Bismarck Tribune - Bismarck News - Uranium mine study brings back uncertain testing results

Uranium mine study brings back uncertain testing results

Sep 13, 2006 - 02:06:25 CDT

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - Abandoned uranium mines in northwestern South Dakota are polluting nearby streams, but a new study doesn't determine if that's caused cancer and other health problems miles downstream.

Creeks flowing out of the northern Cave Hills, west of Ludlow, contain elevated levels of uranium and arsenic, said engineering professor James Stone of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in Rapid City.

Some residents of Harding County and the Standing Rock Indian Reservation say they suspect dust and water from the mines is causing an unusual number of illnesses, including cancer. But the water is not used for drinking, and state data shows cancer rates in the area are normal.

The new study shows that although uranium and arsenic are escaping the mine sites, it dissipates as it flows downstream, becoming undetectable less than 10 miles away.

"It doesn't appear that these mine sites are a source, from a surface water standpoint," Stone said.

That's based on his team's analysis of 22 water samples at 14 sites near a set of ponds that is supposed to block pollution from the sites. Stone and others continue to work on studies of contamination in stream sediment and dust.

The advocacy group Defenders of the Black Hills has argued that the mines are causing health problems on Standing Rock.

Charmaine White Face, of Rapid City, coordinator for the group, said dust and floods still could be carrying uranium much farther east - as far as Bullhead in Corson County 100 miles downstream.

The state Health Department said Harding County had 89 cancer deaths between 1969 and 2002, lower than the statewide rate of 187 per 100,000 people. Corson County had 242 deaths, a rate that is higher but not statistically different from the state rate, Epidemiologist Lon Kightlinger said.

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Harold One Feather wrote on Sep 13, 2006 4:19 PM:

" I was there when Dr. Albrecht Schwalm, a scientist involved in the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology study, stated that the readings faded to background radiation levels and when asked what the background radiation levels were, he stated 25 micrograms per liter. Then when asked why he didn't see this as being dangerous since this is twice the EPA Clean Water Act levels for recreation and fish consumption, he added that they were contracted to study how far the radioactive contamination travelled downstream and once it matches background radiation levels, they quit studying that part of the stream reach. Then when questioned whether they were aware that the study was being conducted during a severe drouth period and that could cause a very misleading interpretation of the study's findings, he replied that to study the hydrologic regime to include a longer time period, they would need more money. After his discussion, the South Dakota Dept of Environment and Natural Resources made their presentation concerning their summerlong river basin radiological sampling of all western South Dakota rivers. This highest reading was near Buffalo, SD on the Grand River with a peak level at 47 micrograms per liter which is 4 times the EPA Clean Water Act standard for swimming and fish consumption. They also added that their findings indicate that the radionuclides have combined with the water and aren't suspended in the sediments, meaning that the water itself is contaminated with radionuclides. Basically after watching this situation develop for nearly 10 years, I must conclude that all parties (Federal and State agencies) are being negligent in their duties to protect the health of our communities and the environment, but at least the SD state personnel said that they were going to continue to sample the Grand River and White River since these rivers have Native Americans using these rivers for fishing and swimming and from these surveys, issue health advisories not to swim or fish in either river. I can only say that how much more millions must be wasted until these problems are solved realistically as the State of North Dakota did with its abandoned uranium mines in Belfield, ND; it didn't wait for the EPA to declare the mining and processing areas as Superfund sites to receive federal funding to protect the communities' health and the environment. "

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