by Eric Jantz, Environmental Law Center
The New Mexican
February 6, 2008

New Mexicans continue to bear the environmental and public health burdens from past uranium mining with no cleanup in sight. The industry now asks us to host a new "boom" of uranium mining to supply fuel for future nuclear reactors.

However, uranium mining continues to be dirty and dangerous, especially with respect to groundwater. Never has the uranium mining industry cleaned up its toxic mess. No community that has hosted uranium mining has reaped any appreciable economic benefits.

With well-documented environmental and public health hazards and limited economic benefits, uranium mining is, like radioactive waste, another reason why nuclear power is a red herring in the search for an ecological and economical energy source for America.

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