As if the threat of sulfide mines wasn't enough, Michigan and surrounding states and provinces may soon be the target of uranium mining proposals. The region is ill-prepared for this potential. This 2006 piece from Save the Wild UP puts it well:
Given that the price of uranium has risen from $7 per pound in 2001 to
$40 per pound today, and that exploration for uranium is taking place
in the Upper Peninsula, it becomes “when”, not “if” uranium mining
appears imminent. Present and future world energy needs demand more
nuclear production, so that even low-grade uranium ores may become
profitable.
http://www.savethewildup.org/facts/?id=403
Over in Ontario, things are even hotter. Courtesy of Kay Cumbow:
Blockade and Hunger Strike
Call For a Moratorium on Uranium Mining in Ontario
On June 28, 2007, the Ardoch
Algonquin and Shabot Obaadijiwan First Nations of Eastern Ontario, along
with many supporters, began a blockade of the Frontenec Ventures
Corporation’s staging area for uranium mining exploration in 30,000 acres
around Lake Sharbot. The First Nations claim aboriginal and
jurisdictional rights to the land.
The protesters are calling for
a moratorium on uranium mining in Ontario. Such a moratorium has passed
into law in Nova Scotia. On October 19 2007, the blockade was
lifted when the Ontario government agreed to twelve weeks of mediated
negotiation with the First Nations and signed an agreement pledging to
consult the nations on the future of the mining operation. Robert
Lovelace of the Ardoch Nation said “the direct action was very important
and I think very successful”. Chief Doreen Davis of the Shabot
Obaadijiwan and Co-Chief Paula Sherman of the Ardoch Algonquin issued a
statement saying that “We are cautiously optimistic that this matter can
be resolved and believe that this proposal provides the parties with the
opportunity to do so.”
The Ontario Provincial Police
are trying to cultivate a good relationship with the local communities
and largely refrained from interfering in the protest even after a judge
handed down an injunction to break it up. In 1995 an unarmed Chippewa
protester, Dudley George, was shot dead by the Ontario Provincial Police
during an occupation by First Nations claiming territorial rights in
Ipperwash Provincial Park.
The two First Nations are
being sued by the mining company and have filed a $10 million
counterclaim. They are also seeking $1 billion from Ontario for breach of
fiduciary duty and breach of duty to consult. It is also an election
year, so the issue has been very ticklish politically.
A supporter from the local
settler community, Donna Dillman, 53, aka Gramma Donna, resolved to stage
her own protest and started a hunger strike on October 8 in a tent
trailer on the blockade site. Now closing in on 50 days, Donna has taken
her protest to Queen’s Park next to the Ontario government’s seat in
Toronto. This has renewed the pressure on the government with almost a
tag team effect. Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty stated that Dillman
should not endanger her health. This outraged Dillman who said “this is
about our grandchildren and the future health of the province, why should
my health be considered and not theirs?” Said Dr. Gordon Edwards,
President of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility “The brave
men and women who are blockading the Sharbot Lake site are not only
protecting their own land, they are also protecting the Ottawa River and
the entire Ottawa region from radioactive contamination”
Gramma Donna has been keeping
a blog at www.ccamu.ca , the official
website of the Community Coalition Against Mining Uranium.
