In-situ leaching uranium mining contaminates groundwater
“It takes hundreds, perhaps thousands of years, to transform aquifer water back into a drinkable condition.
Scientists Back Navajos’ Uranium Mining Fight: Tribe fears contamination of drinking water BRENDA NORRELL Indian Country 19 July 2010, “..…..Abitz said in-situ leaching uses a hydrogen peroxide mixture to strip the uranium from the rock, which kills tissue and destroys cells in human and animal life. The addition of oxygen and sodium bicarbonate called oxygenates causes uranium and other radioactive substances and trace metals to be liberated from the rock into the groundwater.
Abitz said judges have too often taken the stance that they are judges who know nothing of the mining industry and accept the data of corporations, claiming the corporations are in the know.“It is a fallacy,” said Abitz, who manages restoration of uranium-contaminated groundwater at the government’s Fernald uranium plant near Cincinnati, Ohio.
Abitz said the water taken from the extremely pristine Westwater Canyon Aquifer near Crownpoint for uranium mining and used for flushing out chemicals would not be replaced in our lifetimes.
Currently, the pristine water meets the high standard of the World Health Organization. The clean water standard is 0.002 mg of uranium contamination per liter.
“It takes hundreds, perhaps thousands of years, to transform aquifer water back into a drinkable condition. Abitz agreed with Wallace that there is no doubt that the contamination will reach Navajo water supplies. “It will make its way into the Crownpoint water supply.”
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