South Dakota Medical Association Votes Unanimously to Oppose Uranium Mining

Dakota Rural Action Promotes Petition for Medical Professionals to Voice Opposition

 

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As the debate continues about the safety of proposed uranium mine in the Southern Black Hills, the South Dakota State Medical Association (SDSMA) has joined the opposition. At its September 20th, 2013 meeting in Chamberlain, the SDSMA 78-member Council of Physicians voted unanimously to oppose proposed uranium mining in the Black Hills and voted to support a petition opposing the proposed project.

 

In an effort spearheaded by Dakota Rural Action (DRA) Board Vice-Chair and retired physician, Don Kelley, MD, the grassroots group drafted a petition for medical professionals to voice opposition to South Dakota permitting authorities regarding the proposed Black Hills uranium mining. The petition reads,

We the undersigned health-care providers are opposed to uranium mining in the Black Hills by in-situ-leach (ISL) or other techniques for the following reasons:

 

1. In the case of ISL uranium mining, the real possibility of underground water-supply contamination with radionuclides and other heavy metals exists, owing to communications between the mined aquifer and other underground water bodies. The record from previous projects of this sort has shown frequent unanticipated consequences due to leaks and excursions of mining fluids (a,b).

 

2. The restoration of an ISL-mined aquifer to pre-mining water quality is accepted as an impossibility by regulatory authorities (c). There is a tendency for the concentrations of toxic constituents to increase and to remain elevated following the cessation of mining operations (d).

 

3. Routine features of such mines, such as settling ponds and surface spraying of treated water, pose risks of ground and atmospheric contamination with radioactive and otherwise toxic elements, including selenium, vanadium, and arsenic among others (e).

 

4. Contamination of soils leads to the possibility of bioaccumulation of such elements in crops and grazing livestock.

 

5. Any increase in human radiation exposure above background levels is believed to be associated with a linearly increased risk of adverse health consequences, including increased incidence of cancer, birth defects, and other diseases (f).

 

6. Mine workers are at special risk of radiation exposure during extraction and purification processes at the mine surface.

 

7. The transport of the refined uranium product (yellow cake) along regional thoroughfares poses risks from spills and other accidents.

8. Considering the projected future scarcity of uncontaminated fresh water in our semi-arid region, the loss of large volumes of water in such mining operations is not in the public  interest. We consider fresh, uncontaminated water to be a key pillar of public health.

 

SDSMA President, Daniel J. Heinermann reports, “At the meeting, Kevin Weiland, MD, an alternate SDSMA councilor, brought forward the petition. The SDSMA’s support of the petition and its opposition to uranium mining in the Black Hills is based on concerns about the mining’s potential harmful impact on the health of the public, particularly water supply contamination.”

 

Dr. Heinermann went on to comment in a letter to Dr. Kelley on September 23rd, “Based upon research presented to our Committee on Medical Practice as well as our Council of Physicians, the SDSMA has taken a position to oppose ISL mining of uranium in the Black Hills. This research indicates that in areas where uranium mining has been performed in the past there is a documented increase of testicular and ovarian cancer, leukemia, childhood bone cancer, miscarriages, infant death, congenital defects, genetic abnormalities and learning disorders in the population living near the site. Further, restoration of an ISL-mined aquifer to pre-mining water quality has been determined by regulatory authorities to be impossible.”

 

In addition to support of the SDSMA, DRA members and allies have garnered signatures of individual healthcare professionals across the state. “It is our hope that this petition, especially with the endorsement of SDSMA, will bring the necessary attention of the permitting boards to the inherent public health impacts of ISL uranium mining,” says Dr. Kelley.

 

The Black Hills Chapter of DRA is still collecting letters from healthcare providers. The letter can be printed from here for medical professionals to sign and return to the Rapid City office: Dakota Rural Action, 518 6th St., Suite 6, Rapid City, SD 57701.

 

The SDSMA serves more than 2,000 physician and medical student members who are dedicated to the health of South Dakotans. The mission of the SDSMA is to promote the art and science of medicine, to protect and improve the health of the public and provide leadership and advocacy in the field of quality health care. Learn more about the SDSMA at www.sdsma.org.

 

The Black Hills Chapter is a community-based affiliate of Dakota Rural Action members. The Black Hills Chapter organizes around local food, community, renewable energy, natural resources, sustainable agriculture and land preservation issues.