Wisconsin: Does this explain the Geobic mine? Any geologists here?
Earlier this week I had a brief, but interesting conversation with three women who in 1983 participated in the fight against siting a high-level nuclear waste depository in Wisconsin. It's their contention that the Geobic mine is being proposed, not because it would be profitable to extract the minerals (primarlily low grade taconite), but because the site would be used as a large-scale nuclear waste facility.
Here's a bit I found on the topic while googling ...
Referendum in April 1983
http://ballotpedia.org/Wisconsin_Radioactive_Waste_Disposal_Site,_Question_1_(April_1983)
Wisconsin Radioactive Waste Disposal Site, Question 1 (April 1983)
The Wisconsin Radioactive Waste Disposal Question was a Wisconsin referendum / advisory question on the April 5, 1983 ballot in Wisconsin, where it was defeated.
This advisory question sought the opinion of the people of Wisconsin as to whether to allow a nuclear waste disposal site in the state.[1]
The measure was defeated 628,414 to 78,327.
Wisconsin was still being considered in 2003
http://www.cleanwisconsin.org/index.php?module=cms&page=204
Wisconsin Still at Risk from Becoming the Country’s Next Nuclear Waste Dump
August 5, 2003
MADISON — Clean Wisconsin released a report called Nuclear Waste and Wisconsin, which examines the environmental impacts of a high-level, large-scale nuclear waste facility in Wisconsin.
In February 2002, President Bush recommended Yucca Mountain as the site of the first potential high-level nuclear waste repository; experts are concerned there may already be too much waste to fill Yucca Mountain and that another site will have to be selected. In the 1980s, Wisconsin’s Wolf River Batholith, a geological feature covering 5,800 square miles in northeastern Wisconsin, was proposed by the Department of Energy (DOE) as a potential site for large-scale nuclear waste disposal. Additionally, the Bush Administration is pushing for more nuclear power and new plants; creating more waste increases the chance that Wisconsin will be asked to host thousands of tons of our country’s nuclear waste.
I also compared maps of the proposed Geobic mine site and the Wolf River Batholith, the area considered geologically suitable for a nuclear waste site (well, not in my opinion, but you get the idea). The proposed Geobic mine site is NOT in the Wolf River Batholith, but nearby. Perhaps there's a geologist on DU who can comment further on this?????
Anyway, many of us have been wondering why all the interest in mining here, since there are several studies that conclude it's simply not economically feasible to extract such low-grade taconite. Could this be the real reason? Please shoot this down, or add credence, if you can. Any and all comments appreciated.
= new reply since forum marked as read
