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Subject: Owe Aku's Uranium Hearings Update from the Lakota Homeland
Date: Thu, 28 Aug 2014 12:29:20 -0600
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Owe=20
Aku's Uranium Hearings Update from the Lakota Homeland
=20
=20
=20
=20
PowerTech=20
Hearings, Uranium Mining and SacredWater=20
Protection Work: An=20
Update
by =
Owe Aku=20
International Justice =
Project
August=20
25,=20
=
2014
=E2=80=9CMni=20
is our first home, when we arrive here on =
Mother=20
Earth, the water of our mothers=E2=80=99 =
womb is our first=20
dwelling. Water is our first medicine. =
Without=20
water, there is no life.=E2=80=9D=20
Debra=20
White Plume
(Kiza=20
Park, Oglala Homeland, August 24, 2014) =
Sacred=20
Water Protection =E2=80=9Cis a long term =
priority of the=20
work of Owe Aku to engage in the =
protection of=20
sacred water inside treaty =
boundaries. This=20
part of our work is conducted through =
treaty=20
rights and human rights education and =
action in=20
regards to drinking water and =
environmental=20
protection. We began this work in 2005, =
conducting=20
research into drinking water quality and =
the=20
health conditions of our people on the =
Pine Ridge=E2=80=9D=20
(Environmental Justice & The =
Survival Of A=20
People: Uranium Mining & the Oglala =
Lakota=20
People, by Debra White Plume, Owe =
Aku, www.oweakuinternational.org). =20
Since then, Owe Aku has made many allies =
and=20
instituted several projects that pertain =
to the=20
protection of Sacred Water.=20
Although=20
our work has been concentrated over the =
past=20
several years on the Keystone XL Pipeline, =
our=20
efforts have included challenges to =
uranium mining=20
in the Black Hills, including the =
PowerTech=20
application for an area near Edgemont, =
South=20
Dakota. The process proposed by =
PowerTech is=20
highly toxic and called in situ leach =
mining which=20
uses 9,000 gallons of water per =
minute. =20
PowerTech, which was a Canadian =
corporation sold=20
to a Chinese company (Azarga Rsources =
Ltd.) since=20
the challenge to their uranium mining =
permit began=20
back in 2010, is now on its second =
application for=20
a permit before the Nuclear Regulatory=20
Commission. This last week the =
process=20
continued in Hot Springs and Rapid City.=20
Monday=20
(August 18) was dedicated to public =
comment in Hot=20
Springs. Several bright yellow and =
red signs=20
were seen in the front yards throughout =
town,=20
stating =E2=80=9CNo Uranium =
Mining.=E2=80=9D It was clear that=20
Clean Water Alliance and Dakota Rural =
Alliance had=20
done their jobs well and we say wopila =
(thank=20
you). At the public comment forum, =
68 people=20
from the communities whose water would be =
most=20
effected spoke before the administrative=20
judges. 59 of them were opposed to =
the=20
assault on SacredWater. These =
challenges=20
were brought by the Oglala Sioux Tribe and =
the=20
Consolidated Intervenors (Susan Henderson, =
Dayton=20
Hyde, Aligning for Responsible Mining, and =
many=20
individuals). Under the very =
complicated=20
rules and bureaucracy, the panel of Atomic =
Licensing Board Judges had the opportunity =
to=20
choose from the extensive list of =
challenges=20
brought by opponents (the list of =
challenges to=20
the permit that were addressed are at the =
end of=20
this report). The 59 people that =
spoke in=20
favor of SacredWater addressed different =
issues=20
but all with the same goal: to keep =
the=20
water safe and clean for future =
generations.=20
The=20
City Attorney spoke on behalf of the mayor =
of=20
Rapid City and told the panel that =
PowerTech=E2=80=99s=20
proposal threatened to contaminate the =
main source=20
of drinking water in that town and that =
raised=20
grave concerns for the City Council and =
the city=E2=80=99s=20
people. Others spoke of the 100% =
risk being=20
taken by all the peoples of this region in =
order=20
to give away free water for the profits of =
a=20
foreign corporation. =E2=80=9COne =
of our greatest=20
concerns is the quantity of water [that =
PowerTech=20
will take]. 14,000 acre feet of =
water will=20
be gone forever.=E2=80=9D Under a =
Powertech=20
self-monitoring system South Dakota is =
giving to=20
PowerTech, =E2=80=9Conce water rights are =
granted, the=20
state of South Dakota no longer has ANY =
control=20
over what happens to the water, how =
it=E2=80=99s used, or=20
what happens with negative =
impacts,=E2=80=9D stated a=20
member from Dakota Rural Action. A =
member of=20
Clean Water Alliance told the panel of =
judges how=20
treaties with the Lakota Oyate were being =
violated=20
and that they, the NRC, were not following =
their=20
own federal laws and regulations, =
interestingly=20
the same argument Owe Aku International =
Justice=20
Project has used at venues like the United =
Nations.
The=20
following three days (September 19th - =
21st) of=20
formal proceedings were moved to the Hotel =
Alex=20
Johnson and the first day Water Protectors =
had a=20
victory. Since the beginning of =
these=20
proceedings several years ago, PowerTech =
had=20
acquired new information relating to the =
proposed=20
mine site through the use of sample bores =
in the=20
Earth, and had failed to reveal that =
information=20
to anybody, including the NRC or the panel =
of=20
judges in this proceeding. PowerTech =
was,=20
however, ordered to turn that information=20
over. (See http://www.indianz.com/News/2014/014807.asp.)
Although=20
highly technical, most of the hearing =
focused on=20
the same objections to the =
application=E2=80=99s=20
contentions as those at the public hearing =
on the=20
previous day. Each side had several=20
different expert witnesses answering =
questions=20
from the judges about the connection of =
the=20
aquifers, their relationship to each other =
and to=20
surface water, the effects of flooding,=20
earthquakes and wind on waste ponds, as =
well as=20
the consequences of drought and the =
overwhelming=20
impact of the use of water on the =
regeneration=20
rates of the aquifers. Although not =
a court=20
proceeding, lawyers were permitted to =
question the=20
=E2=80=9Cwitnesses=E2=80=9D and testimony =
was submitted about the=20
critical results of in situ leach mining =
on the=20
cultural, historical and contemporary =
heritage of=20
the Lakota Oyate. =20
Wilmer=20
Mesteth and Dennis Yellow Thunder of the =
Oglala=20
Sioux Tribe=E2=80=99s Natural Resources =
Department entered=20
public comments into the official record. =
Mesteth,=20
a well respected instructor at Oglala =
Lakota=20
College and Traditional Spiritual leader =
of the=20
Lakota Nation, spoke completely in Lakota =
without=20
translation. It was interesting that the=20
organizers of the proceedings did not =
consider how=20
many Lakota people may have commented if =
there=20
were an interpreter=20
available.
David=20
Frankel, attorney for Alignment for =
Responsible=20
Mining, used a basketball analogy =
(appropriate in=20
Lakota Country) in explaining the=20
proceeding: =E2=80=9CPowerTech has a =
full bench of=20
players with trainers and physical =
therapists,=20
while we got five guys running around on =
the floor=20
who are always there. The think they =
can=20
beat us but what they don=E2=80=99t =
realize is that we=20
ain=E2=80=99t procedurally, PowerTech =
still has to clear=20
several hurdles. Meanwhile their =
legal funds=20
are being depleted, the price of uranium =
is=20
crashing, and who knows what their new =
corporate=20
owners in China might do. We do know =
what we=20
will do: protect=20
=
SacredWater.
Debra White =
Plume of=20
Owe Aku with the legal team from the =
Oglala Sioux=20
Tribe and the Consolidated=20
Intervenors
Contention=20
List in the Matter of Powertech =
(Dewey-Burdock=20
In Situ Uranium Recovery Facility) =
Before=20
the Atomic Safety and Licensing=20
=
Board
Failure =
to meet=20
applicable legal requirements regarding=20
protection of historical and cultural=20
resources
Failure =
to Involve=20
or consult all interested tribes as =
required by=20
federal Law
The FSEIS =
failes to=20
include necessary information for =
adequate=20
determination of baseline ground water=20
quality
The FSEIS =
Fails to=20
include adequate hydrogeological =
information to=20
demonstrate ability to contain fluid =
migration=20
and assess potential impacts to=20
groundwater.
The FSEIS =
Fails to=20
adequately analyze ground water quantity =
impacts.
The FSEIS =
Fails to=20
adequately describe or analyze proposed=20
mitigation measures.
=
Documentation
=
Documents=20
related to the Dewy Burdock application =
are=20
available on the NRC website (www.nrc.gov). =20
Documents regarding this Baord =
proceeding are=20
available on the NRC=E2=80=99s =
Electronic Hearing Docket=20
(http://ehd1.nrc.gov/ehd/)=20
by clicking on the folder entitled=20
=
=E2=80=9CPowertech_USA-40-9075-MLA=E2=80=9D in the left-hand=20
margin of the webpage. [It works; =
we tried=20
it.]
=
=
Owe=20
Aku is a grassroots organization of =
Lakota=20
people and our allies founded to promote =
the=20
protection of sacred water and =
preservation of=20
our territorial lands. =
Our actions=20
for environmental justice rely upon =
cultural=20
revitalization as our major tool in =
achieving=20
our goals. The principle location =
from=20
which are operations are based are on =
Lakota=20
territory along Wounded Knee Creek on =
what is=20
called the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation =
.=20
From within the tiyospaye system =
comes our=20
guidance which includes work such as=20
Moccasins on the Ground, Unite to =
Fight,=20
Peoples School of Liberation, the Lakota =
Media=20
Project and Owe Aku's international =
program, the=20
International Justice Project. =
More=20
information on our work can be found at=20
=
www.oweakuinternational.org