***Media Alert***
15/07/2010
Contact: Zane Alcorn 0401 466 831
A bus load of 40 people from the East Coast of Australia are staging a protest against the expansion of the Olympic Dam uranium mine.
The protesters, who have been travelling through central Australia on an Indigenous Solidarity ride for the past two weeks, are blocking the front gates of the mine, they have created a human sign in a colourful protest.
The purpose is to highlight the catastrophic effects the mine and its expansion would have on Traditional Owners, their land and future generations.
Zane Alcorn, spokesperson for the Indigenous Solidarity Rides, said: “Not only is the expansion at Olympic Dam going ahead without the consent of Traditional Owners, but forty million litres of water per day is being sucked out of the Artesian Basin on Arabunna land to service the mine. Australia is the driest continent on the earth and faces a massive water shortage. It is ludicrous that we are literally exporting our sacred and precious water.
“The Melbourne based group Beyond Zero Emissions have done what the Government should have, and that is draw up a plan for running Australia on 100% renewables, namely wind and baseload solar. Uranium mining and nuclear energy cost more than renewables and are a completely redundant industry. This mine needs to be shut down, not expanded.”
Catrina Staurmberg, also on the bus, said: “This is a toxic mine, no one is safe. Radioactive material does not discriminate. If the open-cut expansion or any kind of uranium mining continues it will put many lives at risk across the country. For every tonne of uranium produced, 660 tonnes of radioactive tailings waste remains behind. This waste is NOT carefully contained. It literally piles up in the outback. Here it may be out of sight of most Australians, but watch New Zealand’s snowy peaks glow pink when the winds blow eastwards, and know that this is not just desert dust.”
“The toxicity of tailings waste, risk of contamination and commercial consumption of precious water, all adds up to a poisonous industry that must be shut down.”
For media inquiries and interview contact: Zane Alcorn on 0401 466 831, or Catrina Straumberg on 0437 772 164.
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