Namibia: Opposition to new mine

PRESS RELEASE

 NSHR OPPOSES NEW URANIUM MINE

 
As a national human rights organization advocating inter alia the universal right to a clean and safe environment, Namibia’s National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) deplores plans to open yet another uranium mine in the country.

 
“As if the danger to human life and the environment posed by the existing Rossing Uranium Mine (RUM) is not grave enough, the government is allowing yet another uranium mine in the country”, wondered NSHR executive director Phil ya Nangoloh.

Prominent local media reports have indicated during the last four months that a new uranium mine is soon to be erected at the village of Langer Heinrich, some 280 kilometers west of Windhoek and 50 kilometers south of RUM. The village borders the Namib Naukluft Park, the country’s largest nature conservation area.

The new mine--owned by Paladin Resources, an Australian company--is being established under the shroud of “pumping millions into the economy”.

 “Our unrelenting opposition to mining activities of this nature is more than obvious. Wherever and whenever uranium mine was opened worldwide, the track record has been precisely the same. From the Pryor Mountains in Wyoming (USA), Gunnar and Lorado mine sites in Canada’s Saskatchewan Province and Deline in the Northwestern Territories (Canada) and or Prieska in the Northern Province (South Africa) to the controversial Jabiluka Uranium mine in the Northern Territory (Australia) and Rossing Uranium mine (Namibia) it has been the same story of death from cancer caused by exposure to either asbestos or excessive radiation from uranium. Why on earth should we believe that it’s going to be a different story with the proposed Langer Heinrich uranium mine?” ya Nangoloh wanted to know.

The Namib Naukluft Park is home to the Topnaar people, which is one of the already most marginalized indigenous minority communities in the country.

“We also dismiss with the contempt it deserves the impression created by the owners of Langer Heinrich mine to the effect that the principal purpose of the proposed uranium mine is to create employment for Namibians and to strengthen the country’s economic base by ‘pumping millions into the economy’. There is no doubt that both in short-term and long-term this kind of mine will have very grave environmental, physical and psychological and socio-economic consequences, including our tourism industry in the area”, warned ya Nangoloh.

According to scientific data a person can be exposed to uranium by inhaling dust in air or ingesting water and food. The general population is exposed to uranium primarily through food and water. The average daily intake of uranium from food ranges from 0.07 to 1.1 micrograms per day. People who live near facilities that mine or process uranium ore or enrich uranium may have increased exposure to uranium.

As for the bosses of the proposed Langer Heinrich uranium mine and the principals of the Namibian Government, NSHR is calling upon them to invoke the doctrine of active precautionary principle, which calls for more action than less, choosing less risky alternatives, when they are available, and to take the full responsibility for potential risks that might arise from the proposed mine.

“This principle must also guides all of us, national and international environmentalists and human rights defenders, to take action now as individuals and organizations to register our opposition to this potential harm to human health and environment before it occurs” ya Nangoloh appealed. 

Moreover, the Government has legal and constitutional incentives to apply the doctrine of active precautionary principle. In terms Article 15 of the 1992 UN-sponsored Rio Declaration on Environment and Development to which Namibia is a state party:

"Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation."

Whereas Article 95(l) of the Namibian Constitution stipulates:

“The State shall actively promote and maintain the welfare of the by adopting inter alia policies aimed at the maintenance of ecosystems, essential ecological processes and biological diversity of Namibia and utilization of living natural resources basis for the benefit of all Namibians, both present and future; in particular, the Government shall provide measures against the dumping or recycling of foreign nuclear and toxic waste on Namibia territory”.

Background Info on Danger Posed by Uranium

 Uranium can enter the body when it is inhaled or swallowed or under rare circumstances it may enter through cuts in the skin. Uranium does not absorb through the skin, and alpha particles released by uranium cannot penetrate the skin, so uranium that is outside the body is much less harmful than it would be if it were inhaled or swallowed. When uranium enters the body it can lead to cancer or kidney damage.

Uranium mining carries the danger of airborne radioactive dust and the release of radioactive Radon gas and its daughter products (an added danger to the already dangerous activity of all hard rock mining). As a result, without proper ventilation, uranium miners have a dramatically increased risk of later development of lung cancer and other pulmonary diseases. There is also the possible danger of groundwater contamination with the toxic chemicals used in the separation of the uranium ore.

 
In case of further enquiries, please call P. ya Nangoloh at Tel: +264 61 236 183 or  +264 61 253 447 (office hours) or Cell: +264 811 299 886