Hot Springs Fourth of July

July 4, 2015. We had entered the parade with our blue electric car, vivid yellow signs on every side proclaiming "No Uranium Mining in the Black Hills. Protect our Water." Citizens clad in bright yellow shirts from all over the Black Hills walked in front carrying signs and handing out flyers about the dangers of losing our most precious resource to the temporary gain of a few jobs for the benefit of foreign countries who lusted after our uranium deposits laced throughout the edges of our Black Hills.

We followed directly behind a truck pulling a boat, also a sign of the loss of precious water and contaminated fish in our streams and lakes if in-situ uranium mining comes to our tourist-loving Black Hills. Behind us followed two elderly ladies in wheel chairs, also protesting the pending loss of our most precious resource, our pure water. Bringing up the rear were some protesters on motorcycles carrying similar yellow signs.

"Why do you need to go on a vacation?" questioned one of the anti-uranium guys. "I thought you were retired."

We were sitting together after the parade enjoying a cook-out picnic with the group who had entered the parade.

"Retired? replied my husband. "We have never been so busy since we 'retired' to this peaceful rural community in the southern Black Hills."

"There is no escape from involvement in a rural area", I chimed in. "We have a VA to protect for our veterans, crystal mineral waters to save from pollution and fund raisers and causes that we believe make a difference to our environment, our city and our future."

I will never forget when we left the Twin Cities that some of our friends warned us, "You will get bored in the boonies!" Well, I beg to differ. Life is never constant. There are always battles to be fought, if through parades, marching, crossing picket lines, talking up at meetings, or through the power of the pen in writing or editing.

Oh, yes, we can use a vacation. But what a gift during our retirement years. We can use a break from our work. It is a precious gift....no boredom. We continue to fight. We continue to live life! We are filled with gratitude.

Photos courtesy of William Ing

"Two for the Show..."

In this small community located in "the boonies" of the Black Hills, we actually had two hearings by the federal government: the first being the field hearing on our VA that we have been fighting to save for over two years, and the second, less than a week later, was the hearing by the NRC regarding allowing a permit for in-situ uranium mining in our county.

Once again, as I said about the first hearing in my last blog, "I was there!" It was an honor to witness ordinary citizens fighting to preserve the purity of their water with extraordinary testimony, frequently backed by scientific facts plus their personal connections to the issue.

For many individuals, public speaking is one of the most intimidating experiences, but this group of residents, most in opposition to the permit, faced their fears and stood before the group from
Washington and shared their concerns over the strong possibility of contamination to our water by this mining process intruding into our aquifers.

One of the supporters of this mining stated that we rely on electricity for the lights and air conditioning that we were enjoying at the moment in the auditorium in Hot Springs; ergo, he supported mining for uranium which could supply electricity. (Omitting the fact that our country does not need the uranium and the yellow cake from the mines would be shipped to China or other countries).

Before I made my testimony in opposition to a project that would consume enormous gallons of our water, with a strong possibility of contamination of that same water, I made an observation to the judges. "One of the previous speakers mentioned the need we had for electricity. I think that we could exist without electric lights and the comfort of air conditioning, or encourage the use of renewable energy, but what would we do without the water that I see before each of you?"

You have heard it before, but "water is life". Truly it is needed for our very existence. Each judge sitting before us had a bottle of water. They would not be drinking it if it was filled with heavy metals. They would prefer not to face a long, slow painful death.

I was honored to be at this hearing. I was proud of those who spoke up for their belief that pure water is sacred and is needed for our generation and those to follow. Even the slightest possibility of contamination for years to come is not worth the risk of some temporary employment. Passion for purity versus greed and bribery....it never changes, and I suppose it never will. Perhaps that is what life is about; the fight, the struggle, and those who take one path or the other, and those who study and search for ways to benefit our planet and all of those who rent a space and a brief time on this earth we call home.

Beneath the Avalanche

You know those days....the ones where you feel overwhelmed, covered with too much to do, too little time, etc, etc. Well I was having one last night. I had attended a rally protesting the opening of in-situ uranium mining in our beautiful Black Hills and arrived home to a phone call from someone needing assistance, an email about the Environmental Impact Study regarding saving our VA now in process and needing our written comments, another email from someone working on my web site needing immediate attention, and......I sorta lost it!

Today, in the light of another day, I am looking at everything more clearly. The most helpful was a poem that I received from a friend who is likewise overwhelmed with issues. I am digesting it as I write and will now pass it on to my readers.

"GOLDEN RETRIEVALS"          BY MARK DOTY

Fetch? Balls and sticks capture my attention
seconds at a time. Catch? I don't think so.
Bunny, tumbling leaf, a squirrel who's - oh
joy - actually scared. Sniff the wind, then

I'm off again: muck, pond, ditch, residue
of any thrillingly dead thing. And you?
Either your sunk in the past, half our walk,
thinking of what you never can bring back,

or else you're off in some fog concerning
--tomorrow, is that what you call it? My work:
to unsnare time's warp (and woof!), retrieving,
my haze-headed friend, you. This shining bark,

a Zen master's bronzy gong, calls you here,
entirely, now: bow-wow, bow-wow, bow-wow.

Power to the People

They came from North Dakota, Nebraska, Pine Ridge, and from throughout the Hills. They were young, old, white and brown. They were doctors, journalists, ranchers, teachers, business owners and elected officials. They were retirees, bankers, geologists, chemists, lawyers and biologists. They were all filled with knowledge and passion. Their passion was for keeping the purity of the water for the ranchers, the tourists, the residents and the children up to the seventh generation.

This diverse group each took their turns standing before the state panel of nine white men who were sitting at tables wearing conservative suits and stoic faces. These men were from the mining board who were to give approval for the in-situ uranium mining permits in the Black Hills. The people spoke into the microphone so as to be heard by the others in the large room and they expressed their fears about the strong possibilities of the pollution of the water and the allowing of this permit to Powertech opening up to other companies, lying in wait to mine for uranium throughout all of the Black Hills.

The following are excerpts from several of the people speaking to the uranium mining board on September 23, 2013 in Rapid City, South Dakota.

Water is life. We cannot live without it. Our children cannot live without it. The wildlife, from the smallest of the insects, frogs and birds - to the coyotes, eagles,deer and cattle that drink the water, must have it unpolluted in order to survive. We cannot sell contaminated meat to the people. Our children cannot eat the fish that come from the rivers and lakes that have been touched by those contaminants.

Floods, earthquakes, winds and any form of natural disasters such as in Fukushimo and as recently as the foods in Colorado, can, and will occur. We do not know what lies beneath the ground and what may happen in the aquifers. Our earth changes and moves and so can water filled with the poisons. We do know that the discharge ponds polluted with selenium and other heavy metals cannot ever be safeguarded from the wildlife, the toxins increasing in intensity as they travel up the food chain.

My ranch is near the uranium mining operation by Crawford, Nebraska. They told me everything would be safe. Today they use that mine as a model for in-situ mining, but today my wells are polluted. How can you ranch with polluted wells?

You white people can take your money and move. I am poor. My people cannot move. We must remain on our land. You may be third generation on this land. We are one hundred generation on our land. It is all about the money for those who want this mining. It is greed for what is now and no care for the generations to come.

I believe that love will triumph over greed. It is stronger. Love for this land and our water is more powerful than this desire for short term "economic development". Love comes from us...the people. The love is for our land, our air, our water and for our children and their children. Our water is not for sale to foreign companies. They do not care about the purity of our water. They do not live here.

Some of you fighting for the mining company own stock. You have much to lose if these permits are not approved. What you lose is temporary. You cannot eat and drink uranium and other heavy metals. If these companies get the rights to our water, this beautiful land in these Hills will forever be polluted.  In time those who drink the water will die slow and painful deaths. We know that cancer follows the yellow cake as surely as the rivers flow and the aquifers bleed into our earth, our springs, and other aquifers - just as certain as the rains, the floods, the earthquakes, the wildfires and the winds will come to spread the contamination through the air, the water and the soil.

 It is our water, our air, our earth. Our politicians should not listen to the corporations who never clean up as they promised. If they did the research they would know that this type of mining will leave a mess for the taxpayers. On the other hand, it will leave increased jobs for the medical profession. They must listen to us, the people. They have been elected to represent the people. But when the money glistens, the leaders listen. It is all about the money.

There are those who seek the money and there are those who want an uncontaminated earth. It is long term versus short term. Which side will win out in the end?

For more details on the daily hearings go to http://denr.sd.gov/des/mm/powertechminepermitapp.aspx#audio

They Never End

As long as their are people on this earth there will be conflicts. In Reveille in Hot Spring one of the veterans states that "there will always be wars" and I really believe that. Be it greed, power or  misunderstanding...disagreements, conflicts and even wars will continue to haunt us.

Our community has been involved in many issues, the longest lasting this far being the fight to save our VA in Hot Springs. We stand together against those in power who continue to erode veteran benefits. We were split on the issue of "to buy, or not to buy", when it came to the decision for the city council to purchase the Evan's Plunge, the worlds largest natural indoor, heated swimming pool.

The entire Black Hills is caught up in a struggle to battle foreign companies (and many local politicians who support them) who want to obtain permits for mining uranium by in situ mining, a process not un-like fracking, that has a long track record of contamination of aquifers in many countries, followed by an absence of thorough clean-up by those same companies, which prefer to pollute in countries other than their own.

The latest struggle will be our battle to save our American Legion in Hot Springs. Once again, it is those in authority who want to close us up in order to get at the leader of this legion who has been leading the charge to save our VA and irritating, to say the least, those who have the power to take away benefits from veterans. Those in charge have been doing it gradually and rather quietly for over 15 years and we citizens of Hot Springs, together with our veterans, are saying "No, it must stop here and now."

At a recent meeting in Rapid City, several of the leaders of their city council congratulated us, the people, for fighting for a cause. They said it has been the grass roots groups who have changed our country - from civil rights, the war in Vietnam, voting rights, etc. They asked us to continue to fight. It is, after all, a country "of the people, by the people and for the people" not of, by and for the corporations. At times it is difficult to believe that. They do have the money and greed is a huge influence on outcomes. But it did boost morale to hear kudos from elected officials for us who are fighting yet another battle.

There will always be battles and I hope many will continue to take up the fights, in whatever manner they can, rather than sit back and complain and criticize those who do. In looking back over my years I believe that it is in the battle that I will stay forever young and growing. There is nothing more that I can ask out of life, and life has indeed been good to me.

"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.