Green cover in Odisha threatened by mining

Bhubaneswar: Odisha's decision to open more mines is set to affect the green cover in the state further, environmentalists have warned.
The state has witnessed significant loss of forest land over the years due to mining and industrial projects. It has lost a large chunk of forest cover following the diversion of forest land.
About 44,351 hectares of forest land have been diverted by the end of 2014 under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, for different projects.
Environmentalist and wildlife activist Lala A.K. Singh told IANS that large-scale mining activities would affect the green cover further. "The decision of the government to open up more mines will destroy forest areas in the state," he said.
"The government should ask the mine lease holders to extract minerals in the incomplete mines rather than going in for new areas. Mining in fresh areas means cutting of trees."
Data with the office of the principal chief conservator of forests showed that forests were fast losing out predominantly to mining in the state.
About 20,265 hectares of forest land have been diverted for 164 mining projects in Odisha followed by irrigation projects (about 9,712 hectares). Industries account for 4,265 hectares.
Odisha has allowed reopening of 29 mines and proposes to open several others.
The government, however, said it had taken up compensatory afforestation against forest land diverted for non-forestry activities.
The government said it has carried out compensatory afforestation drive in 42,910 hectares by June 2014 and has targeted to cover 5,428 hectares of land in 2015-16.
The total requirement for compensatory afforestation against forest land diversion for various projects has been pegged at 56,831 hectares, said a forest department official.
"We are taking up several measures for increasing forest cover in the state. While the forest cover has increased significantly in the state, we have decided to look for saplings of 120 million plants at various places this year," principal chief conservator of forests J.D. Sharma told IANS.
The official said several projects from the state were still awaiting clearance from the union environment ministry.
Meanwhile, the Odisha High Court issued notice to the central and Odisha governments over non-payment of net present value (NPV) of around Rs.715 crore by 111 mining lease holders for using forest land for non-forestry purpose.
The NPV is the amount the user agencies need to deposit for diversion of forest land for use of non-forestry purpose.
The fund is to be used for regeneration of forests, forest management, protection, infrastructure development, wildlife protection and management.

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Navajo Nation struggles with fallout from uranium mining

Published time: May 09, 2015 01:31 Waste outside an abandoned uranium mine on the Navajo Nation, Cameron, Arizona (Image from ehp.niehs.nih.gov)

As part of a cleanup settlement, the US will pay out more than $13 million to start dealing with hundreds of abandoned uranium mines on Navajo Nation territory. Navajo officials tell RT it is just the first step on a long road ahead.

The money will be put into an “environmental response trust” managed by the Navajo Nation with the support of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), according to the US Department of Justice (DOJ).

“It will provide us with funding to do a very specific task under the cleanup process that’s authorized by the federal superfund law,” Stephen Etsitty, executive director of the Navajo Nation’s EPA, told RT’s Ben Swann.

The funds will cover evaluations of 16 abandoned mines throughout Navajo lands, chosen from a list of 46 priority sites. There are hundreds of sites that still need to be addressed. By one estimate, there are more than 1,200 abandoned uranium mines within the borders of the Navajo Nation, a 27,000-square-mile territory stretching across Utah, New Mexico and Arizona.

The EPA says it has repaired 34 homes, surveyed 521 mines, compiled a list of 46 priority sites for cleanup, and performed stabilization or cleanup work at nine mines so far. The agency has also provided safe drinking water to more than 1,800 families.

A 2014 settlement set aside $985 million from a multi-billion dollar settlement with subsidiaries of Anadarko Petroleum Corp to clean up approximately 50 abandoned Kerr-McGee mining operations in the Navajo Nation.

The feds are finally starting to take some responsibility for uranium clean up on Navajo land. http://t.co/9OEL89414j pic.twitter.com/kGKvX3tOjJ

— Tim Ream (@ourcarbon) May 5, 2015

Federal surveyors found rich uranium deposits on Navajo lands in the 1940s, and the government authorized private contractors to extract the ore for US weapons and energy needs. About 4 million tons of uranium ore were extracted from the area between 1944 and 1986, after which the mining was halted. The federal government, through the Atomic Energy Commission, was the sole purchaser of the ore until 1966.

Navajo miners worked without any kind of protective gear or decontamination protocols for wages sometimes less than $1 an hour. In her 2011 book, Yellow Dirt: A Poisoned Land and a People Betrayed, journalist Judy Pasternak wrote that the miners suffered radiation exposure four times that of the Japanese exposed to nuclear bombs during World War II.

In the 1950s, cancer rates among the Navajos were so low, they were thought naturally immune, wrote environmental journalist Sonia Luokkala. By 2004, cancer had become the leading cause of illness and death among the Navajo.

A 2014 survey by the EPA of about 500 abandoned mines found radiation levels up to 25 times higher than normal. Many of the mines with the highest radiation levels were found within a quarter mile of human habitation.

READ MORE: Arizona dream and nuclear reality

“Chronic exposure is definitely one thing we want to get a better understanding of,” Etsitty told RT. Many of the Navajo live in the remote areas of the reservation, often close to the abandoned mining pits that have since filled up with water. Humans and animals drink the water from the pits, often not aware of the possible issues with radiation or toxicity.

“We still have not completed meaningful public health studies to begin answering those questions,” Etsitty said. The DOJ settlement should offer a little bit of help in the process, but merely surveying the extent of the contamination and environmental impact will take much more money and time.

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