In their quest to tout the advantages of nuclear power, its proponents have neglected to examine the dangerous shortcomings of uranium mining and its negative impacts on South Texas. Ask residents of Goliad and Kleberg counties about uranium mining, and you may learn that citizens of both have publicly opposed continued mining operations in their communities.
Goliad County passed a resolution to oppose the start of uranium mining operations in October 2006 after Uranium Energy Corp. began drilling exploratory test wells. The community fears that uranium mining operations will contaminate their water with dangerous levels of radioactive waste. The company has every intention to continue their drilling and plans on commencing mining in 2009, despite the pleas of local residents and officials.
In nearby Kleberg County, county officials have recently acquired council to aid them in seeking an injunction against Uranium Resources Inc. A 2004 agreement with Kleberg County and URI stipulated that the company could continue mining as long as they repaired the damage done by their original operations. The Environmental Protection Agency warned Kleberg residents in 2005 that their groundwater contained unsafe levels of uranium and strongly advised against drinking it - an indicator that URI has not made good on its word.
Texas already has a long history of uranium mining operations endangering public health through their release of radioactive waste. The town of Panna Maria, the oldest Polish settlement in the United States, became a ghost town after Chevron opened a nuclear waste dump and began mining there in 1977. Shortly after, the town's soil and groundwater supply experienced high elevations of radioactivity. Citizens led massive opposition against Chevron in the 1980s, citing severe health impacts related to radioactive contamination.
According to the EPA, uranium mining releases harmful radioactive waste, such as radionuclides, which include radon, radium and uranium, into surrounding bodies of water, putting people and ecosystems at risk. Exposure to radon has been shown to cause kidney failure, chronic lung disease, and tumors in the brain, bones, lungs and nasal passages.
Clearly, uranium mining hurts Texans.
Supporters of uranium mining claim that their form of mining, known as in-situ leaching, is environmentally safe, but evidence shows the contrary. In the last 10 years, the Texas Department of Health Services has cited several instances of radioactive waste spills by uranium mining companies, including Cogema Inc.'s 1998 spill of more than 20,000 gallons of radioactive solution in Bruni, Texas. These spills put entire communities at risk, and it's no wonder that Goliad and Kleberg counties don't want the burden of satisfying the nation's appetite for nuclear power.
So before you preach the benefits of nuclear power, please listen to the cries of South Texas and look deeper into the hidden cost uranium mining has on our state.
Wolfowicz is an American studies and history senior.
Be the first to comment on this article!