed in San Juan County, the health system now in shambles and utter chaos, repeated requests for health studies are repeatedly laughed away. Maybe there's some hope yet however. The continued importation of nuclear and toxic wastes have alerted members of the Sierra Club to take action. The Sierra Club's new Vall ; cy of the ‘BR BED: grassroots group, “The Glen Canyon Group,” has recently been organized in Moab to help deal with this threat. The Downwinders, Greenpeace, and Earth First! have long fought the dumps and surely will continue to do so. The Indian people may not have to carry this burden alone much longer. The Utah Navajo Commission and the Navajo Nation have in the past offered resolutions opposing the importation of the deadly waste. So have the nearby White Mesa Utes who have long been abused. Environmental justice has been a long time coming. It is hoped now that caring citizens and other environmental groups will jump aboard in opposition. The trashing of Utah is well underway. Does the old adage “ If you can't beat them, join them?” still ring true? I hope to God not. = Sick of the Crowds? Going Nuts? Escape to the Middle-of-Nowhere.. Gary & Claire Dorgan O S PO Box 310307 Mexican Hat, UT 84531 970.749.1164 www.hkhinc.com/vog.html QO00 BROWNTROUT PUBLISHERS, INC. Order Line: 800.777.7812 Fax: 310.316.1138 www.browntrout.com P.O. Box 280070 San Francisco, CA 94128 SNe: Pua ae Fo Tia od RenamerTw Ae Pewee aR totes. We are the largest producers of calendars in the wo Here's Shocking Good News from Browntrout... Our Mascot is NOT a Fish. Meet 'Bradley.' withhim Available in Moab at BACK OF BEYOND BOOKS. Dm EEE nRIen Risin EE ETS |