ABQjournal: Judge Endorses Uranium Mining Plan

A Nuclear Regulatory Commission judge has endorsed a mining company’s plan to extract uranium near two Navajo Nation communities in northwestern New Mexico.

Eastern Navajo Dine Against Uranium Mining has raised concerns about possible ground-water pollution at four proposed mining sites near Church Rock and Crownpoint.

New Mexico-based Hydro Resources Inc. has asked the NRC for permits to inject chemicals into the ground to release uranium and pump the solution to the surface.

The anti-mining group is concerned about how the mining, called in-situ leaching, would affect an aquifer that supplies drinking water to surrounding communities.

The aquifer “is the sole source of drinking water for about 15,000 people, almost all of them Navajo,” said Doug Meiklejohn, an attorney for the New Mexico Environmental Law Center in Santa Fe, which represents the group.

Craig Bartels of Corrales, president of Hydro Resources, said his company would not pollute the ground water.

He accused the law center of milking the issue for fund-raising purposes.

The NRC staff and NRC Judge E. Roy Hawkens have ruled against the challenges to Hydro Resources’ plan, Bartels said.

“Any reasonable technical person who looks at this finds in our favor,” Bartels said. “So any reasonable person who looks at this has to say that what they’re presenting is not correct.”

ABQjournal: Otero Mesa Drilling Less Ominous Than Enviros Claim By Mark Mathis, executive director
Citizens’ Alliance for Responsible Energy

When pondering complex, controversial issues, slippery rhetoric and hyperbole abound. Your best defense in such situations is logic.

On the issue of energy development on Otero Mesa using logic is a must, or you might be frightened into believing statements that defy reason. …

As commissioner of public lands, Lyons knows that today’s drilling technologies are far superior to the techniques used decades ago that resulted in a level of environmental impact that was unacceptable. …

Oil companies have the technology to do the job cleanly and safely (they do it every day across the state and nation)….

In the oil and natural gas business spills and leaks are a fact of life. While most operations run cleanly and smoothly, accidents do happen. No industry is perfect. The good news is, spilled oil is not a biohazard. When oil hits the ground it will biodegrade. Oil companies take the contaminated soil and farm in rows like a crop. Microbes and sometimes plant material are added to turn the soil into rich, productive ground that you could use in your garden. …

Who are you going to believe in this highly-charged debate over Otero Mesa? Trust your own reasoning skills. Better yet, don’t rely on my words or those of Capra. Do a little research on your own.

Amen to thinking for yourself. I notice Mr Mathis says drilling for oil is so much cleaner than it used to be. But, if you can fertilize your garden with oil, how was it a problem before — and a problem, no more. mjh

ABQjournal: Wolf Is At Rancher’s Door

FOR THE cultures, economic systems, communities and children in the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area (BRWRA) there are, unfortunately, powerful media and outreach campaigns shaping “public opinion,” and passing for it.

To these extremely populous but misinformed segments of society, the BRWRA consists of … an empty slate of pristine wilderness, and a few disgruntled ranchers. In actuality this is an ancient agricultural area inhabited for more than 1,000 years. …

The beauty and bounty of nature is a tribute to the historical local communities here which ought to be recognized, honored and preserved for the great value of the effect their culture has on the preservation of biodiversity, even if it takes an amendment to the EPA to achieve this. …

The loss of biodiversity that will result from the ongoing process of cultural genocide befalling these communities is not properly understood by the masses. Although this type of degradation is documented by scientists (Ed Medina and Dr. John Rinne of the USDA Rocky Mountain Research Station), this important information is ignored by the wolf program. …

Buyouts and compensation are not compatible with the preservation of the human cultures or the biodiversity.

Another major impact? so far unaddressed by the program? is the enormous amount of fear, terror and stress it engenders. The existing levels of government agency created fear, terror and stress should be unacceptable anywhere in the world, and certainly reaches totalitarian levels of callous and aggressive government heavy-handedness toward a local population. …

Is this what cultural genocide feels like?
MARY MACNAB
Blue, Arizona

Notice the repeated use of “biodiversity” here to mean preserving ranching as a lifestyle. Isn’t it ironic to be pro-biodiversity but anti-wolf?

I hear one message in all three of these: trust the people who have the most to gain by lying to themselves. Logic can be used to deceive. mjh

ABQjournal: Power Project Ugly to Some; PNM Lines Won’t Be Underground By Aurelio Sanchez, Journal Staff Writer

Residents on Paradise Boulevard are upset about “unsightly” overhead power lines that Public Service Company of New Mexico plans to install along a 1.2 mile section of the road.

They’d like the power lines to be installed underground. …

But a PNM spokesman said to place the lines underground would double the estimated $225,000 cost of the project, a cost PNM would pass on to Bernalillo County residents. …

Weaver said neighbors are upset about the plans, especially coming on the heels of the neighborhood association receiving a grant to landscape Paradise Boulevard. He said neighbors also have never been shown cost assessments.

“Our feeling is that as there is new development in northwest Albuquerque, the developers should be asked to help pay for the cost of underground lines,” Weaver said.

Brown responded, “We do understand the concerns about visual impact.”

Brown said that in order for the lines to be placed underground, the governing jurisdiction? in this case the Bernalillo County Commission? would have to require PNM to do so.

“Then the entity requiring it would either pay the difference in the project costs up front, or PNM could pass the costs along to customers within that jurisdiction,” Brown said.

If the cost is passed on to approximately 45,000 customers in Bernalillo County, it would up individual bills by about 25 cents to 30 cents per month for a unspecified number of years.

Brown noted that in Rio Rancho, PNM customers are paying $1.80 a month extra for three years to pay for several underground power line projects the city required of PNM.

I’m with you, West Side. Power lines are gawd-awful and we need to keep them from going up in the air.

As a reader of the Abq Journal’s paper edition, I’d never have seen this story. The Journal deemed it relevant just to the West Side edition. However, kudos to KOB-4 and KRQE-13 for making this a top story last night.

The Journal doesn’t note, as TV did, that some residents claim PNM is contractually committed to underground lines.

It’s time to recognize this as a quality of life issue. I know we can’t pull all the lines down, but we can resolve never to put up another and to replace over time all those awful wires. I’d gladly pay extra to preserve/restore the vista.

Hang tough, West Side! mjh

Take Action: Stand Up for NEPA

NEPA is the guarantee that Americans affected by a federal action will get the best information about its impacts, a choice of good alternatives, and the right to have their voice heard before the government makes a final decision.

A Congressional task force will be holding a hearing in Rio Rancho, New Mexico about the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the primary federal law that gives you the chance to be heard on, and informed about, federal projects and actions that may harm your air, water and public lands, before ? not after ? a final decision is made.

The NEPA Task Force, convened by California Congressman Richard Pombo, chair of the House Resources Committee, is holding the fourth of six field hearings at 10:00am on Monday, August 1st in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, at the Rio Rancho High School located at 301 Loma Colorado, Rio Rancho, NM 87124. It will cover the role of NEPA in the states of New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Wyoming.

Transportation and lunch will be provided for those coming from northern New Mexico. Contact Bryan (505) 988-9126 x157 or Jim (505) 758-3874 for more information. In Albuquerque, contact Sarah (505) 243-7767

You can have your voice represented if you take action by July 29th.

ABQjournal: Around N.M.
Noted Gray Wolf Dies at Refuge

Brunhilda, the charismatic Mexican gray wolf who became a star of the federal government’s wolf reintroduction program and an enemy to ranchers because of her taste for cattle, died Thursday.

Brunhilda, known as No. 511 in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s wolf program, died when she overheated during a routine capture and medical checkup at the Servilleta National Wildlife Refuge near Socorro. The head of the agency in the Southwest called her death “a sad loss.”

She had been taken from the Gila National Forest less than a month ago to spend her life in captivity after she and her pack started killing cows on grazing allotments in the forest.

Born in captivity, Brunhilda became the face of the controversial program when, as a saucy 9-month-old pup, she bounded from a cage in 1998 as one of the first wolves introduced into the wild.

This was the paragon of wolves and she would not be dead if ranchers were reasonable or held proportionate power. mjh

ABQjournal: House Extends Patriot Act; N.M. Delegates Split on Bill By Glen Johnson

After more than nine hours of debate, the House approved the measure 257-171. Forty-three Democrats joined 214 Republicans in voting to renew key provisions of the Patriot Act that were set to expire at the end of the year.

Rep. Tom Udall, a New Mexico Democrat and vocal opponent of the Patriot Act, voted against the measure, which he has said infringes on Americans’ civil liberties.

Reps. Steve Pearce and Heather Wilson, R-N.M., both voted for the reauthorization.

“The Patriot Act is an effort to give law enforcement the tools to prevent — not just prosecute — terrorist attacks,” Wilson said. “Our nation would be less secure without the Patriot Act.”

Pearce said the act requires judicial approval before most provisions can be used by law enforcement, which he said is an effective check on abuse of power. [mjh: is Pearce a liar or an idiot?]

“If you’re not a terrorist, if you’re not a drug runner, you really don’t have anything at all to be concerned about with the Patriot Act,” Pearce said.