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Oil Train to Nowhere

Proponents of the proposed Uinta Basin Railway oil train claim it would allow the oil industry to quadruple petroleum extraction in the area. Residents are concerned their property will be seized by eminent domain in order to serve private industry rather than the common good. Many have been notified that surveys are planned.

The oil train would exacerbate climate change, degrade air and water quality, and damage public and private lands. It would permanently endanger the communities along its path. From methane releases at the extraction sites in Utah, to the fuels burned to transport it, to pollution at refining sites (likely in the Gulf of Mexico) and where it is burned, to the ultimate climate impacts, this oil train is a reckless misuse of public money. 

Send your comments and sign the petition here: https://www.stopuintabasinrailway.com/

More Information

The Surface Transportation Board, the lead agency working to permit the oil train, has released their scope of work document - December 9, 2019
Scope of Work for Draft Environmental Impact Statement

Colorado River Connected published a thorough background and review of the proposed oil train.
The Uintah Basin Railway: a fossil fuel disaster

Salt Lake Tribune, by Brian Maffley - June 13, 2019
Disputed rail project seeking to ship eastern Utah oil to more lucrative markets clears hurdle with $21 million funding boost
“The CIB is failing the public trust in the administration of this money,”  Sarah Stock - Program Director, Living Rivers

Visit Stop the Uinta Basin Railway for more information and actions.

 Get Involved

It is NOT clear that the Environmental Impact Statement will consider the full climate impacts of the additional petroleum that would be extracted as a result of the oil train. The full climate impacts of the quadrupled oil exploitation need to be assessed, including:

  • methane and other pollution at the site of extraction
  • transportation to the Gulf of Mexico or other locations, and the impacts of refining it
  • shipping to final destinations in Asia and elsewhere
  • burning at final destinations
Support

These organizations are working to stop the proposed oil train. Write and ask how you can help their efforts.

Living Rivers & Colorado Riverkeeper - Sarah Stock, Program Director
Utah Tar Sands Resistance - Raphael Cordray, Director

Roger and Melissa Peck want to welcome the proponents of the oil train to their property, so they can see the place that may be seized and destroyed.
Roger and Melissa Peck want to welcome the proponents of the oil train to their property, so they can see the place that may be seized and destroyed.
Roger and Melissa Peck await news about the arrival of oil train surveyors.
Roger and Melissa Peck await news about the arrival of oil train surveyors.
Debris pile at the bankrupt PR Springs tar sands mine. A new oil train could make dirty fuels like tar sands profitable.
Debris pile at the bankrupt PR Springs tar sands mine. A new oil train could make dirty fuels like tar sands profitable.
Meeting in Vernal, Utah, where $21.4 million of public funds was allocated to a new oil train.
Meeting in Vernal, Utah, where $21.4 million of public funds was allocated to a new oil train.
Proponents of the oil train spent hours promoting the project to the Utah Permanent Community Impact Board. Those opposed (standing in back) did not get to speak.
Proponents of the oil train spent hours promoting the project to the Utah Permanent Community Impact Board. Those opposed (standing in back) did not get to speak.
One of thousands of oil derricks in the Uinta Basin.
One of thousands of oil derricks in the Uinta Basin.

Uranium Imports

Utah Poised to Import Radioactive Waste from Estonia

Public Comment Period Closes July 10th


By Jennifer Ekstrom

White Mesa Uranium Mill in southern Utah could soon become the destination for 2200 tons (4,400,000 pounds) of radioactive uranium waste from Estonia. This uranium waste would be shipped across the Atlantic and imported through the Gulf of Mexico, and then trucked to the White Mesa Mill in southern Utah.

Uranium is a heavy metal commonly found in rock, soil and water. When concentrated to produce nuclear energy or weapons, it becomes both chemically toxic and dangerously radioactive. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it can cause kidney damage, bone, liver and lung cancer.

The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, whose property is just three miles from the Mill, is concerned. Scott Clow, environmental programs director for the Tribe, spoke at a recent virtual hearing held by Utah's Division of Waste Management and Radiation Control. Clow said the Mill was at risk of becoming 'the world’s radioactive waste dump.' According to the Tribe, the Division has repeatedly weakened groundwater pollution limits at the site when the Mill has violated legal limits for uranium and other related pollutants.

Radioactive barrels

A January, 2020 letter from the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe to the Division of Waste Management and Radiation Control urged the agency to take action to protect groundwater near their White Mesa community. The letter claims “progressive and alarming degradation of the quality of the shallow groundwater, with seven new exceedances of groundwater contaminant levels.” They asked that the Division “require that additional effective investigative and corrective actions be taken to identify and address the root causes of the contamination, rather than artificially relaxing groundwater contaminant levels (GWCLs) to excuse noncompliant data and allow further degradation of water quality.” The liner that protects groundwater from radioactive waste stored in Cell 3 is a 40 year old single layer. 

The Center for Biological Diversity expressed concerns as well. According to Senior Public Lands Campaigner Taylor McKinnon, ‘the state should be protecting the public from deadly uranium pollution, but here it’s doing policy gymnastics to accommodate pollution. Closing monitoring wells and changing pollution standards might suppress violations, but it does nothing to actually stop pollution.’

Energy Fuels Resources Inc., the Canadian corporation that operates White Mesa Uranium Mill, is asking that groundwater pollution limits again be raised as part of their application to accept, process and store in perpetuity this new stream of uranium waste from Estonia.

The White Mesa Mill regularly processes and stores uranium waste from sites across north America, though this would be the first time it would receive waste from overseas. The nuclear industry in Estonia exceeded their country’s regulatory limits for storing the waste, so needs to find another place to send it.

Under debate is whether this new uranium material import is allowable under a general import license, or whether the proponents would need to gain a special import license for radioactive waste. The decision hinges on whether the material is ultimately considered an ‘ore’ or a ‘waste’ product. If an imported radioactive material is considered ‘waste,’ the importers must obtain a special import license through the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ‘I would argue that the material to be imported is radioactive waste,’ said Sarah Fields of Uranium Watch, an advocacy organization based in Monticello, Utah. 

At their May 20th virtual hearing on the topic, the Division of Waste Management and Radiation Control was questioned about their classification of the product. Aaron Paul, staff attorney with Grand Canyon Trust, pointed out that it may be misleading to the public to call it ore, since the Estonian company is disposing of it as waste. Also, Energy Fuels would be paid to take it, which would not likely be the case with ore. Agency staff asserted early in the hearing that they could call anything ore that they wanted to, and that it had been discussed many times.

The White Mesa Mill was originally licensed in 1979 for a 15 year lifespan to process ore from the surrounding region. It was not designed to reprocess and permanently store radioactive waste.

DO SOMETHING

The state of Utah is inviting your opinion as they consider approving this precedent setting import. Comments are accepted through close of business on July 10th, 2020, and can be emailed to: dwmrcpublic@utah.gov. Comments sent via email must be identified with subject line: Public Comment on White Mesa RML Renewal.

A Stand Against Tar Sands

The film Last Rush for the Wild West exposes how impending tar sands and oil shale strip mining would destroy massive, pristine landscapes in Utah and devastate the Colorado River watershed. 

The making of this film played an important role in stimulating and bringing together opposition to the United States' precedent setting tar sands mine. The film also contributed to the ultimate collapse of the company that was attempting to build it. 

When a lawyer from Utah's Attorney General office attended a screening, he was pressed to promise the audience there would be opportunity to weigh in on the proposal. The resulting comment period allowed time for a hydrology report to be submitted, and that report resulted in monitoring wells being required. The wells were one additional expense for the corporation, which soon thereafter went into receivership, the Canadian version of bankruptcy. 

 

waterkeeper-magazine

More information

This stuff needs to stay in the ground.” John Weisheit, the Colorado Riverkeeper, puts it bluntly, but with a studied consideration that is his trademark. He’s referring to plans for tar sands and oil-shale strip mining that would destroy massive, pristine landscapes and put the already imperiled Colorado River watershed at further risk. John is a seasoned outdoorsman but he has a professorial air about him. He also has a way of cutting to the root of things in favor of unfiltered truths. “Tar sands; they all know it’s a bullshit resource,” he adds unapologetically... (more)

Waterkeeper Magazine, by Lauren Wood and Jennifer Ekstrom
Colorado Riverkeeper Takes a Stand Against Tar Sands

 

Ecowatch, by Stephanie Spear
10 Best Eco-Docs of 2014

EcoWatch, by Anastasia Pantsios
Documentary Exposes Fossil Fuel Industries Assault on Wild West

Facebook- Last Rush for the Wild West

Do Something

Canyon Country Rising Tide
Utah Tar Sands Resistance

Watch the film, Last Rush for the Wild West, or host a screening.

Film crew floating the Green River, which could be impacted by tar sands strip mining. Photo credit: Hekter McElliot
Film crew floating the Green River, which could be impacted by tar sands strip mining. Photo credit: Hekter McElliot
Indigenous leaders from First Nations across Canada gather at Tar Sands Healing Walk
Indigenous leaders from First Nations across Canada gather at Tar Sands Healing Walk
Directing on the Green River
Directing on the Green River
Green River
Green River
The buffalo looks mad. Art by students near the Athabascan tar sands strip mines
The buffalo looks mad. Art by students near the Athabascan tar sands strip mines
Danger sign at Utah tar sands test pit. Photo credit: Max Wilbert
Danger sign at Utah tar sands test pit. Photo credit: Max Wilbert
Capturing the action...
Capturing the action...

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