Castlegar – BC – Alex Atamanenko, MP for BC Southern Interior has added his support to the Boundary Alliance petition campaign calling for no uranium or thorium mining in the Kettle River watershed. The Alliance petition calls on the Provincial Government and Ministry of Mines to confirm that a moratorium on such mining still applies throughout the Province, including the Kettle Valley.
In April 2008 the Provincial Government had announced a “no registration reserve” on uranium mining in the Province stating “all uranium deposits will remain undeveloped”.
“But in October last year,” stated Atamanenko, “the Province caved under a lawsuit filed from Boss Power and Blizzard Uranium corporations, with the Province’s legal defense claiming that the moratorium doesn’t apply to these corporations.”
“Concerned constituents in my Riding packed a community hall in Rock Creek in January and were overwhelmingly opposed to exploration and mining of uranium in the Kettle River Valley and its headwaters,” said Atamanenko.
The Committee for a Clean Kettle Valley, a member of the Boundary Alliance, is planning a River Walk from Rock Creek to Big White starting on April 26, the 23rd anniversary of Chernobyl.
Atamanenko has long supported a ban on uranium exploration and mining, including Uranium-Free BC’s (UFBC) campaign for their end. At a forum sponsored by UFBC in May 2007 Atamanenko stated, “All levels of government must take the uranium issue seriously. The exploration that is being allowed by the provincial government can have serious consequences to people’s health and the environment, given the reported risks of ionizing radiation from drilling released into our water, air, soil and food.
“When a drill goes through someone’s water table and brings up uranium, radiation can rise in their drinking water and be released into our environment from the core samples.
Once uranium is out of the ground, it’s a ‘genie out of the bottle’ that can never be put back.”
Atamanenko also called on Harper’s federal government to enforce an existing prohibition on Canadian sales of depleted uranium for any weapons production. “It is not clear that this prohibition is being followed by the United States,” said Atamanenko.
Uranium exploration is governed by provincial legislation, while applications for uranium mining are made to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, an independent federal regulator for nuclear activity.