Uranium Mining and Nuclear Pollution in the Upper
Midwest
By Charmaine White Face
FACT SHEET
1. Uranium
mining in South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, and North
Dakota began in the middle of the 1960s. World War II,
which ended with the nuclear bomb, introduced the use of
nuclear energy for the production of electricity and
caused the price of uranium to rise. As the economy of
the Midwestern states depends primarily on agriculture,
when uranium was discovered in the region, many
get-rich-quick schemes were adopted. Not only were large
mining companies chopping off the tops of bluffs and
buttes, but small individual ranchers were also digging
in their pastures for the radioactive metal. Mining
occurred on both public and private land, although the
Great Sioux Nation still maintains a claim to the area
through the Fort Laramie Treaties of 1851 and 1868.
2. In
northwestern South Dakota, for example, the Cave Hills
area is managed by the US Forest Service. The area
currently contains 89 abandoned open-pit uranium mines.
Studies show that one mine alone has 1400 mR/hr of
exposed radiation, a level of radiation that is 120,000
times higher than normal background of 100 mR/yr. There
are no warning signs posted for the general public
anywhere near this site! It is estimated that more than
1,000 open-pit uranium mines and prospects can be found
in the four state region from a map developed by the US
Forest Service.
3. The
following agencies are aware of these abandoned uranium
mines and prospects: US Forest Service, US Environmental
Protection Agency, US Bureau of Land Management, SD
Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the
Bureau of Indian Affairs and the US Indian Health
Service. Only after public concern about these mines was
raised did the USFS and the EPA pay for a study of one mine this year, 2006. No studies have been
completed on the health effects to humans or the
environment.
4. The water
runoff from the Cave Hills abandoned uranium mines
empties into the Grand River which flows through the
Standing Rock Indian Reservation. Three villages are
located on the Grand River and their residents have used
the water for drinking and other domestic purposes for
generations. One village still uses the water for
drinking and domestic purposes. The water runoff from
the Slim Buttes abandoned uranium mines empty into the
Morreau River which flows through the Cheyenne River
Indian Reservation. Four villages are located on the
Morreau River, however no data is currently available
about their use of the Morreau River water. Both of
these rivers empty into the Missouri River which empties
into the Mississippi River.
5. In 1972,
President Richard Nixon signed a secret Executive Order
declaring this four State region to be a 'National
Sacrifice Area’ for the mining and production of uranium
and nuclear energy.
6. In
southwestern South Dakota, the southern Black Hills also
contain many abandoned uranium mines. Nuclear radiation
near Edgemont, SD, has already polluted the underground
water of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation according to
a study completed in 1980 by Women of All Red Nations.
The US Air Force also used small nuclear power plants in
their remote radar stations and intercontinental
ballistic missile silos which also number in the
hundreds in this four State region.
7. In Wyoming, hundreds of abandoned open-pit uranium
mines and prospects can be found in or near the coal in
the Powder River Basin. Yet plans are being made to ship
more of that coal to power plants in the Eastern part of
the United States. Radioactive dust and particles will
be released into the air at the power plants. Federal
tax dollars totaling more than $2.3 billion dollars as a
loan are planned to be given to a private business, the
Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad, to increase the
amount of coal hauled to the power plants.
8. More
than 7,000 exploratory wells have been drilled in South
Dakota and Wyoming surrounding the Black Hills which
contain many sacred places and burial sites. In this
process many of these sacred sites have been destroyed.
The wells are 500-800 feet in depth and have already
introduced uranium into the underground aquifers. Now,
new mining companies are trying to avoid South Dakota's
slow legislative process to monitor In Situ Leach Mining
by seeking permits before the regulations are complete.
Summary
This Fact
Sheet regarding the past uranium mining and small
underground nuclear power plants in the Upper Midwest
region, should give cause for alarm to all thinking
people in the United States. It is for this reason that
we are bringing this issue to your attention. For more
than forty years, the people of South Dakota and beyond
have been subjected to radioactive polluted dust and
water runoff from the hundreds of abandoned open pit
uranium mines, processing sites, underground nuclear
power stations, and waste dumps. Pollution does not stop
at State boundaries so these places generating
radioactive pollution to the air and water are also
impacting the rest of the United States. Coal tainted
with uranium and radiation that is going to Eastern
power plants adds to the total amount of radioactive
pollution There needs to be a concerted effort to
determine the extent of the radioactive pollution in
the environment, and the health damage that has been and
is currently being inflicted upon the people of the
United States.
It is
imperative that a federal bill be passed in Congress
appropriating enough funds for the cleanup of ALL
the abandoned uranium mines in this four
State region. Placing this serious condition on the end
of the Superfund list of hazardous sites to be addressed
in twenty years will not help the health of the nation.
The cleanup of all of these mines and underground sites
must occur now. Those responsible for this disaster
must face the consequences, but the cleanup and health
concerns of the nation need to be addressed first.
We hope
you will consider our request for concerted actions to
be taken at the national level regarding these grave
concerns. This problem of radiation pollution spreading
throughout the United States has been allowed to quietly
continue for much too long.
What
you can do
1. Contact
your Congressional Representative and Senators by phone
(202) 224-3121, through the mail, and email. Ask that
they consider sponsoring a bill for the cleanup of all
the abandoned uranium mines and prospects, and
underground nuclear sites in the Upper Midwest Region of
South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming.
2. Also ask
your Congressional Representatives and Senators to
support the Expansion of the Radiation Exposure
Compensation Act (RECA) to include all those harmed by
the abandoned uranium mines and prospects in the Upper
Midwest Region.
3. Include
the fact that federal taxes should not be used to help a
private railroad haul radioactive coal to Eastern power
plants. Encourage your Senators and Representatives to
tell the Federal Railroad Administration, no loan to the
DM&E Railroad.
Thank you
Charmaine
White Face, Coordinator
Defenders of the Black Hills
PO Box 2003
Rapid City, SD 57709
