By Wendy Elliott

Kings County Register

A forum on uranium prospecting currently underway in Nova Scotia raised a multitude of concerns for the 75 people in attendance.

At the outset, chairperson Donna Smyth pointed out that citizens in this province are faced with an almost impossible riddle that contains current uranium exploration in the face of a 1982 moratorium, which was renewed in 1995. Meanwhile, she noted junior mining companies say they are looking for other metals in the same spot, Millett Brook, that was staked out for uranium mining 25 years ago.

Smyth said a variety of politicians were invited to participate in the forum. Natural Resources Minister David Morse declined to attend, Environment Minister Mark Parent did not respond and other MLAs were unavailable.

Acadia University geologist Cliff Stanley pointed out that levels determined in regulations from the 1980s leave a lot of unanswered questions today about how big a volume of rock is required “to make a significant showing. It’s a lot more complicated.”

Smyth reminded those in attendance of the history of the tin mine in East Kemptville. “It was touted as salvation, then tin prices went down. Bang! There goes the mine and the jobs, but we’ve still got the mess.” Tin is one of the metals often found adjacent to uranium.

Can’t see the logic

Roger Hunka, Environmental Resources Secretariat, Native Council of Nova Scotia, described how First Nations peoples’ eco-centric worldview cannot see the logic in uranium mining.

“We’re not evolved enough to use this element.” In 1936, Dene people in the north were employed to carry uranium ore to barges. “They paid a dear price,” the Truro resident said. “There are few grandfathers left.”

Hunka stated that the problems caused by uranium mean it’s best left alone. He added that “Rodney (MacDonald) has no right morally or politically to break the moratorium. It’s wrong and he should simply say ‘no.’”

Hants County-based activist Gillian Thomas sketched the history of the last uranium mining episode, which she called an extraordinarily useful experience in growing the environmental movement in Nova Scotia.

Thomas could never understand why multinational companies were interested in Nova Scotia’s low-grade ore, but now she wonders if the mining industry isn’t having a collective tantrum over the results of the Digby Neck quarry inquiry.

Energy consultant and peace activist Bill Zimmerman said promoting nuclear power makes no sense due to its long start-up time.

He said the immediate issue is bringing down power consumption in this country. Canadians should be targeting the world average for consumption, he said, and investing in renewable sources.

Health effects key concern

Dr. Sheila Zubrigg, a physician and health historian at Dalhousie University, said our government promotes the use of depleted uranium in weaponry. As a physician, she sees there is an inherent illogic of uranium mining given its health risk and use in warfare.

Since the first Gulf War, in the former Yugoslavia, in Afghanistan and in Iraq, weapons made of depleted uranium have been used that vaporize on contact, she said. Then citizens and soldiers alike breathe in the radiation, causing toxic effects at the cellular and chemical level.

Zubrigg described how a 1959 pact mandated by the United States and Britain has tied the hands of the World Health Organization (WHO) when it comes to studying the health effects of uranium and depleted uranium.

Just this fall, she noted, a vigil began on steps of the WHO headquarters in Geneva to try and overturn the pact. “Is it in our national interests to have radiation rain down on our troops in Afghanistan?” she asked.

She noted that foreign affairs minister Peter MacKay and other government representatives are extremely evasive when asked for answers.

“If we are involved, we need to have that knowledge,” she said. “The public is waking up to the larger horrific dimension and it begs for public accountability.”

Audience member Carol Harris asked if Atlantica and NAFTA did not have implications for uranium mining in Nova Scotia. Thomas responded that Canada recently signed a global nuclear energy partnership that could oblige this country to take back the toxic waste uranium we exported and then find safe storage.

A contingent from the South Shore reported that the Municipality of Chester will look at the uranium issue April 10.

A spokeswoman said she expects the issue will head to the Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities.

Given that nuclear power is a heavily subsidized form of power, Smyth suggested that concerned citizens write letters, send e-mails, launch a petition, and turn out to the provincial government’s strategic reviews on natural resources.

Zimmerman, a Wolfville town councillor, said personal communication with politicians has a great effect.

Sponsors for the forum were the Wolfville branch of the Council of Canadians, the Ecology Action Centre, and Citizen Action to Protect the Environment (CAPE).