New NRC Proposal - Mohawk Support - Sierra Club On Kensington Gold Mine - Rising Temps Danger To Inuit - Coastal Cleanup - 'Brain Drain' In Nunavik

NRC Proposes to Skip Public Debate on Dangerous Uranium Mining Proposals
Act Now! Tell NRC that "one-size-fits-all" permitting for in-situ uranium mines doesn't fit our communities, or our water

Dear ,
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is writing a "generic" environmental impact statement (GEIS) for all "in-situ" uranium mining proposals. They're accepting comments through September 4th.Please act now to tell the NRC a GEIS is a bad idea for communities and our water.If adopted, the GEIS would:
1. Restrict public comment on future uranium licenses,
2. Prevent the environmental review now required for individual mining proposals,
3. Force a one-size-fits-all approach on communities faced by this type of uranium mining 100% certain water pollution.

In-situ mining is the intentional pollution of ground water with toxic chemicals that strip uranium from the ground without actually moving earth.Imagine a company injecting a toxic solution into the ground with a huge syringe in one place, and sucking it out of the ground (along with dissolved uranium) with a huge straw in another place, and you have the general idea.Mining companies hope they can clean up the toxics not sucked from the ground after the mining is complete.

To date, no in-situ mine has restored pre-mining water quality.In-situ mining uranium mining is on the riseIn-situ mining is the most common form of new uranium mining proposals in the U.S. As the price of uranium continues to rise, more and more corporations are trying to get in on the profits by applying for licenses for in situ mining.

Please act now. Tell the NRC that there should be no generic environmental impact statement for in-situ uranium mining.Thank you for your support,Roger Featherstone & Alan Septoff, EARTHWORKS

INSTRUCTIONS:Go to the action page. Read the sample letter on the action page and modify if you can. Personalized subject lines and/or letter text will increase the impact your letter has on your Senator.

Clicking "Send My Message" on the action page will send your letter via email to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Mohawk Nation News Supports Sharbot Lake Issue
Brothers, Sisters, Friends and Allies. MNN (Mohawk Nation News) has taken a strong sovereigntist position in support of the Sharbot Lake issue.

We think that Canada must adhere to their request for a nation-to-nation relationship according to Algonquin, Canadian and international law.

The Algonquins held a pow wow at Ardoch Lake on September 1st. We encourage all our brothers, sisters, friends and allies, native and non-native, to stand by and support the Algonquins in our fight against Frontenac Ventures.

They want to open a uranium mine on our unsurrendered land. MREL – Blasting Consulting Services based in Kingston, Ont - who were making weapons and testing them on Algonquin land have now left for parts unknown, probably to turn up somewhere under another name.

We should all link our arms together as the Great Law of Peace has instructed us to do, with all our Indigenous peoples in the Western Hemisphere.

Learn more about the Algonquin issues. Find out why the Algonquins refuse to acknowledge the colonial court and have withdrawn their case completely.
MNN Mohawk Nation News
http://www.mohawknationnews.com/

Make 'Mine' Illegal
Sierra Club Insider
The Coeur d'Alene Mines Corporation is trying to set a dangerous precedent with the Kensington Gold Mine that it's building in southeast Alaska.

For the first time since Congress passed the Clean Water Act, the Army Corps of Engineers has authorized a mining company to discharge chemically processed mining waste into a lake. In this case, that's 4.5 million tons of mine tailings that will be dumped into Lower Slate Lake, which is located on National Forest lands.

Fortunately, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals put the project in doubt last December when it ruled that the federal permits were issued illegally. Coeur d'Alene has responded by sending a direct mail piece to Juneau residents that targets Sierra Club Juneau group leader Mark Rorick.

"As a Club volunteer you don't really want your personal home address on one of their propaganda pieces," says Mark. "But it's clear that Coeur Alaska only wants to use the lake as a dump because other disposal methods cost more. They've yet to realize that we're not giving up.


Rising Temperatures Pose Danger To Canadian Inuit
Submitted by Ann VanWert
TORONTO (AP) — Rising temperatures in eastern Canada are making it more dangerous for the native Inuit population in the province of Quebec to travel and hunt by snowmobile, and a new study recommends that they return to using the traditional dogsled.

A recent report on climate change in Quebec's Arctic region stresses that warming temperatures are forcing the Inuit to rethink how they get around, which is mainly by Skidoo snowmobile.

"For the last 10 years or so we've had winters that are more mild, so ice forms later in autumn and winter," Martin Tremblay, a geographic researcher who led the study, said Tuesday.

"One of the most effective means of transport is the Skidoo, and the period when it can be used is shorter than before. It causes security problems, because the ice is thinner and more unstable."

Tremblay's report was prepared for the Kativik regional government and offers several recommendations to deal with climate change, among the most striking being a return to Inuit's traditional means of transport — dog sleds.

Tremblay points out that dogsleds are a fair bit lighter than Skidoos and well-trained dogs can sense precarious patches of ice.

His recommendation is being embraced by many for reasons that extend beyond safety.

Organizers of Ivakkak, Nunavik's annual dogsled race, say encouraging dogsled use and breeding pure Huskies will do much to preserve an Inuit tradition under threat.

"The dogs were part of their nomadic life and it was taken from them," said Ivakkak coordinator Isabelle Dubois, referring to allegations that tens of thousands of sled dogs were slaughtered during the 1950s and '60s.

"It's a way of life that has disappeared and the dogs are at the base of that way of life."

For Dubois, it is important to show younger generations of Inuit that the knowledge of their elders can provide answers to modern problems.

Indeed, many of Tremblay's findings are based on interviews with experienced Inuit hunters and elders, which complement the study's more scientific findings.

"All the experienced hunters have learned how to recognize meteorological conditions," he said in a phone interview from Kuujjuaq, some 932 miles north of Montreal.

"What they've noticed is that the weather is becoming more and more unpredictable."

Tremblay said his research team plans to compile the knowledge it gathered from elders on a CD-ROM, and make it available to younger Inuit.

International Coastal Cleanup Just Weeks Away!
Ocean Conservancy is gearing up for the next International Coastal Cleanup (ICC), coming to a beach or waterway near you September 15, 2007. There’s still time for you to get involved. Last year 358,617 dedicated volunteers in 68 countries removed seven million pounds of debris from the ocean, rivers, and lakes.

Become part of the solution to pollution, register for this year’s cleanup at: http://www.oceanconservancy.org/icc

Inuit Leaders Identify 'Brain Drain' In Nunavik
CBC.ca
Submitted by Ann VanWert
The lure of urban life and more jobs is creating a slow migration of people in northern Quebec, from small communities to larger centres such as Kuujjuaq, Inuit leaders say.

The The notion of a "brain drain" - in which residents of rural communities flock to jobs in cities - is familiar in other Canadian jurisdictions, both in the North and in the southern provinces.

Officials with Makivik Corp., which represents Inuit in Quebec's Nunavik region, say they're concerned that such a migration of people to the hub community of Kuujjuaq will threaten smaller communities.

"Although Kuujjuaq is a rural town, it's the capital, or it is the hub, of Nunavik," said George Berthe, Makivik's corporate secretary. "We're getting a lot of people from outside Kuujjuaq, a lot of Inuit."

Berthe said the many talented and qualified people moving to Kuujjuaq, a village of about 2,130, are coming for work, as a lot of small Nunavik communities lack job and career opportunities.

"The bigger centres such as Kuujjuaq are getting these professional champions of the community," he said. "So yeah, the brain drain is happening [in] the rural areas."

At the same time, Berthe said the trend is good for Kuujjuaq because more jobs there are being filled by Inuit. Makivik president Pita Aatami said while people will go wherever the jobs are, there is a need to create more opportunities in the small communities.

"In terms of economic development, in terms of reducing the cost of living, we want the people to stay in their communities," Aatami said. "That's why we're in constant discussions with the two governments."

Quebec Premier Jean Charest, during his visit to Kuujjuaq last week to attend a conference on Nunavik social issues, said those who wish to stay in their communities should have enough economic opportunities so they can have the choice to do so. .

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