The Enchanted Circle and Home of the Nuclear Bomb

Here in New Mexico (if you didn’t know, we are located in the USA), we have the “enchanted circle”, turquoise skies, and an ecosystem of which has healing plants that grow nowhere else in the world. We also have Los Alamos National Lab (LANL). Yep, we have the home of the Nuclear Bomb in our back yard. LANL is located in the Jemez region of Indian Country because of a treaty that the US Government made with San Juan Pueblo. The land was supposed to be returned to the First Nation People after about 50 years, but this treaty is just another of a long list of broken treaties with the First Nation Peoples. I wonder how they would have taken care of or lived with this land if it had been returned to them… But, let me fast forward to about 2004.
Our neighbors in Navajo Country gave us a shout out that US government-backed corporations (or is it the corporations that back their government lackeys) were making another attempt to re-start uranium mining on Navajo land. The mining procedure that was proposed, detailed a “cleaner way” to extract the uranium and redeposit the tailings back into the water table. Well. If anyone knows, this whole region is connected by one aquifer. Many of us rallied around and raised money and the Western Environmental Law Center took on the corporations with the Navajo to stop the mining while others stood on the front lines with the Grandmas to block the mining vehicles from going onto Navajo land. Navajo President Shirley eventually signed into law “no uranium mining” on Navajo land.
It is now 2008 and New Mexicans are still doing our best to protect our relationships with the Earth and Sky. Congressman Udall has worked with New Mexicans to stop corporate oil exploration and methane drilling in the Valle Vidal and has consistently stood with us to defeat bills for Uranium Warhead Pit Production funding at Los Alamos Labs. Now Udall is running for Senate and will face off with Steve Pearce who has continued to try to push through “amendments” to re-instate the $10 million dollar funding for the Warhead production. While the bills for Nuclear Warhead Pit production haven’t passed the House or the Senate (yet), this will not be the end unless we continue to stand strong with a united voice opposing uranium mining and nuclear weapons and power production.
Why you might ask, wouldn’t we want to mine and use uranium? Especially in a day and age when we have so many other people to fear and we have a so called need for alternative energy and need for wonderful jobs. Well, from a Bear’s point of view, uranium is one of the most toxic and poisonous minerals you two-leggeds could be messing around with. It poisons the water, earth and air, and it causes cancer and birth defects. Deformed babies and dead people due to uranium mining and depleted uranium bombs isn’t enough of a reason to stop this behavior? Well how about that the HALF LIFE of uranium is 500,000 years, leaving the land a toxic wasteland. AND, every time a depleted uranium warhead explodes in Iraq, it goes into the air and poisons the air YOU breath ANYWHERE on this planet. (As you know humans have not figured out how to put borders around the air and we Bears think that maybe some of you two-leggeds are suicidal).
Thank goodness for the Dixon Watchers that have taken on a grassroots public service of testing for uranium contamination because during the Cerro Grande Fire, LANL somehow turned their “air quality monitoring equipment off” as the land where they have been dumping their toxic waste, burned. I must also thank the Los Alamos Study Group that has identified toxic waste being stored at LANL in tents. Yes, tents, that isn’t a security risk is it?. And what about the run off everytime it rains or snows? Where do you think all toxic waste eventually goes? If you said the Rio Grande, you get a big Bear Hug.
As for jobs, you would think that with all the “brilliant minds” that work at LANL, all they would need is to be given a “new” assignment, like solar energy production or better yet, clean up the mess that they have made. As for “all the wonderful jobs” at LANL, how come all the LANL workers I have ever known have gotten cancer and why is there so much poverty in this state?
We have temporarily slowed the push for Nuclear Warhead Pit Production in the state of New Mexico. However, we need more national and global awareness and a rising of the Peoples’ voices to change the direction this nation is going. You the People (two-leggeds) can write YOUR representatives and our New Mexican representatives and tell them that you want to end uranium mining and Nuclear Warhead Pit Production, tell them that you do not want nuclear power. Tell them what you do want, like wind and solar power. If you do this then maybe the next generation will have a planet to live on and with.
Thanks for listening,
Bearsense