Politics, not science, at heart of uranium mining ban in Arizona

Obama administration officials banned mining across one million acres of the most uranium rich land in the United States for 20 years using questionable science to back up their claims that uranium production would adversely affect the environment. That’s according to key Republicans on the House Natural Resources Committee, which has released internal emails from government scientists stating that some environmental impacts were “grossly overestimated” and “very minor to negligible.” “These emails raise serious concerns about whether the Obama administration’s decision to block uranium production in Arizona was based on politics rather than sound science,” said Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.), chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee. The committee is investigating Interior Secretary Ken Salazar’s January decision and is demanding that the administration turn over by June 11 more documents, including emails, notes, briefing papers and memos by 70 agency officials, in order to determine if the decision was based on politics rather than science. The new documents released by the committee show findings by some National Park Service scientists back up the lawmakers’ concerns. One internal email written by a hydrologist said the environmental study “goes to great lengths in an attempt to establish impacts to water resources from uranium mining.”
“It fails to do so, but instead creates enough confusion and obfuscation of hydrologic principles to create the illusion that there could be adverse impacts if uranium mining occurred,” the hydrologist said. Another park service official wrote that this is a case “where the hard science doesn’t strongly support a policy position.”...more