Antinuclear

Toro Energy uranium company notorious for peddling lies

The Battle to Keep WA Uranium Free, New Matilda.com By Jim Green and Mia Pepper, 13 Sept 11,   “…..Toro is notorious for peddling junk science. As nuclear radiologist Peter Karamoskoswrote in The Age earlier this year:

“There seems to be a never-ending cabal of paid industry scientific ‘consultants’ who are more than willing to state the fringe view that low doses of ionising radiation do not cause cancer and, indeed, that low doses are actually good for you and lessen the incidence of cancer. Canadian Dr Doug Boreham has been on numerous sponsored tours of Australia by Toro Energy, a junior uranium explorer, expounding the view that ‘low-dose radiation is like getting a suntan’. Toro must have liked what it heard because it made him a safety consultant for the company in 2009.”

As Karamoskos goes on to note, Toro’s claims do not stand up to scrutiny: “Ionising radiation is a known carcinogen. This is based on almost 100 years of cumulative research including 60 years of follow-up of the Japanese atom bomb survivors. The International Agency for Research in Cancer (linked to the World Health Organisation) classifies it as a Class 1 carcinogen, the highest classification indicative of certainty of its carcinogenic effects.”

Lake Way, one of the two deposits near Wiluna that Toro wants to mine, holds a number of sacred sites. Toro has not completed archaeological and ethnographic studies and does not have a comprehensive Aboriginal Heritage Management Plan.

Remarkably, Toro’s application states that the company has relied on information provided by third parties and that “Toro has not fully verified the accuracy or completeness of that information except where expressly acknowledged”.

The application goes on to say that that the company “gives no warranty or undertaking, express or implied, in respect of the information contained in this Environmental Review and Management Plan”. Second-hand car dealers inspire more confidence.

There are many specific, local concerns with Toro’s application to mine uranium at Wiluna. These include inadequate water supply plans and transport plans, and long-term radioactive tailings management…… http://newmatilda.com/2011/09/13/battle-keep-wa-uranium-free

September 13, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | secrets and lies, Western Australia | secrets and lies