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Monday, November 03, 2008

Rebirth of N.M. Uranium Industry Challenged by Environmentalists

By Susan Montoya Bryan
Associated Press
      An environmental group is challenging claims that a rebirth of the uranium mining industry in western New Mexico would return thousands of jobs and billions of dollars to a region still hurting from the collapse of the last uranium boom.
    A study commissioned by the New Mexico Environmental Law Center contends estimates that the industry would bring $30 billion and more than a quarter of a million jobs to the state are "a gross exaggeration."
    Eric Jantz, the center's staff attorney, said the impetus for doing the report was to get a realistic perspective on whether the economic benefits of renewed uranium mining in New Mexico would outweigh environmental and health concerns.
    "The ultimate conclusion of the report is that the landscape has an inherent value and clean air and water have inherent values. They're the economic driver for the region and New Mexico," Jantz said. "Those things are sustainable, whereas the uranium industry and every other extractive industry are subject to boom and bust cycles."
    But James Peach, a professor at New Mexico State University who studied the potential impacts for the industry, said the economic expectations are reasonable when considering that uranium companies plan to do business in the state for at least the next three decades.
    Several companies showed an interest in western New Mexico's ore when prices skyrocketed last year. Despite a recent drop to less than $50 per pound, two companies have exploratory drilling applications pending with state regulators.
    The Environmental Law Center's report, released last week, states that the industry bases its economic claims on assumptions the price of uranium would return to the $90 to $100 per pound range and stay there indefinitely.
    Peach said he used the long-term contract price of uranium rather than the spot price to gauge the economic impact. He said about four-fifths of all uranium sales are based on a contract price, which stands at about $80 per pound.
    Peach also noted today's market is global, with 30 countries using nuclear power and a few dozen more building or planning to build nuclear power plants.
    "The data clearly indicates that U.S. and world uranium requirements for nuclear power generation far exceed current and projected production levels," Peach said, meaning a high price for ore could be sustainable.
    The Environmental Law Center argues that the uranium industry, like other commodities, operates on a boom and bust cycle that could leave western New Mexico vulnerable, as it was when the mines began to close in the 1980s and more than 6,000 jobs were lost.
    But Star Gonzales, director of the Cibola Communities Economic Development Foundation, said Grants — a town once known as "the Uranium Capital of the World" — learned from the last bust and is prepared for both the ups and downs of the cycle.
    She said renewed mining in the area would spur economic development in her community, where gas stations and other stores along main street have long been boarded up.
    "They're wrong in saying that it's too good to be true," she said. "I think that the industry will benefit our community. ... For every one mining job, there's probably going to be four created."
    Despite the potential economic benefits, critics say the environmental and social costs must be considered.
    According to the center's report, the federal government expects to spend nearly $100 million on monitoring and maintenance at past uranium mining sites across the country over the next six decades.
    The report also states the federal government has paid about $625 million to former uranium workers or their families for diseases and deaths associated with exposure to radiation while working in the industry between 1942 and 1971.
    Jantz said people who could benefit in the short term from a paycheck could end up paying a high price.
    "I don't know why people think that a renewed uranium boom would be any different," he said. "Maybe things were OK in Grants for a while but where's the uranium mining industry now? They want the resources but they haven't been taking care of the folks in Grants for the last 20 years."
    Gonzales, who also is director of the Grants Chamber of Commerce and curator of the community's Mining Museum, said the industry now faces more rigorous standards and has improved methods for mining ore.
    "I'm not just taking it for face value," she said of the industry's promises. "We've researched this. Certainly I wouldn't advocate anything that was going to be harmful to my community. I live here too."

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