Federal Court Upholds Environmental Genocide Targeting Navajos

President Obama's new focus on nuclear power plants comes as federal courts uphold uranium mining which could poison the drinking water of Navajos. Already Cold War uranium mining has left behind generations of death, disease and tragedy for Navajos. Now, uranium mining is targeting the Church Rock, N.M., area, already the site of the 1979 uranium mill tailings spill, which flowed down the Rio Puerco.
-- Censored News (Photo: Warning of radioactive contamination in the Rio Puerco which flows southwest from Church Rock, N.M.)

Court denies review of uranium mining permit in NM
By SUE MAJOR HOLMES - Associated Press Writer - Associated Press
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
A federal appeals court has upheld a Nuclear Regulatory Commission decision that allows a company to leach uranium at an aquifer that supplies drinking water to thousands of Navajos in northwestern New Mexico.
A 10th U.S. Court of Appeals panel concluded in a 2-1 opinion Monday that the NRC took the "hard look" required by the National Environmental Policy Act and its decision to issue a license was not arbitrary.
Eastern Dine Against Uranium Mining, the Southwest Research and Information Center, and ranchers Grace Sam and Marilyn Morris challenged the NRC's approval of permits for Hydro Resources Inc. to do in-situ leach mining near the Navajo communities of Crownpoint and Church Rock.
The opponents contended the NRC violated federal law in issuing the permits.
Attorney Eric Jantz of the Santa Fe-based Environmental Law Center, which represents mining opponents, said his clients were disappointed, but it's not the end of the road.
"If this project is allowed to continue, the folks in the Crownpoint and Church Rock communities are going to be left holding a very toxic bag," Jantz said.
The opponents will evaluate their options, but "every one of them is committed to continuing to challenge the mining company in every forum available," he said.
Rick Van Horn, senior vice president of operations for HRI's parent firm, Uranium Resources Inc., said Tuesday the company is pleased by the court decision.
"It basically says the NRC's licensing is upheld in all respects. In all respects. That's the important part," Van Horn said.
HRI believes the mining is safe and environmentally friendly and will bring economic benefits to the Navajo community, he said.
Judge Carlos Lucero, who voted to review the NRC decision, said in a strongly worded dissent that the surrounding community was left "vulnerable to the ill effects of dangerous radiation." Lucero said his colleagues compounded the error by failing to adequately review the action.
The decision will compromise the health and safety of area residents, who presented evidence that HRI's mining "will ultimately produce radiation many times the permitted limit," Lucero wrote.
The Denver court heard arguments in 2008 in what lawyers called the first-ever challenge to NRC approval of licenses for an in-situ uranium mining operation.
HRI applied in 1988 for a license to mine at four McKinley County sites near Church Rock and Crownpoint.
The majority opinion concluded the NRC correctly interpreted the Atomic Energy Act to require consideration only of airborne radiation from the licensed operation. It also said the NRC's consideration of the cumulative impact of airborne radiation met National Environmental Policy Act requirements.
The court rejected arguments that the NRC violated NEPA by failing to adequately consider the impact if the company cannot restore groundwater quality at one site. The court said the project's environmental impact statement considered that possibility as well as contamination during mining and addressed how to contain and eventually remediate any contamination.
NRC regulations require restoration of groundwater quality once mining ends.
The impact statement acknowledged no operation has fully restored groundwater quality after in-situ mining. Nonetheless, the court said, the NRC was convinced based on pilot demonstrations and small-scale tests that Hydro Resources could restore the groundwater.

http://www.rdmag.com/News/FeedsAP/2010/03/manufacturing-court-denies-review-of-uranium-mining-permit-in-nm/

Haiti Aid: US Respect Sovereignty Without Militarization

Earthquake Aid to Haiti and Respect the Sovereignty of the Haitian People!
[Note: The following resolution was adopted by the Executive Committee of the San Francisco Labor Council on March 1, 2010. The original resolution was submitted by Dave Welsh of the Letter Carriers union to the Feb. 22 delegates' meeting of the Labor Council, where it was referred to the Executive Committee. At the Executive Committee, the resolution was moved and motivated by Alan Benjamin of OPEIU Local 3.] http://www.sflaborcouncil.org/ViewUpload/502

WHEREAS, President Obama has promised that "the people of Haiti will have the full support of the United States in the urgent effort to rescue those trapped beneath the rubble, and to deliver humanitarian relief" following the January 12, 2010 earthquake; and
WHEREAS, instead of delivering on this commitment, U.S. military deployment has taken priority, resulting in thousands of preventable deaths, as many areas devastated by the earthquake have seen little or no aid, even to this day; and
WHEREAS, there has been compelling testimony from aid organizations on the ground that US military actions have prevented them from using airports to bring in relief supplies; and
WHEREAS, as Haitian families search for survivors and relief supplies remain undistributed, and despite the cancellation of some of its external debt, Haiti is still shouldering the burden of servicing many hundreds of millions of dollars in international debt, including debts originated by unelected governments and unscrupulous lenders; and
WHEREAS, a large majority of Haitians continues to demand an end to the banishment of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, so that he can freely and safely return to the land of his birth and participate in the rebuilding of his country. The devastation of the earthquake has given this oft-expressed demand a renewed urgency;
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the San Francisco Labor Council urge the Obama Administration to make a public commitment: A) that distribution of water, food, shelter, medical care and other vital aid in Haiti will have priority over military deployment; B) that Marines and paratroopers will cede control of the distribution of aid to civilian authorities as soon as possible; C) that it is the Haitian people - not outsiders - who must coordinate and lead relief efforts and the long term rebuilding of their country; and D) that the U.S. support the Haitian people's demand for sovereignty and self-determination, including food sovereignty and democratization of food production and distribution in favor of the poor; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the San Francisco Labor Council send the following letter to the G7 Finance Ministers, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and International Development Bank: "In the wake of the earthquake in Haiti, we call on you to secure the immediate cancellation of all of Haiti's external debt and ensure that any emergency earthquake assistance is provided in the form of grants, not debt-incurring loans. As the country starts to rebuild, it is essential that its people are not saddled with a debt burden that will simply deepen poverty for generations"; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the San Francisco Labor Council urge President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to end the banishment of President Aristide, as the majority of Haitians demand, so that he can freely and safely return to the land of his birth and participate in the rebuilding of his country; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the San Francisco Labor Council request that the AFL-CIO ask the federal government to seek ways in which union members can be involved in the reconstruction of Haiti; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that the Council send copies of this resolution to President Obama, Senators Boxer and Feinstein, Speaker of the House Pelosi, Congresswoman Barbara Lee, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Also copies to Bay Area labor councils, California Labor Federation, the AFL-CIO, and Change to Win Federation, urging adoption of this resolution.