fight URANIUM - PLEASE read

[bONES]

This has me feeling pretty disgusted in our government and their idea of green energy.

Why can't we learn from our mistakes!

If you feel uranium mining is a step backwards, please join me in writing letters.

A letter to the town council cced to all members of council (we can send you the address if you don't have it). We plan to go before council early in the new year to ask for their support in demanding a moratorium of uranium mining and exploration so letters would be a great help. Letters to McGuinty would be of great help as they are the governing body when it come to mining, cced to the minister of mines and northern developement.

Who we are

We are a group of residents in the Highlands East area who are concerned about the detrimental effects that uranium mining and exploration will have on our health, our environment and our homes. Many of us are directly impacted by the staking activity that has gone on in our area.

Contact us at fighturanium@gmail.com

FIGHT URANIUM MINING AND EXPLORATION (FUME)

A group of activists dedicated to the defense of our environment and the preservation of the beauty of the Haliburton Highlands. Our aim is to change the mining act, stop uranium mining and exploration and investigate the possibility of raising a class action lawsuit against the government for putting the health and welfare of its citizens in jeopardy.

FUME

Bancroft Uranium Inc, is commencing drilling on a roughly 5000 acre claim in Tory Hill in January, 2008.

Bancroft Uranium

Bancroft Uranium Inc. Closes $3.0 Million Financing for Development of Monmouth Uranium Project in Canada

Encouraged by the recent rise in the price of uranium to over $135 per pound, Bancroft Uranium Inc. has assembled a portfolio of uranium projects that includes the Monmouth Uranium Project. Monmouth is located in Central Ontario, Canada, a 1.5-hour drive north of Toronto, near Gooderham, Ontario. The Monmouth Uranium Project is significant to the Company due to the historical work that has been performed.

watch this documentary on uranium by the NFB

[Dougout]

Thanks for posting this. We all need to be scared straight on this issue.

[boiler]

An announcement for a new Nuke plant or two in Ontario is coming soon. Bruce 'C' and in Peace River I believe.

[nibbler]

We also have this lady to thank for bringing this issue into the spotlight:

Donna Dillman

If a 53 year old lady can hunger strike for 66 days in an effort to protect the environment today and tomorrow; well, I suppose I can at least educate myself a bit, send off some letters and emails.

Thanks Starhead, for bringing this issue up. I hope some other skanks follow your lead here.

[jayr]

If only we could enbrace coastal wind power. The entire earth could be powered by it and we could quit using nuclear power. The only problem is that you cant build nuclear weapons with the by products of wind power.

[\/\/illy]

If only we could enbrace coastal wind power. The entire earth could be powered by it and we could quit using nuclear power. The only problem is that you cant build nuclear weapons with the by products of wind power.

Well then it's pretty useless. ;-)

[SaggyBalls]

a great time to invest in uranium.

so muchprofit...way more than would come from supporting new industry

[Velvet]

Uranium mining is threatening the future of the best festival in the world too. They're trying to start mining on the front door of Blue Skies Music Festival in Clarendon, Ontario.

[Asparagus]

I guess that's progress. Don't it make you feel good inside.

[bONES]

watch this documentary on uranium by the NFB

has anyone watched this film?

Newbold >> I hope you meant your comment to be in purple

I own property not far from the 5000 acres that is scheduled for exploration in the next couple weeks.

The Irondale River runs right through the proposed site.

Water knows no boundaries, so this effects us all whether we think so or NOT

We're all going to Hell In A Bucket and some people are enjoying the ride!

And it's not just in the Haliburton/Bancroft area..

There are currently hundreds of uranium mining claims in West Quebec that could significantly affect you and your family (including Ottawa and Gatineau)

Canada is the world's largest producer of uranium. In 2004 production at 13,676 tonnes of uranium oxide concentrate (11,597 tonnes U) was about 30% of total world production. Its value was about C$ 800 million.

[nibbler]

Canada frequently refers to an "official nuclear waste inventory" of 25,000 tons. When we hear common discussion of the problems with nuclear power, and the difficulties in containing nuclear waste; its only these 25,000 tons that people refer to.

Not that 25,000 tons of nuclear waste isn't much, but...

A convenient loophole in defining nuclear waste here in Canada allows Uranium mines to leave dangerous radioactive tailings behind. Canada's "unofficial inventory" of nuclear waste is well over 1,000,000,000 tons. Elliot Lake Ontario, former home of the worlds largest Uranium mine is estimated to have a radioactive tailings inventory of over 130,000,000 tons!

The Uranium tailings in the above photo appear white like a bank of snow. Don't let them fool you- notice how the once thiving landscapes burn and die when exposed to radioactive decay. Uranium mine tailings remain radioactive for tens of thousands of years...

Another example of the unofficial nuclear waste inventory up at Elliot Lake, captured by Canadian photographer and environmentalist, Edward Burtynsky.

So, while Starhead finds the local Uranium exploration alarming, he's right; he is not alone; much of the Canadian Shield and Ontario will be rendered uninhabitable in our lifetimes. Did I say uninhabitable... silly me; thats inaccurate; as some savvy developer has turned radioactive Elliot Lake into a "thriving" retirement community for our elderly:

[bONES]

Hi Folks,

FYI, here's an article that appeared in the Star today.

FUME

High-stakes battle over mining rights

Century-old law giving prospectors right to drill on private land unites natives and non-natives

May 12, 2008 04:30 AM

Peter Gorrie

Environment Reporter

OMPAH, Ont.–Frank Morrison knew immediately what the red metal tag meant. He didn't understand why it was on his land.

It was a crisp, sunny morning in October 2006. Morrison, retired from the advertising industry, was cutting wood on the rolling, 40-hectare property, 100 kilometres north of Kingston, that he and his wife Gloria moved to six years ago.

The tag was attached to a tree that had been chopped to just over a metre high. A straight row of pink ribbons ran from it into the bush. Other trees had been crudely blazed.

All this meant that a prospector, without permission, had claimed the site for a potential mine.

Calls to the provincial Ministry of Northern Development and Mines confirmed that Oakville-based Frontenac Ventures Corp. had staked the claims – in fact, to 80 per cent of the Morrisons' property and, eventually, about 12,000 hectares in the area. The company was looking for uranium.

Under Ontario's century-old Mining Act, and across Canada and most of the world, all this is legal. In fact, secret staking is considered crucial to the industry.

"We found out very quickly that there is no help. The mining industry trumps everything," Morrison said recently in the couple's log home – partly finished and with construction at a standstill while the mine remains a threat.

The Morrisons are part of a gathering protest over mining rights that is uniting non-natives and Indians, and causing a major headache at Queen's Park.

The mining industry has long operated out of sight, and mind. Not any more: Soaring prices for uranium, platinum and other minerals have touched off a claims-staking rush across much of Ontario.

The race for resources has put the spotlight on the Act, which, under a system known as free entry, allows prospectors and mine developers almost unhindered access to public lands and much private property as well.

Indians say they're fighting for the right to control development on their traditional lands. The Morrisons and other non-natives are incensed that prospectors can arrive, unannounced, and dig for minerals under their feet.

The controversy has grown so high profile that Premier Dalton McGuinty promises to "modernize" the creaky law.

Much is at stake: Queen's Park is courting mining companies to boost the province's economy. Industry officials warn mining would die without free entry.

Prospectors depend on secrecy, said Neal Smitheman, lawyer for Frontenac Ventures. "They don't want to share information before staking ... It's easy to have your claim jumped."

On the other side, seven people are in jail for protesting mine developments, and more might join them next month.

AFTER FINDING THE METAL

Morrison contacted a local Indian group, the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation, whose land claim covers most of the proposed mining territory.

After months of research and phone calls, non-natives and Indians joined forces.

On last year's national aboriginal day of protest, the Algonquins set up a blockade camp at Frontenac's base, a few kilometres from the Morrisons' place, where exploratory drilling was to be done. A short-term event became a peaceful vigil that continued for months. Non-native supporters, who refer to themselves as settlers, brought food and supplies, and communicated the story to the rest of the province.

Meanwhile, at Frontenac's request, a Kingston judge issued an injunction against the protest. In October, several Algonquins and non-natives, including Morrison, were charged with violating the order.

The case went to court in February. While charges against the non-natives were withdrawn, Associate Chief Justice Douglas Cunningham told the Algonquins to submit to the injunction or go to jail.

All but one agreed. The exception was Bob Lovelace, 59, a former chief who teaches at Queen's University in Kingston.

"I am in a dilemma," he told the court. "I want to obey Canadian law, but Algonquin law instructs me that I must preserve Creation. I must follow Algonquin law."

"There can only be one law – the law of Canada as expressed in this court," Cunningham replied as he imposed a six-month jail term and a $25,000 fine.

That wasn't the end of it. For technical legal reasons, a second set of charges was laid later last fall against the same group. A June 2 hearing has been set.

The camp continued until February, when the court ordered opponents to stay at least 200 metres away. The OPP charged four non-natives: They, too, are to be in court next month.

One of the Algonquins who will again stand before Cunningham is Harold Perry, 78, an honorary chief who moves and speaks slowly after a couple of strokes and heart attacks. He didn't want to comply with the order last time but acquiesced for friends worried he'd die in jail. He'll respond differently if issued the same ultimatum next month, he said over tea and sandwiches in the rural lakeside home he built nearly 50 years ago in a village called Ompah, 100 kilometres southwest of Ottawa.

"There comes a point at my age when if you don't stand up for your rights, what are you living for?"

Around the same time Lovelace was jailed, up in Thunder Bay, six members of Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug, or KI, an Indian community in Ontario's far north, got six-month terms for protesting development of a platinum mine.

In Eastern Ontario, critics fear the health and environmental impacts of an open-pit uranium mine, particularly that radioactive waste would ruin water sources and that the project would kill the tourism and cottage economy. But the heart of the dispute is who determines where mines are built.

Staking raises different issues on private and public land.

Like the Morrisons, most private property holders own just the surface rights to their land. Prospectors can stake for minerals without permission. If exploratory drilling or other work is to be done, landowners can negotiate for compensation. But if they object, they can't simply say "No." They must take their case to the provincial Mining Commissioner to decide.

"When your land is staked, what it really means is that you really have no rights at all," Gloria Morrison said. The claim staking has destroyed the value of their property, she said, but, far more, the experience shattered a lifetime of certainties.

"You believe in democracy, freedom of speech and justice in the courts. Then you're faced with one assault after another. It's like the ground is pulled out from under you."

On public, or Crown, land, mining can go ahead as long as the province approves, and it usually does.

Reserves are off-limits to miners, but the Act is an issue when Indians claim additional territory, which usually means Crown land.

In 2004, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled, on a dispute in British Columbia, that Indians must be consulted before development occurs. Ontario's Liberal government says it concurs. But it and the courts interpret consultation as simply offering information and discussing how projects should proceed.

The Ardoch Algonquins and KI members argue that's not enough: "The government's view is that there will be consultation but at the end of the process there will be mining exploration," says Ardoch co-chief Mireille Lapointe. "That's not consultation. There needs to be the possibility it will lead to no exploration."

Now that free entry has moved out of the shadows, a reportedly divided Liberal cabinet is trying to figure out how to respond.

To defuse the controversy, the government says it supports freeing Lovelace and the "KI Six."

On the bigger issue: "We need to modernize the Act so that it is in keeping with our values and expectations at the beginning of the 21st century," McGuinty said in a recent written response to critics.

But it appears unlikely free entry will be abandoned, or that consultation will include a veto for Indians.

The government has no desire to curtail development, and some communities welcome it, Mines Minister Michael Gravelle said in a recent interview. "The real issue is how do we find the balance between the requirement to have consultation that's viewed as legitimate by First Nations and the need to maintain the investment climate, which is extremely positive in Ontario. It's a bit of a tightrope."

[Ms Zimmy]

We represented Frank Morrison in that trial.

Thank god it started getting the attention it needed...but I don't know how they will stop Frontenac Ventures.

I really really dislike Justice Cunningham.

[onthejourney]

Is there a petition site or a form letter that can be sent? I am not trying to be lazy...there are so many causes I agree with out there and I am a busy lady. Right now I am spending a lot of time on Bill C-51 but I would love to support this project as well.

[CyberHippie]

Yeah this is pretty sickening! I just heard about a uranium mine that is supposed to be opening up in the Land O Lakes region that is supposed to have a huge environmental impact. They are invading cottage country now!

I think the best way to fight is to go and get your own land staked. Apparently it only costs like $25 or something like that. Probably worth doing your neighbors land as well! Once you stake your own claim then that otta keep those dirty developers out.

http://forums.cottagelife.com/viewtopic.php?t=1719&highlight=mine

Edited May 12, 2008 by Guest

[boiler]

I don't know what happened in those photos to cause that. Obviously no waste should be just dumped into lakes, from any sort of mining or industrial waste. The worst environmental disaster in the world is found in Sydney NS, as a result of waste being dumped in from the Steel Plant into the "tar ponds" . I could also tell you about the deplorable conditions I found working in the Nickel Smelter at Inco in Sudbury. There's no doubt about it, mining of any sort is dirty business.

BTW: Radiation does not travel through water very well, it is one of the best shields out there. When they take the fuel bundles out of the calandria tubes in the nuke plants they store them in huge water pools, in the plant for a number of years while the radiation "cools." At 15 feet of depth, radiation is undetectable in water. After it "cools", the spent fuel is placed in led flasks.(Gamma radiation also has a very hard time getting through led, it's what is used most often for day to day sheilding.) Then it's buried in the ground on site at The Bruce Nuke Plant.

While I share in your distaste for mining, especially in your own backyard (I know a little something about what that's like too having grown up in a coal town). I'm all for Nuclear Power. Unless everyone shuts out their lights and turns off their big screens, there's no other way to produce enough power to sustain our current life styles. That being said, GM is the largest electrical customer in the province, but that seems to be changing. Who knows what can happen. All I know is that the campaigning has statred in ernest up here to build Bruce C. They say they may build the new one, before rebuilding the other two units.

Edited May 13, 2008 by Guest

[skelter]

http://www.waterkeeper.ca/content/drink/ondaatje_cockburn_to_headline.php

World-famous writer Michael Ondaatje will join Canadian folk-rock artist Bruce Cockburn at a June benefit concert to raise money for jailed Algonquin uranium mine protester Bob Lovelace.

A recipient of the Order of Canada and the illustrious Booker Prize, Ondaatje is perhaps best known as the author of The English Patient. He, Cockburn and several other artists will perform at the Artists for Bob concert at Sydenham Street United Church, 82 Sydenham St., on June 14 at 7 p.m.

The other artists who have agreed to appear include Susan Aglukark, David Francey, Jenny Whiteley, Steven Heighton, Joey Wright, Terry Tufts, Unity and the Algonquin Drummers.

Lovelace, a retired chief of the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation and a Queen's University lecturer, has been imprisoned for blocking prospector access to a proposed uranium mine site in North Frontenac.

All funds raised through the concert will go to Lovelace through a trust fund.

Unreserved seating costs $30 while limited Free Bob Lovelace Supporter tickets cost $100. They include preferred seating, an Artists For The Algonquin compilation CD, and a pass to the artist after-show party.

Tickets are available at Brian's Record Option, Novel Idea, Tara Natural Foods and The Grand Theatre box office, located inside City Hall.

Tickets can also be ordered by phoning 613-530-2050 or online at www.grandtheatre-kingston.com.

[bONES]

ONTARIO TOWN CHOSEN AS SITE FOR NUCLEAR WASTE STORAGE

A "deep geologic repository" for the storage of nuclear waste has been proposed by the Ontario Power Generation to be located on the Bruce nuclear site in the municipality of Kincardine, Ontario.

The federal government has released documents related to the licensing of this storage facility and the environmental assessment that is required for it. (These documents are available at www.ceaa-acee.gc.ca.)

The radioactive waste to be stored in this proposed repository would come from the OPG-owned nuclear stations at Bruce, Pickering, and Darlington, Ontario.

Before a license for this facility can be granted, a study of the possible environmental impacts must be conducted by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.

Written comments are invited from concerned citizens on this project. They should be mailed or faxed to: Deep Geologic Repository Project, Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, 160 Elgin Street, Place Bell Canada, Ottawa, ON K1A-0H3. Tel. 1-866-582-1884; Fax: 613-954-0941.

The deadline for receiving such written views is June 18, 2008.

[Ms Zimmy]

There were hundreds of protesters and they only arrested aboriginals.

Most protesters cannot afford good legal council but these companies have top lawyers. So they fine the protesters who then appear in court and pay the fine and told to stay out and off the land.

My organization, being non-profit, can represent them at a very minimal fee and we are having charges dismissed. We are still heavily involved in this case, representing others after Frank Morrison. Frank got all the aboriginals invovled and Frontenac didn't like that, wanted to "teach" him a lesson. But we did a good job representing him, they didn't have a case anyways (it's called a slap suit).

It sickens me how judges, lawyers and authorities fine and threaten "public protesters" when they have no base for their charges. People have a right to protest.