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.

Human Rights Crisis Phoenix

Puente Press Advisory
Contact: Guillermo Glenn 915 497-5177
Salvador Reza 602 446-9928
Sylvia Herrera 602) 575-8829

Human Rights Caravan to Washington D.C. Arrives in El Paso to meet with Border Workers Association
Presents Testimony - Before U.S. Government Officials on Human Rights Crisis in Arizona
Press Conference
Date: Monday March 8th
Location: Sidewalk – Front of Camino Real Hotel
101 South El Paso Street, El Paso TX 79901
Time: 12:00 Noon
A panel of U.S. Government experts is here in El Paso to gather information on Human Rights violations in preparation to the U.S. presentation before the United Nations in Geneva this November.
Members of the Caravan to D.C. will testify as to the continuous attacks on the Migrant, Indigenous, and Latino communities in Arizona.
On March 6, 2010 The Caravan departed Phoenix Arizona and embarked on the three week journey to ALERT communities along the way of the Human Rights Crisis that awaits the entire country if Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano continues with the criminalization of working families. On March 13 we will join Congressman Luis Gutierrez in Houston for a massive rally prior to the grand mobilization in Washington D.C. We will culminate our three week Caravan on March 21st 2010 massive march in Washington D.C.
Phoenix Arizona is the Hate and Racial Profiling, capital of the world today. We know what awaits the rest of the communities in the United States if criminalization of families and workers goes unchecked. Our message will be to alert and also call on churches, labor, indigenous nations and community organizations to join our demands to:
Eradicate ethnic cleansing and criminalization of migrant communities in the name of “secure communities.”
An end to family separation and government sponsored terror in our communities through local police cooperation with I.C.E.
The passage of comprehensive immigration reform legislation that provides human rights, legal status, labor protection and political equality to all migrants.
A restoration of Human Rights to all as specified in the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights and the Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Restoration to constitutional protections and due process for all people as specified in the UN Human Rights Declaration.
An end to I.C.E. local police collaboration through the controversial 287(g) program, the so called "Secure Communities" initiative, and other measures that spread racial profiling and civil rights abuses across the nation.

Racism in America: Katrina to the Borderlands

Onboard the westbound train:

Racism in America, from Hurricane Katrina to the US/Mexico border

By Brenda Norrell

Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/
Photos by Brenda Norrell: French Quarter, Amtrak in west Texas, US Border Patrol in Alpine, Texas.

NEW ORLEANS -- Walking down the irresistible Magazine and Decatur Streets, with the sun shining and yesterday's cold wind behind me, New Orleans reminds me now of a child who is given a lot of love. In the Garden District and the French Quarter, New Orleans is like a child with a freshly scrubbed face, sparkling and beautiful.

But there is another reality. The taxi driver says, "Yeah, they keep this area clean for the tourists, but there are other parts that they just bulldozed." In the news, there is more on the truth of what happened in New Orleans. After Hurricane Katrina, police officers shot six unarmed blacks, killing two people, as they walked on Danziger Bridge. One police officer confessed to attempting to cover up the crimes with planted evidence, a gun.

The news is mixed, new housing, new homicides. This is New Orleans.

As the Amtrak pulls out of New Orleans, I look around for signs of Katrina. For miles, there are none. Gone are the piles of twisted metal and household appliances floating in the canals. Tar paper is no longer flapping on rooftops.

But in my mind, they are there, on the rooftops. The people will always be there, waving and calling for help, the help that did not come, morning after morning, after Katrina and the floodwaters. The Amtrak twists down by the Coliseum and the people are still there, in my mind, prisoners.

One neighborhood on this route does show the rip of hurricanes, a row of leaning power poles and torn up homes. But for the most part, New Orleans looks all better now.

"Oh, they cleaned it up by November," said another taxi driver in New Orleans of the year 2005 of Katrina. "There were refrigerators everywhere in the streets, full of rotten food. Gnats and flies was all that there was in the streets. It's all clean now, cleaner than ever."

I ask him if the people were bullied by the police, military and Blackwater. "Oh yeah, but they were told to put those big guns away."

In the gumbo shop, the waitress said there is still plenty of damage here from Katrina. "There's still a lot of damage in the Ninth Ward."

My mind was on the earthquake in Haiti and the hurricane in New Orleans. Why was George W. Bush appointed by President Obama to lead, with Bill Clinton, the US relief effort for Haiti. After what happened during Katrina, why? And I'm wondering why the CIA contractor Evergreen has teamed up with Elbit Systems, who builds apartheid border walls in Palestine and Arizona, in Haiti. The duo said they were flying drones over orphanages in the remote mountains of Haiti. Just trying to do some good. Right. I'm also wondering how many of those donated dollars from the US ever made it to Haiti. One report says the US military received one-third of the donations intended for Haiti victims.

I'm also wondering about the militarization of Haiti and whether the tectonic plates can be damaged, as some scientists say, to the extent to cause an earthquake. I'm wondering whether the earthquakes and even the tsunamis could be the result of US military tests or even oil and gas drilling.

West Texas, Zen on the train

On the train between New Orleans and Tucson, west Texas becomes Zen practice. Endless stretches of low lying shrubs flanked by forbidding desert mountains. On the first trip, to my untrained eye, there was nothing to look at, monotones of straw-colored grass and shrubs against treeless grey mountains. But after many times of passing now, the subtleties appear. Once I saw a wild javelina, a wild pig. On another trip I saw hawks and falcons, gliding, looking for prey. Now, on this trip, the eight hour stretch between San Antonio and El Paso, I see three deer, then a lone baby fawn without its mother.

In the Zen state, I can not stop my mind from imagining the migrant mothers walking with their children in these borderlands. I can not stop my mind from remembering the story of the volunteers who carried the remains of a migrant out because the authorities were too out of shape to hike in to retrieve the body. I remember the stories of the women raped and thrown of a cliff, the woman whose body was hung in the tree. I remember the little crosses and little shoes left behind, the backpacks that carried hope. Many of these migrants are Indigenous Peoples, walking out of desperation, Mayans from southern Mexico and Central America, others walking across continents, women walking across continents with their babies and young children.

When the cold rain begins, I say to myself, "I will not go to the desert tonight," wanting to shift away from the thoughts of those who are cold and wet out there. There are those dying of hypothermia out there; those with diabetes without food who go into shock or wander dazed and delirious.

What would anyone do if there was no choice, if there was no food, if there was no work and no means of survival.

Borderlands Predator

In Alpine, Texas, there is another predator, the US Border Patrol. The Border Patrol is carrying out their racial profiling. They are looking for brown people on the train. Brown people to bully. They ignore the blonds, the Europeans who may or may not have papers.

By official US policy, brown is the color of the skin they are looking for. The private prisons are banking on this. Those prisons were built by profiteers like CCA and GEO to incarcerate migrants, including women and children. The existing state and federal prisons were already filled with people of color, including large numbers of blacks and American Indians.

Just as happened during Hurricane Katrina, here in the borderland, it is the color of skin that makes one a target in the United States.

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Reference:

Police officer confesses in Danziger Bridge shootings

http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2010/02/former_police_officer_pleads_g.html