Tom Cook: Media falters on uranium mining near Pine Ridge

Monday, January 14, 2013  

"Media coverage of Crow Butte Resources' uranium mining near Crawford, Nebraska, has been remarkably incomplete. In deference to the multimillion-dollar operation, coverage has focused on all the positives generated for the state, company, workers, contractors and regional economy. However, scant attention is paid to the issues surrounding CBR's license renewal application before the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

A full-spread Rapid City Journal article December 23 shows the slant of coverage regarding the real and valid concerns. The reporter missed a fundamental question of CBR, “What's the status of your license?” That question would lead to further questions of what the issues are surrounding the case.

Instead, the article only quotes Dave Carlson, the licensed geologist who certified CBR's original and inaccurate geological analysis, and who has legal responsibility for its contents. He said “The truth is a lot of the opposition comes from ignorance. People talk about them ruining the aquifer. We can say with about 99.9 percent certainty that they're incorrect.”

Carlson's outright dismissal of oppositional views and scientific evidence is in denial of the facts, and disregards the complexity of the issues involved in the case. "

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Tom Kanatakeniate Cook: Nebraska Mining Coverage Misrepresented by Media (Indian Country Today 1/13)