by Bob Lagow

Following the earthquake in Japan last year that heavily damaged the Kashiwazaki nuclear site, officials were quick to point out that toxic radioactive wastes that accidentally leaked into the ocean or scattered into the atmosphere were "within acceptable levels". Two days later when it was discovered that the amounts of waste materials released into the water and air were significantly higher than first reported, still we were told the amounts were "within acceptable levels".

When ionizing radiation is involved, there is no acceptable level. One tiny radionuclide interacting with one tiny cell can create a mutation that shows up generations later or as a horrible cancer that soon kills.

Powertech (USA) Inc., a U.S. subsidiary of a Canadian corporation, proposes to mine uranium in northwestern Weld County just east of Wellington and northeast of Fort Collins. Radioactive waste will leak into ground water and underground aquifers. Radioactive waste will become airborne in our ever present winds. Even if there were an "acceptable level" of waste that could be released into the environment, and there is not, Powertech could not guarantee that any accidental contaminations, or even normal contaminations, occurring as the result of mining activities would be contained within the guidelines of an "acceptable level".

The fate of life as we know it, human and otherwise, is imperiled by this one phrase, the killing phrase "within acceptable levels".

To learn more about proposed uranium mining in your neighborhood, go to www.nunnglow.com.