Monday, March 22, 2010

Anti-uranium doctors renew threat to resign

Comment: Another local government not listing to her people who are against uranium mining which will ruin our water, land and air! NO to uranium mining!

Last Updated: Monday, March 22, 2010 |
3:31 PM ET

Nearly two-dozen doctors in Sept-Îles, Que., are renewing their threats to resign and leave the province after the government rejected calls for a moratorium on uranium mining and exploration in the region.

The province decided against a moratorium before hearing from a provincial panel researching the health effects of uranium mining, said psychiatrist Dr. Isabelle Gingras, one of the north shore doctors who is threatening to resign.

In December, Dr. Alain Poirier, the chief public health officer in Quebec, announced the creation of a special committee to study the potential effects of uranium exploration and mining on the health of the population.

Gingras is a member of the committee, which was set up after 23 doctors at the Sept-Îles Hospital threatened to resign unless the province banned uranium mining and exploration, which they called a threat to public health.

"If … there is risk to this industry and the government still wants to go ahead, I will eventually leave the province," Gingras said Sunday.

The rejection of a moratorium follows a petition to the Quebec national assembly, signed by 14,000 residents, supporting the call for the moratorium.

Serge Simard, the junior minister for natural resources, has said that no mining project in the region would be approved without the support of the local population.

But in response to the petition, Simard wrote a letter saying a moratorium would not be justified.

Residents of Sept-Îles, which is about 600 km northeast of Quebec City, have staged vocal protests against uranium exploration underway in the region.

The uranium debate began more than a year ago after mining company Terra Ventures Inc. began exploration near Lake Kachiwiss, about 20 kilometres north of Sept-Îles.

Residents have expressed concern that tailings from uranium mining and exploration could affect the quality of the air and contaminate local drinking water.


Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2010/03/22/mtl-uranium-sept-iles-doctors.html#ixzz0ix3hCh9q