Senator Wagner, Gov Bob, Senator Watkins
Comment: Tell the "Radioactive" Governor of Virginia to keep the Uranium Ban in Virginia so we really never be taken over by the Federal Branch of the Department of Energy to clean up uranium mining waste done by the Candian government!
With only a week to go until the legislative session is over, Wyoming lawmakers are reviewing a number of bills, including a joint resolution requesting Congress to provide for increased monitoring and funding for remediation of the Riverton uranium mill tailings site. The resolution also charges the Department of Energy, the agency responsible for cleanup, with demonstrating “an inability to carry out mandates of federal law in connection with the site and has engendered a climate of distrust, which negatively impacts the ability to reach a solution to remedy a clear health hazard to the residents of the Wind River Indian Reservation and residents of the State of Wyoming.”
The resolution was designed to allow legislators to assist tribal authorities in their dealings with the Department of Energy, and explicitly asks for Congress to provide increased funding and monitoring for the site; enact legislation requiring the DOE to work cooperatively tribal officials and state and local agencies; begin immediate remediation; and that Wyoming’s Secretary of State, Max Maxfield, put the resolution in the hands of President Barack Obama and the speaker of the House of Representatives, the Wyoming congressional delegation, and the Dr. Steven Chu, secretary of the Department of Energy.
“We’d like the Department of Energy to more aggressively handle that situation,” says Republican State Senator Cale Case. “We’re assisting tribal authorities in lending support to them in their assertion that this is a real problem and the Department of Energy hasn’t kept their promises and it’s not going like it’s predicted.”
During debate, Case told the Senate that the federal government expected the site to clean itself up within 100 years, but that hasn’t been the case. The uranium is left over from the ’50s and ’60s when Susquehanna-Western, left behind 1.8-million cubic yards of materials contaminated with uranium, uncapped and unlined until they were finally removed in the late 1980s.
“Pollution at the site has actually increased, especially as a result of the flooding we had in record amounts in 2010,” said Case.
Case isn’t the only one skeptical of the DOE’s assertion that the site will clean itself up naturally after 100 years. Tribal officials on Wind River question this as well, especially in light of recorded uranium spikes in DOE monitoring wells.
James Byrd is the Democratic Representative from Cheyenne. He says the measure is important because when the state gets behind these types of action, it gets the federal government to take notice.
“Basically what we’re trying to do is establish a position,” says Byrd. “A lot of times when we do this is to let the federal government know where we stand so that we can give some ammunition to our congressional delegation, or in other events, the governor if he’s going to meet with governors or other officials on the federal level. What it does is it officially gives him a tool in his toolbox to go and put forth a state platform.”
In February, Governor Mead sent a letter to Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu expressing concern over the DOE’s assertion that the site will clean itself up, and that the department’s efforts may need to be reassessed. He also urged the DOE to “work collaboratively and in close communication with the tribes to reach acceptable, sustained, and well-understood site remediation.” In other words, get on with the work, and play nice with Wind River.
Read more:http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/03/03/door-closing-for-wyoming-lawmakers-on-resolution-against-the-department-of-energy-101171
http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/03/03/door-closing-for-wyoming-lawmakers-on-resolution-against-the-department-of-energy-101171#ixzz1oMJTIsPO
