Number: 2011-06
WHEREAS, the practice of uranium mining, the milling of yellowcake, and the disposal of radioactive waste continues to have negative impacts in the American West and Navajo Nation, including radon exposure and groundwater contamination, leading to human health issues including lung cancer, bone cancer, leukemia, birth defects, weakened immune systems, hormone disruption, and damage to the kidney and liver; and
WHEREAS, uranium mining activities displace wildlife, fragment and destroy critical habitats, threaten water resources, and jeopardize hunting, fishing, and other outdoor recreational values; and
WHEREAS, federal oversight of mining and milling of uranium has advanced little in the three decades since the National Wildlife Federation called on “responsible state and federal agencies to act […] to ensure safe future disposal of such wastes”; and
WHEREAS, a study by the Michael Baker Corporation, a major engineering and consulting firm, reports that “uranium ore is mostly present at relatively low concentrations in the United States (0.05 to 0.3 percent),” meaning that uranium mill operations produce vast quantities of waste material known as tailings, which are highly radioactive; and
WHEREAS, the radioactive tailings are typically stored in impoundments formed behind containment structures such as dams that have not been proven to adequately prevent leaching of waste material into water supplies or otherwise entering the food chain; and
WHEREAS, in July of 2009 Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar placed a temporary moratorium on new uranium mining claims on one million acres adjacent to the Grand Canyon; and
WHEREAS, Virginia has maintained a state moratorium prohibiting the mining of uranium since 1982; and
WHEREAS, a mining company is now proposing to construct a uranium mine, milling and waste disposal facility in the Roanoke River watershed, which stretches from Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains to North Carolina’s Outer Banks, provides drinking water for 1.19 million people, and sustains more than 330 distinct bird, fish, and other aquatic species; and
WHEREAS, natural and wildlife resources are likely to continue to face threats from mining interests as uranium extraction and storage is pursued on public and private lands across the country; and
WHEREAS, all energy minerals located on federal public lands, except uranium, are governed under a federal mineral leasing system, with public participation and land manager leasing discretion authorities that are critical to protecting wildlife and the environment; and
WHEREAS, uranium continues to be the only energy mineral still governed by the antiquated General Mining Law of 1872, which (as previous NWF resolutions noted) fails to adequately protect the public lands, provide land managers discretion authority, and give citizens ample participation rights;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation at its annual meeting assembled April 14–16, 2011 in Washington, D.C., calls on appropriate state and federal policymakers to support the maintenance of moratoria on the construction and operation of uranium mines and mills adjacent to the Grand Canyon and in the watersheds of the Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic United States, until such time as peer-reviewed, scientific studies prove that uranium mining, milling, and waste disposal can be safely carried out and secured; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation urges the United States Congress to remove uranium from the General Mining Act of 1872 and re-designate it as a leasable mineral under the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation urges appropriate state and federal policymakers to implement policies to safeguard wildlife, habitat and water resources against the negative impacts of mining, milling and storage of uranium.