‘Environment Minister Peter Garrett has formally approved the new Four Mile uranium mine in South Australia, saying it poses no environmental risks’.
- Peter Garrett via last.fm
- Peter Garrett via last.fm
The premier of South Australian, Mike Rann, welcomed the decision saying operations at the state’s nearby Beverley mine ‘show that uranium c
an be mined without damaging the surrounding environment’.
Which means neither man can have read the South Australian governments own figures into spills at the Beverley mine. Here are just a few [http://www.wise-uranium.org/umopaus.html]…
Apr. 22, 2006: spill of 14,400 litres of solution containing approx. 0.5% uranium
Oct. 31, 2005: spill of 23,700 litres of mining solution, containing approx. 0.06% uranium
Aug. 8, 2005: spill of 13,500 litres of extraction fluid containing approx. 0.01% uraniumMar. 7, 2005: spill of 50,000 – 60,000 litres of injection fluid
Dec. 8, 2004: spill of approx. 2,300 litres of mining solution, containing 0.028% uranium
June 13, 2002: spill of 1,750 litres of brine solution
June 7, 2002: spill of 1,500 litres of injection fluid in the well field
May 5, 2002: spill of 14,900 litres of water containing 0.0018% uranium
May 1, 2002: spill of almost 7,000 litres of brine solution containing some uranium
January 11, 2002: spill of 60,000 liters of groundwater containing acid and uranium, after pipe rupture
Fancy the premier of South Australia being so ignorant of such worrying safety violations going on in his own state. Scandalous.
In fact, that’s the word to sum up the whole Four Mile story: scandalous. Peter Garrett is a former campaigning rock star who fought doggedly against nuclear power before entering politics (‘Why would Australians support an industry that produces radioactive waste, toxic waste?’ he said just three years ago), And with the local Aboriginal communitie
s being (yet again) left out of the negotiations and decision-making over Four Mile, this all has a horribly familiar ring to it.
from Greenpeace…Full Story here – please share
http://weblog.greenpeace.org/nuclear-reaction/2009/07/the_history_of_uranium_mining.html
Meanwhile back in Germany the Uranium lobby is on the rise despite the following revelations of safety and management fiascos
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/277622,damaged-rod-found-at-crippled-german-nuclear-site.html
excerpt;
Berlin- A damaged fuel rod sought since last week has been located inside one of Germany’s 12 nuclear power stations, regulators said Wednesday.The jinxed plant at Kruemmel near Hamburg was shut down for two years by a transformer fire.
It was crippled again July 4 by a short circuit and was then reported to have a problem in one or more of its 80,000 fuel rods. Engineers took the lid off the reactor to find the damaged uranium rod.
The problems at Kruemmel have led to calls to retire the station and re-ignited debate in Germany about nuclear power as an election approaches. Anti-nuclear activists are also highlighting mismanagement of nuclear waste dumps in old salt mines.
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G’day, folks 🙂
The human tragedy here is the damage to Peter Garrett. Political parties like to “head-hunt” celebrities. For some reason celebrities are particularly susceptible to blandishments to join the party, get elected to parliament, and “make a difference”. All too often the outcome is disillusionment and embitterment, as the new politican discovers that long-held pesonal commitments must be subordinated to party ideology.
It’s just possible that Peter’s approval of the mine was an act of truculence on his part. Realising how he’d been tricked, knowing his days as Environment Minister must be severely numbered, perhaps Peter reacted in a very human way. Revenge is a dish best eaten cold, but sometimes that’s asking just too much of a human being.
Anyway, I’m off to wreak a bit of havoc myself. I joined Twitter today ( http://twitter.com/eric_carwardine ) to do what I can to de-rail the food-Nazis in Australia and New Zealand who plan to mandatorially add folate to the flour used to make our bread. I can tolerate sub-standard politicians, adjust my budget to accommodate high taxes, and be a “climate-change” skeptic, but when somebody starts mucking-around with the food I eat it’s equivalent to coming at me with a weapon in their hand. Expect a furious response.
Eric Carwardine, in Perth, Western Australia