We shouldn’t fund radioactive contamination
Uranium mining is one of the riskiest industrial activities in the world.
Uranium mining is dirty and dangerous.
Every single uranium mine operated in the United States has needed toxic waste cleanup. Yet one leftover Trump-era plan would expand the dangerous mining of this highly radioactive element.1
The Department of Energy is accepting public input on the plan until Oct. 13, and we need to speak up.
It’s time to tell the Department of Energy not to fund dangerous uranium mining.
Uranium waste can contaminate the environment for thousands of years.
Uranium and other toxic chemicals have been found in baby birds near uranium mines. Tadpoles near mines have toxic levels of arsenic and selenium, dangerous chemicals found in uranium mine waste.2
Mining uranium puts the entire ecosystem at risk.3 Contamination seeps into the air, water and soil. Once one animal is exposed, radiation can be passed up the entire food chain.
And contamination is all but guaranteed.
No method of uranium waste containment has been shown to be either 100% effective or a long-term solution.4 Uranium waste has the potential to contaminate the environment for thousands of years, so unearthing any quantity is dangerous for our present and future.
Add your name to protect the environment from radioactive contamination.
Once uranium contaminates a water source, every downstream ecosystem and community is at risk.
Environmental Action has helped successfully protect the Grand Canyon from uranium mining in the past, but this new plan could fund uranium mining across the country. Help us protect our wildlife and environment from uranium mining by adding your name today.
- “Grand Canyon at Risk: Uranium Mining Threatens a National Treasure,” Environment America, June 6, 2018.
- Alex Devoid, “Are uranium mines near the Grand Canyon hazardous to wildlife?” AZ Central, November 27, 2018.
- “Potential Environmental Effects of Uranium Mining, Processing, and Reclamation,” National Center for Biotechnology Information, last accessed September 29, 2021.
- “Potential Environmental Effects of Uranium Mining, Processing, and Reclamation,” National Center for Biotechnology Information, last accessed September 29, 2021.