For Immediate release:
December 1, 2008

John Gustavson of Boulder, Colorado is trying to convince farmers in Mississippi County to let his company explore for uranium. Not unlike the snake oil salesmen of old, he seems to be promising farmers millions of dollars to cure an ailing economy and says “cleaner” nuclear power plants will help cure the global climate change problem.

If it is found in sufficient quantities, the DOE/ Bendix Corporation intends to force the uranium up through two aquifers using water and other chemicals. He claims this would be a clean process and would release the water to area creeks and canals cleaner than it began. He has also mentioned that a processing plant might have to be built in Missouri. This could present a whole new batch of horrors if it is as poorly managed as the plant in Metropolis, Illinois, near Paducah, where plumes of radioactive waste are contaminating groundwater and heading for the Ohio River.

While long on the possibilities of farmers making millions on uranium “in situ leaching”, Gustavson seems ever so short on explaining any downside to this process and its products. Below are just a few nagging questions any thinking human should put forth.

-What, if any, effect could this uranium mining have on the nearby New Madrid fault?
-What does fracturing and/or siphoning the water-bearing rock layers do for the aquifers or to them?
-Would it be possible for unfiltered uranium to invade areas where farmers get irrigation water?
-How would safety at the filtering stations be guaranteed?
-Could radioactive uranium concentrate be accidentally released?
-Will the uranium concentrate be transported by rail or truck?
-In what form would it be transported? Liquid? Powder? Ingots? (Most of Doe Run's lead mess is because of poor housekeeping and transportation!)
-Where would the radioactive sludge (waste) be stored”?
-Would it have to be transported to a safe storage facility?
-Who would be responsible for this and how would they keep it out of the hands of terrorists?
-What are the plans to evacuate the public during such an occurrence?
-Who would be liable? The company? The state? The federal government? Is there any insurance to compensate farmers or landowners if the land becomes contaminated?
-Would contaminated farmland even be able to be cleaned up?
-Would people be left with a wasteland, much like Chernobyl (Ruined for maybe 20 billion years!)?
-What kinds of symptoms of uranium poisoning should people and doctors look out for?
-What are the isotopes that U-238 break down into and how persistent and dangerous are they?

If these and other questions regarding uranium in situ leaching and uranium production cannot be satisfactorily answered, the farmers should send this snake oil salesman back to Colorado.

For further information, contact:
Angel or Tom Kruzen
Sierra Club Water Sentinels
Mountain View, Missouri
417-934-2818
Additional sources -
see the "threats of uranium mining" section in http://rockymtn.sierraclub.org/tracker/HB1161.html & inhttp://www.environmentcolorado.org/uploads/Wk/2G/Wk2G2UDcfhEtuVL_p4NwJQ/HB07-1161---Protect-water-from-uranium-mining-fact-sheet---5-March-2008.pdf
http://www.thechadronnews.com/articles/2008/10/28/chadron/headlines/news...
http://www.semissourian.com/article/20081013/NEWS01/710139953/-1/news01
http://www.nirs.org/miningandpollutioninuppermidwest.pdf
http://www.gallupindependent.com/2008/11november/112508division.html
http://www.nukewatch.com/wisconsinsdebate/nuclearequalsracism.pdf