"Water, Water, Everywhere and not a Drop to Drink"....

We are in another battle in our county. In addition to working to save our VA for our veterans we are now faced with an even more serious issue...that of saving our water for our ranchers, our Wild Horse Sanctuary, our Plunge, our river, and all of the citizens and businesses in this county who get their water from our Madison and Inyan Kara Aquifers.

The list of horrors:

l. A Canadian Hedgefund Company, Powertech, has applied for a water permit in our county to obtain permission for 550 gallons a minute from the Madison Aquifer and 8,500 gallons a minute from the Inyan Kara Aquifer. They say they plan to mine uranium from these most sensitive aquifers that supply water to not only our county, but up into the rest of the Black Hills and into the Pine Ridge Reservation.

This foreign company has never mined for uranium, may sell the water rights to foreign investors such as China, and the money from these endeavors will drain out to the foreign countries, robbing us of our most valuable resource. In essence, foreign countries could own our water.

2. We do not need more uranium in our country. We have an ample supply.

3. The water could most likely get polluted with radioactivity, arsenic, selenium and other contaminants, making this water unfit for cattle or humans. Our ranches could "dry up and blow away", leaving our county with a huge loss of taxes.

4. Billions of gallons needed for the mining could diminish the water levels, drying up springs, possibly forever.

5. Pubic health is affected by exposure to radiation. You can check the records.

6. Adding to all of these possibilities (proven to have occurred at other sites) is the fact that our legislatures in Pierre, the capital of South Dakota, passed a bill stripping the DNER of its regulatory and protective services for "in situ leach" uranium mining. These men who are supposed to protect the interests of their constituents, have essentially given away our water. Why would they do this? We do know that one of those state legislators represented his mother in a land dispute acquiring Powertech leases for her at the same time he helped pass this bill.

Now we are in a battle to fight this disaster. Over the centuries inventions have emerged and our lives have improved in many ways. One thing that never changes from the beginning of history is the corruption and greed, maybe ignorance, that lies inside of humankind. Thankfully, and hopefully, these instances that bring out the worst in some people can also bring out the best in others trying to keep our environment healthy for generations to come.

Are the maybes and coulds and possibilities worth the risk of the forevers?
I am not a gambler when it comes to the health of our planet and our people.

Check out www.powertechexposed.com
or, The Rapid City Journal, November 17, under Forum, also on November 23, under opinion by David Rooks, or on November 24. The Hot Springs Star for November 20, two articles on the Opinion page.