The Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) could be giving the go-ahead for what will be one of the most greenhouse gas (GHG) emission intensive coal-fired power stations, not only in South Africa, but in the world. Its GHG emissions are likely to be 60% higher than Eskom’s new Medupi and Kusile coal plants. This is apparent from the final climate change impact assessment … [Read more...]
Time to act on uranium mining while we still can
We have a small window of opportunity – until Tuesday 15 March 2016 - to make submissions on the uranium mining rights application of Tasman RSA Mines, which is set to destroy more than 500,000ha of Karoo farmland and contaminate the last remaining groundwater. Beaufort West will be the epicentre of millions of tons of radioactive uranium ore. This cannot be the future for … [Read more...]
Fukushima plant to leak radioactive water for 4 more years
Operators of Japan’s damaged nuclear power plant Fukushima have warned that it will take a further four years to fix the problem of contaminated water leaks. The admission was made as a sombre nation prepared to mark the fifth anniversary of the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami, which triggering the world’s worst nuclear disaster in decades. The problem of dealing … [Read more...]
How to save the planet from gold mining
Diamonds are supposed to be forever, however it’s the human love affair with gold that has been truly lasting. For thousands of years, since even before the time of King Tut, gold has been prized for its beauty and value. It’s no wonder, then, that so much gold is sitting in jewelry boxes and central bank vaults. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that 171,300 tons of gold … [Read more...]
Fukushima: Contaminated water flowing into ocean
Water contaminated with radiation is flowing out into the Pacific Ocean from a harbor at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant despite assurances from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that it has been "completely blocked." Abe on Sept. 19 based his assertion on measurements taken in the outer ocean. But experts said levels of seaborne radioactive substances stay mostly below … [Read more...]
State intends to go ahead with fracking
In a General Notice, published by the Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Bomo Edna Molewa, dated 23 August 2013, there is a clear indication that the state intends to allow exploration for the purposes of shale gas production. The process used to obtain shale gas is colloquially referred to as "fracking". The Minister has also reiterated in a press briefing in … [Read more...]
Global activists warn SA against fracking
European environmental activists have warned that the oil and gas industry “cuts corners” when drilling for shale gas through hydraulic fracturing. But once disaster occurred, the companies would then blame locally outsourced suppliers, they claimed. Friends of the Earth activist Darek Urbaniak from Poland said this during a meeting with Barry Wuganaale, the newly-elected … [Read more...]
Fracking plans need a unified voice now
Minister Shabangu’s announcement last Friday of the Department of Mineral Resource’s pro-fracking decision to cabinet ripped like wild fire through environmental circles the past week. If there is one issue that can unite all the different green role players in this country, I think it’s this one. The sensitive Karoo ecology is regarded as the heartland of the country by … [Read more...]
Global shale gas moratoriums increase
“While our government is scrambling to produce a secret document on which this country may make a potentially irreversible decision on shale gas mining ‘fracking’, international sentiment is increasing against the technology. Fracking is banned, or under some form of moratorium or restriction in more than 140 places around the world.” These were the words of TKAG (Treasure … [Read more...]
28 new coal ash water pollution sites revealed
A new report by the Environmental Integrity Project documents that 49 coal-fired power plants have contaminated groundwater at 116 coal ash disposal sites in the United States. The data, which was released by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, revealed 28 previously unknown contamination sites in Iowa, … [Read more...]
Wave of radiation headed for US
Over the last year the threat of radiation hitting the United States from the Fukushima nuclear disaster has gone from a conspiracy theory, to a possibility, to a flat out fact. Now, scientists with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute have confirmed that a wave of highly radioactive waste is headed directly for the US west coast. In a segment on the Big Picture with … [Read more...]
The fight against fracking in South Africa
Should you care whether or not South Africa is fracked? The Treasure Karoo Action Group (TKAG) believes you should and urges the country to take up their position in society in the fight against fracking. Fracking (Hydaulic fracturing) is banned or restricted in more than 90 places and 5 countries worldwide and has only been practiced in its current form in the Unites States … [Read more...]
European commission misled over nuclear safety
European leaders are being misled over the safety of underground disposal of highly dangerous nuclear waste which could poison groundwaters for centuries, a new study concludes. The European Commission is due to publish a draft nuclear waste directive this Autumn. Deep disposal has dominated the research effort put into the management of highly radioactive nuclear waste for … [Read more...]
