Protect Black Hills Water
Tell the EPA that Uranium Mining & Milling are Not Worth the Risk!
Public Comment Period Open Until May 19, 2017
Write Now! Attend the Local Hearings!
A foreign holding company is seeking three EPA permits to pollute the precious water tables underlying the Black Hills of South Dakota, which is the recharge area for our streams and lakes, municipal supplies, private wells, and agricultural use in the entire western state.
Although the company, Azarga Uranium Corp., has never mined before, it says it wants the permits to convert 10,000 acres at the Dewey Burdock site, in Custer and Fall River Counties in South Dakota, into the state’s first solution mining facility, where it aims to make radioactive yellow cake to be trucked on our roads to commercial nuclear fuel and military weapons production plants.
The EPA recently issued three draft permits giving a conditional go-ahead to the company to drill thousands of holes into the water tables, inject chemicals, dissolve uranium, and mix the then-contaminated waters from one aquifer with the clean waters of others.
You can prevent this!
While the permits are still in draft form, the public must question the safety of the scheme and call for their withdrawal. This can be done through written comments and oral testimony. Exercise your rights as a citizen. Take part in this opportunity provided through democratic process. This is our water. We need to keep it clean for our current and future generations.
Remember, only YOU can prevent water pollution!
What You Can Do
1) Testify at the public information sessions and hearings set for: April 27 from 4 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. with a break from 5 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at Niobrara Lodge, 803 US Highway 20, Valentine, Nebraska; May 8-9, from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. with a break from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Best Western Ramkota Hotel, 2111 N. LaCrosse St., Rapid City; May 10 from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. with a break from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Mueller Center, 801 S. 6th St., Hot Springs; and May 11 from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. with a break from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. at St. James Catholic Church, 310 3rd Ave., Edgemont.
2) Comment on the proposed action in writing, using email, fax or postal service, by making submissions to Valois Shea at shea.valois@epa.gov, fax: 303-312-6741, or U.S. EPA Region 8, Mail Code 8WP-SUI, 1595 Wynkoop St., Denver, CO 80202-1129. Comments must be received by midnight Mountain Time on May 19th.
3) Join DRA and the Black Hills Chapter. Let us know you want to get involved. Connect with others who are taking action. www.dakotaruralblackhills.org
4) Learn more: Stay tuned to this blog for frequent posts updating this notice with further information. Read: BHCleanWaterAlliance.org; PowerTechExposed.com; WiseUranium.com
5) Contact your elected officials and ask them to oppose uranium mining.
6) Spread the word. Write a letter to the editor; tell your friends and family. Azarga Uranium Corp. wants us to be quiet about this. The more awareness you can raise, the better!