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The Salt Lake Tribune September 15, 2003
Greenaction was honored to accept an invitation from the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe to join them at a Department of Energy meeting in Moab, Utah on September 12, 2003 to support tribal opposition against the proposal by International Uranium Corporation to build an 85 mile slurry pipeline to transport a mountain of radioactive and toxic waste from the abandoned Atlas Uranium Mill down to the IUC facility next to the White Mesa Ute reservation. For more information, contact:
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Tribes: Moving waste to White Mesa is Out By Lisa Church MOAB -- Representatives of two Ute tribes and the White Mesa Ute chapter told the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on Friday that relocating 13 million tons of uranium mill waste to White Mesa in southeastern Utah is unequivocally unacceptable. The proposal from International Uranium Corp. (IUC) is one of several alternatives the DOE is considering for disposing of the Cold War-era Atlas Uranium Mill tailings perched on the banks of the Colorado River near Moab. The other alternatives are Klondike Flats about 18 miles north of Moab, and 30 miles west near Crescent Junction. The DOE estimates it would cost about $386 million to relocate the tailings, which are leaking ammonia and other contaminants into the river. It also is studying a plan to cap the tailings in place at a cost of about $137 million. In March, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Council, based in Towaco, Colo., passed a resolution opposing IUC's proposal to construct an 85-mile slurry pipeline to transport the uranium tailings from Moab to its processing mill about three miles north of the White Mesa tribal community. Friday's meeting was the first in a series of "consultations" between DOE officials and Ute and Navajo tribal members to identify how each off-site disposal plan could affect tribal cultural resources, including artifacts, grave sites and traditional cultural practices, as well as water and air pollution. Ute officials said they will work with the DOE, and possibly accept some mitigation of cultural resources to the Klondike Flats and Crescent Junction sites, but they want the White Mesa site off the list. The tribal council believes the IUC plan poses significant risks to its White Mesa residents. Members of the Southern Ute tribe share those concerns. Ute tribal members repeatedly have opposed the IUC plan at public "scoping meetings" held by the DOE in southeastern Utah in the past year. "Which part of 'no' don't they understand?" asked Terry Knight, Ute Mountain Ute tribe member. "Why the total disregard for the Ute tribe's concerns? Why would the government still want to consider that? It's illogical." Knight said the DOE's ongoing
examination of the feasibility of the White Mesa proposal is indicative
of how the federal government treats the Utes and other "Why is it continuing?" he asked. "What little respect we have for the white man goes down the drain. You're trying to exterminate us again; you're just using a different method." Tribal officials don't believe the pipeline project will financially benefit White Mesa residents, and say tribal members are more concerned with building safe communities. "We don't want the money . . . we want to protect our lives," said White Mesa Tribal Council member Manuel Hearth. Joel Berwick, DOE project manager for the Atlas site, said all the concerns raised in the meeting will be carefully considered as the DOE works to complete a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for the project by April. DOE representatives will work directly with Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute tribal councils and chapter houses to discuss concerns. "It's very clear that
they are willing to engage in cultural resources
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