BHP’s plan to take yet more water for huge copper-uranium mine
https://www.melbournefoe.org.au/olympic_dam_uranium_mine_expansion1219
The federal government is inviting public comment on BHP’s proposed expansion of the Olympic Dam copper-uranium mine (ODM) until Tues. 10 Dec 2019.
BHP plans to increase extraction of precious Great Artesian Basin water to an average 50 million litres per day for the next 25 years, with likely serious adverse impacts on the unique and fragile Mound Springs ‒ which are listed as an Endangered Ecological Community and are of significant cultural importance to Aboriginal people.
Please make a brief submission to the Federal Minister for Environment. You can use our pro-forma submission and just add your name (and you can add any additional comments you like).
More information:
- Short briefing papers on the proposed Olympic Dam expansion are posted at https://nuclear.foe.org.au/olympic-dam/.
- See esp. the “Preconditions to Protect Mound Springs in Olympic Dam Expansion EIS Guidelines“.
- Detailed BHP information: See the BHP Referral at http://epbcnotices.environment.gov.au/publicnoticesreferrals/ and scroll down to Referral Number 2019/8570, dated 27 Nov. in chronological listing, or Search (use the tab “Filter by Referral Number’) for 2019/8570.
Traditional Aboriginal owners will not give up fight against planned WA uranium mine, despite legal loss
 Traditional Owners lose another fight against planned WA uranium mine, https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/nitv-news/article/2019/08/01/traditional-owners-lose-another-fight-against-planned-wa-uranium-mine?fbclid=IwAR3fZ4v8xEAU1sPLXNPznPMbbgTM0YSa97czCEvMfQacuYNB2XTsWaOhUgo 1 Aug 19, Environmental approval for Cameco’s Yeelirrie uranium mine proposal in WA still stands after another appeal by Traditional Owners failed. Traditional Owners and the Conservation Council of WA have lost their fight against a proposed uranium mine that the Environmental Protection Authority refused to back, saying risks to subterranean fauna in the project area were too great.Former state environment minister Albert Jacob approved Cameco’s Yeelirrie mine plan in January 2017, just 16 days before the pre-election caretaker mode began.
Together with members of the Tjiwarl native title group, CCWA challenged the approval in the Supreme Court but lost, and on Wednesday had their the Court of Appeal challenge dismissed. Traditional Owner Vicki Abdullah said the native title group was disappointed, but taking the case to court had exposed problems with WA’s environmental laws. “We won’t give up – our country is too important. We will continue to fight for Yeelirrie and to change the laws, ” Ms Abdullah said. CCWA director Piers Verstegen said the judgment was appalling and demonstrated WA’s environmental laws urgently needed to be strengthened. “This case has confirmed our worst fears – that it is legally admissible for a minister to sign off on a project against the advice of the EPA and in the knowledge that it would cause the extinction of multiple species, ” he said. “We will consider options for further appeal of this decision. “The mining company can expect a long, expensive process if they want to continue pursuing plans to mine uranium at Yeelirrie.” |
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Fatal drive for economic growth, as planet is trashed by pollution and climate change
Don’t pursue economic growth at expense of environment – report
Europe’s environmental watchdog gives warning as climate crisis continues, Guardian, Fiona Harvey 4 Dec 19, in Madrid Pursuing economic growth at the expense of the environment is no longer an option as Europe faces “unprecedented” challenges from climate chaos, pollution, biodiversity loss and the overconsumption of natural resources, according to a report from Europe’s environmental watchdog.
Europe was reaching the limits of what could be achieved by gradual means, by making efficiencies and small cuts to greenhouse gas emissions, with “transformational” change now necessary to stave off the impacts of global heating and environmental collapse, warned Hans Bruyninckx, executive director of the European Environment Agency…..
The EEA scored 35 key measures of environmental health, from greenhouse gases and air pollution, waste management and climate change to soil condition and birds and butterfly species, and found only six in which Europe was performing adequately.
“Incremental changes have resulted in progress in some areas but not nearly enough to meet our long-term goals,” said Bruyninckx. Further marginal changes would grow only more expensive, he predicted, making large-scale change necessary. “We already have the knowledge, technologies and tools we need to make key production and consumption systems such as food, mobility and energy sustainable.”
Wholesale changes could include banning internal combustion engines and scaling up public transport, abandoning fossil fuels in favour of 100% renewable energy, stipulating that products must be designed and manufactured to create no waste, and changes to our diets and agricultural production. Environmental goals could not be seen as separate to or lesser than economic goals, and accepting environmental damage as an inevitable cost would lead to ecological collapse, Bruyninckx warned.
The old system – of “continuing to promote economic growth and seeking to manage the environmental and social impacts” – would not deliver the EU’s long-term vision of “living well, within the limits of the planet”, the report warned.
The report, known as European Environment – State and Outlook (SOER), is a comprehensive study produced every five years and details the health or otherwise of all natural systems across EU member states and others including Norway, Switzerland and Turkey. The 2020 edition was brought forward to inform the incoming European commission as they discuss a promised “green new deal”, and for delegates at COP25, the UN conference on climate change currently taking place in Madrid.
There has been little improvement since the last report in 2015, despite promises, policies and targets, according to SOER 2020. Fewer than a quarter of protected species and only 16% of habitats are in a good state of conservation. Reduced pollution has improved water quality, but Europe will miss by a long way its goal of having a “good” rating for all water bodies by 2020. Though air quality has improved, about a fifth of the urban population live in areas where concentrations of pollutants exceed at least one EU air quality standard, and 62% of ecosystems are exposed to excessive nitrogen levels.
Global heating has added to the risks to health……https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/dec/04/dont-pursue-economic-growth-at-expense-of-environment-report
Paducah, Kentucky – severe nuclear waste problem exacerbated by climate change
“I never said a bad thing about the plant the whole time 
I was growing up,” Lamb said. “It made the economy good. But then we got sick.”
“People who were not highly educated could make really good money working in these industries
“Not only that but the government was saying, this is your patriotic duty. We need this. So everybody just went along because the compensation was pretty good.”
a GAO report released in November showed that 60 percent of U.S. Superfund sites are at risk from the impacts of climate change.
Instead of focusing on cleanup plans, some state lawmakers and federal agencies are loosening regulations on hazardous sites…… Last year, the DOE also moved to relax restrictions on the disposal and abandonment of radioactive waste
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Nuclear waste in Paducah, Kentucky poses extra threat to region facing historic flooding, Scalawag, Austyn Gaffney, 4 Nov 19, “…….. the 750-acre Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. Built in a horseshoe bend of the Ohio River, the plant was the last uranium enrichment facility for nuclear fuel and weaponry in the U.S. before it shuttered its 50-year operation in 2013. It turned a solid — uranium — into a gas called uranium hexafluoride, or UF-6, which was then shipped off to facilities like Oak Ridge in Tennessee (infamous for its role in the Manhattan Project). Due to the presence of hazardous and radioactive wastes contaminating soil, groundwater and surface water, the Environmental Protection Agency added the plant to its Superfund National Priorities List in 1994. …….. For over half a century, the plant was Paducah’s main employer, providing up to 7,000 jobs in a place where nearly a quarter of people now live in poverty. But poor working conditions and unregulated waste disposal also harmed Paducah residents. The legacy of these problems have cost the town and taxpayers. Despite multiple recommendations from a watchdog government agency, the Department of Energy is decades behind schedule on cleanup efforts.
Some experts say the federal government doesn’t know the full cost or scope of what cleaning them up will entail, and that becomes more complicated with more frequent extreme weather. It’s a problem Superfund sites — and especially nuclear waste sites — around the country face. Continue reading
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Research finds that climate modals have accurately predicted global heating
Climate models have accurately predicted global heating, study findsFindings confirm reliability of projections of temperature changes over last 50 years, Guardian, Dana Nuccitelli, Thu 5 Dec 2019 Climate models have accurately predicted global heating for the past 50 years, a study has found.The findings confirm that since as early as 1970, climate scientists have had a solid fundamental understanding of the Earth’s climate system and the ability to project how it will respond to continued increases in the greenhouse effect. Since climate models have accurately anticipated global temperature changes so far, we can expect projections of future warming to be reliable as well.
The research examines the accuracy of 17 models published over the past five decades, beginning with a 1970 study and including 1981 and 1988 models led by James Hansen, the former Nasa climatologist who testified to the US Senate in 1988 about the impacts of anthropogenic global heating. The study also includes the first four reports by the UN’s intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC).
“We found that climate models – even those published back in the 1970s – did remarkably well, with 14 out of the 17 model projections indistinguishable from what actually occurred,” said Zeke Hausfather, of the University of California, Berkeley, and lead author of the paper.
Based on modern climate model projections, if countries follow through with current and pledged climate policies, the world is on track for about 3C of warming above pre-industrial temperatures by 2100 – a situation the IPCC and others predict would be catastrophic…….
Based on modern climate model projections, if countries follow through with current and pledged climate policies, the world is on track for about 3C of warming above pre-industrial temperatures by 2100 – a situation the IPCC and others predict would be catastrophic. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/dec/04/climate-models-have-accurately-predicted-global-heating-study-finds
High levels of radiation detected near start of 2020 Olympic Torch Relay
Nuclear Radiation Hot Spots Found At Starting Point Of Japan’s 2020 Olympic Torch Relay https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2019/12/nuclear-radiation-hot-spots-found-at-starting-point-of-japans-2020-olympic-torch-relay/, George Dvorsky, Dec 5, 2019, High levels of radiation have been detected near Japan’s J-Village, a sports facility and the starting point of the upcoming Olympic torch relay, according to Greenpeace. The discovery was made by surveyors with Greenpeace Japan, which warns that monitoring and decontamination efforts in Fukushima are inadequate.
Radiation levels as high as 71 microsieverts per hour were found on the surface near J-Village in northeastern Japan, according to a Greenpeace press release issued Wednesday. This level of radiation is hundreds of times greater than what’s stipulated in Japan’s decontamination guidelines, prompting Greenpeace Japan to demand that the Japanese government conduct regular radiation monitoring and decontamination of regions affected by the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.
J-Village National Training Centre is in Fukushima prefecture, which is located 20 kilometres from the damaged nuclear power plant. This sports facility will be the starting point of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Torch Relay, which is scheduled to begin on March 26, 2020. That J-Village was chosen as the starting point for the relay is by design, as the Japanese government is promoting the games as the “reconstruction Olympics.” The Olympics will begin on July 24, 2020 in Tokyo, some 239 kilometres from the damaged reactors.
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J-Village recently underwent renovations, and the facility was used to host the Argentina team during the Rugby World Cup held just a few weeks ago, according to Reuters. And as the Guardian reports, the facility served as a “logistics hub” for crews working to manage and decommission the damaged reactors. The readings were made over a two-hour period on October 26 by Greenpeace’s Nuclear Monitoring & Radiation Protection Advisors. High levels of radiation were detected along the boundary of the parking lot and a forest next to J-Village, reports Sankei Shimbun. Readings at ground level were as high as 71 microsieverts, which is 308.7 times more than the nationally accepted 0.23 microsieverts per hour—the standard for decontamination—and 1,775 times the level prior to the Fukushima disaster, according to Greenpeace. Continue reading |
South Korea to ensure that its Olympic team gets radiation-free food
South Korea team to bring radiation detectors to Tokyo Olympics over ‘contamination fears’, Independent 4 Dec 19,
Committee claim food may be compromised despite lifting of Fukushima-related restrictions, Ju-min Park,
Japan has posted data to show the country is safe from Fukushima radiation and many countries have lifted Fukushima-related food restrictions.
The Korea Sports & Olympic Committee (Ksoc) plans to ship red pepper paste, a key ingredient in Korean dishes, and other foods, and check for radiation in meat and vegetables that can only be sourced locally due to stringent quarantine rules, a Ksoc meals plan report shows.
Apparently, ingredients and food will be transported from South Korea as much as possible, possibly including canned food,” Shin Dong-keun, a ruling Democratic Party member of the parliamentary sports committee who was recently briefed by Ksoc, told Reuters in an interview.
“For this Olympic games, food is our team’s main focus so they can provide safe meals for the athletes to erase radiation worries, as opposed to in the past, food was meant to play the supplementary role of helping with their morale.”
Ksoc plans to arrange local Korean restaurants to prepare meals for baseball and softball players competing in Fukushima, as shipping boxed lunches from Tokyo is not feasible, it said in the “2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics Meals Support Centre Plan”.
“These Korean restaurants should only handle food confirmed as radiation free.”…….
Radiation Hot Spots
Greenpeace said on Wednesday that radiation hot spots have been found at the J-Village sports facility in Fukushima where the Tokyo 2020 Olympic torch relay will begin.
South Korea has stepped up demands for a Japanese response to concerns food produced in the Fukushima area and nearby sea could be contaminated by radiation from the Fukushima plant…….
The official said South Korea was preparing a separate meals plan due to concerns from the public and politicians over food safety, unlike the United States and Australia whose athletes will mainly eat food provided by the host country, Japan. ……
The South Korean Olympic committee plan to purchase radiation detecting equipment by February and station an inspector at its own cafeteria in Tokyo during the games to check contamination levels, according to the Ksoc report.
The budget for the Tokyo Olympics meals service is earmarked at 1.7 billion won (£1.2bn), which includes twice the amount of money for buying and shipping ingredients than previous games, according to the committee. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/tokyo-2020-olympics-south-korea-radiation-fukushima-nuclear-disaster-a9232291.html
Many pitfalls in adopting Small Modular Nuclear Reactors – not a viable solution to climate change
‘Many issues’ with modular nuclear reactors says environmental lawyer, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/many-issues-modular-nuclear-1.5381804
Three premiers have agreed to work together to develop the technology, Jordan Gill · CBC News Dec 03, 2019 Modular nuclear reactors may not be a cure for the nation’s carbon woes, an environmental lawyer said in reaction to an idea floated by three premiers.
Theresa McClenaghan, executive director of the Canadian Environmental Law Association, said the technology surrounding small reactors has numerous pitfalls, especially when compared with other renewable energy technology.
This comes after New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe and Ontario Premier Doug Ford agreed to work together to develop the technology.
The premiers say the smaller reactors would help Canada reach its carbon reduction targets but McClenaghan, legal counsel for the environmental group, disagrees.
“I don’t think it is the answer,” said McClenaghan. “I don’t think it’s a viable solution to climate change.”
McClenaghan said the technology behind modular reactors is still in the development stage and needs years of work before it can be used on a wide scale.
“There are many issues still with the technology,” said McClenaghan. “And for climate change, the risks are so pervasive and the time scale is so short that we need to deploy the solutions we already know about like renewables and conservation.”
Waste, security concerns: lawyer
While nuclear power is considered a low-carbon method of producing electricity, McClenaghan said the waste that it creates brings its own environmental concerns.
“You’re still creating radioactive waste,” said McClenaghan.
“We don’t even have a solution to nuclear fuel waste yet in Canada and the existing plans are not taking into account these possibilities.”
McClenanghan believes there are national security risks with the plan as well. She said having more reactors, especially if they’re in rural areas, means there’s a greater chance that waste or fuel from the reactors could be stolen for nefarious purposes.
“You’d be scattering radioactive materials, potentially attractive to diversion, much further across the country,” said the environmental lawyer.
Australian slammed for using First Nations people to try and dodge climate bill — RenewEconomy
Australia awarded second Fossil of the Day, as negotiators use Aboriginal Australians to argue against taking responsibility for climate damage. The post Australian slammed for using First Nations people to try and dodge climate bill appeared first on RenewEconomy.
via Australian slammed for using First Nations people to try and dodge climate bill — RenewEconomy
Hiding in the past, destroying the future — John Quiggin
As I write this, the haze of smoke from the now-continuous bushfires is hanging over Brisbane, as it is over Sydney and other cities. It’s scarcely surprising that the Morrison government is doing its best to ignore the problem, but you might think the official Opposition would be making some noise about it. Not likely!…
via Hiding in the past, destroying the future — John Quiggin
NCH Launches built-for-purpose solar Panel cleaner for harsh Australian conditions — RenewEconomy
Demand is increasing with the improved efficiency and lifespan of solar systems, which are returning better investment than ever. The post NCH Launches built-for-purpose solar Panel cleaner for harsh Australian conditions appeared first on RenewEconomy.
via NCH Launches built-for-purpose solar Panel cleaner for harsh Australian conditions — RenewEconomy
Morrison carves up environment and energy, praises Taylor for waving big stick — RenewEconomy
Federal environment and energy department abolished in end of year shake up that will see the portfolios separated once again. The post Morrison carves up environment and energy, praises Taylor for waving big stick appeared first on RenewEconomy.
via Morrison carves up environment and energy, praises Taylor for waving big stick — RenewEconomy
Australia’s biggest businesses could deliver “a Yallourn” of new wind and solar — RenewEconomy
Australian companies committed to 100% renewables now represent almost 25% of the value of the ASX, but there’s plenty of room for improvement. The post Australia’s biggest businesses could deliver “a Yallourn” of new wind and solar appeared first on RenewEconomy.
via Australia’s biggest businesses could deliver “a Yallourn” of new wind and solar — RenewEconomy
December 4 Energy News — geoharvey
Opinion: ¶ “From Bird-Friendly Coffee To Chocolate Safe For The Rainforest, These Holiday Gifts Give Back” • In 2019, Impact Your World highlighted many of those who make a difference, from fighting to stop rainforest loss and bird extinction to setting up safe spaces for sex-trafficking victims. Here are low-impact ways to help while giving […]
APA officially opens new 20MW solar plant next to W.A. wind farm — RenewEconomy
APA officially opens Badgingarra solar farm in Western Australia wheatbelt region, where it is co-located with a larger wind farm. The post APA officially opens new 20MW solar plant next to W.A. wind farm appeared first on RenewEconomy.
via APA officially opens new 20MW solar plant next to W.A. wind farm — RenewEconomy
Antinuclear 