Hello Defenders,

This Urgent Special Newsletter is being sent to inform you of some recent activities, and also to let you know how you can participate. Updates on our current activities are also included.

 

1. National Guard and the National Grasslands: Thank you to all of you who have been getting petitions signed. If you have yours filled out, can you please send it to us right away? We are trying to gather them all together and meet with the Governor in mid December to present them to him.

 

2. Pe Sla, or Reynolds Prairie: The Benefit Masquerade Pow Wow was really fun and many have asked if we would do one again. We will let you know as soon as we decide when and where. The donations we received from the Benefit and from those sent in totaled $1,520.00. This will be sent to the Rosebud Sioux Tribe to help with their purchase of Pe Sla. Thank you so much to everyone who attended the Pow Wow, and to those who sent their donations to us. Our organizations costs for the Pow Wow were also a donation to help save sacred PeSla.

3. Water Board Hearing: It has been a while since we mentioned Powertech Uranium Mining Company from Canada. Now they have submitted their application to the SD Water Board. A hearing will be held in Pierre on Monday, Dec. 5, 2012, at 8:30 AM (Central Time) at the Foss Building, 523 E. Capitol. The hearing is to determine if Powertech can return the water back to its original state after they have used it to mine for uranium in the Dewey Burdock Project. They plan on using 551 gallons per minute from the Madison aquifer, and 8,500 gallons per minute from the Inyan Kara formation. To put this total of 9,0000 gallons per minute into perspective, this is twice as much as Rapid City uses per minute. Rapid City uses 4,800 gallons per minute. This 9,000 gallons of water per minute is almost 13 million gallons per day! It will be contaminated with solvent and radioactive particles.

Powertech says they will take out the Uranium and put the water back underground, or spray it on the land. Some of the decay products from the Uranium are 85% more radioactive than the Uranium. The dangers from this presently and for many, many future generations are not worth the risks.

From the Tetuwan cultural perspective, this shows great disrespect to Mother Earth, to disturb the water, her blood, the first medicine, and will have tremendous consequences to everything for many generations to come, if they can come. Remember, we are made mostly of water. Radiation causes cancers, changes DNA, and damages those yet unborn.

If you wish to say anything at the hearing, you must submit a letter TO REACH Pierre by Nov. 26, to both the Water Rights Program and Powertech stating you want to intervene and why. The same letter must be sent to:

Chief Engineer Erbele Powertech (USA) Inc.
Water Rights Program c/o Richard Blubaugh
Foss Building 5575 DTC Parkway, Suite 140
523 E. Capitol Greenwood Village, CO 80111
Pierre, SD 57501

Re: Water Permit Applications No. 2685-2 and 2686-2.

We are encouraging everyone to send a letter stating you wish to intervene, and also asking for another hearing to be held West River so more people can participate. Please attend the hearing if you can. The more people in attendance will show the Water Board how important safe water is to all of us, for now and in the future. This project must be stopped. Thank you.

Charmaine White Face, Coordinator Defenders of the Black Hills PO Box 2003 Rapid City, SD 57709 www.defendblackhills.org

< Prev		Next >