Moir: True costs of uranium mining outweigh benefits

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2 April 2008
Moncton, New Brunswick

Fundy Royal NDP candidate and economist Rob Moir was among the keynote speakers at Moncton's Public Awareness meeting to discuss the effects of test drilling and uranium mining on our health and ecosystem. Dr. Moir's presentation outlined the overall effects that uranium exploration and mining has on the economy.

Moir toasted the crowd with a glass of Moncton city water, and commenced by saying, "Thank you Moncton for keeping water public, and here's to keeping it free of radioactivity."

The market says Lepreau 2 is not 'risk free'
JANICE HARVEY
February 20th, 2008

In case some readers only get their information on the nuclear power
industry from this paper, some outside perspective may be useful.

The Globe and Mail article (Feb 13), "Is private money ready to go
nuclear," by energy reporter Shawn McCarthy is especially pertinent,
since the proposal to build a new ACR-1000 reactor at Point Lepreau
suggests it will be paid for by private money.

Reactor designer AECL (a federal Crown corporation) has teamed up with
SNC-Lavalin, General Electric, Hitachi and Babcock & Wilcox (makers of

Mark D. Connell
February 8th, 2008

The announcement by Premier Graham that his government hopes to build a new nuclear reactor at Point Lepreau defies belief. The Premier, it seems, has lost his moral compass.

The last ice age retreated approximately 9,000 years ago. During that
glacial period most of Canada, including the Maritime region, was
covered with a sheet of ice more than one kilometer thick. Continental
glaciers creep outwards from their centers at an inexorable rate of
one to several meters a day toward the margins, scouring and grinding
down the landscape in the process. The weight of these continental ice

The Saint John District Labour Council is holding a rally at 12 noon, Friday, February 15th in front of the Telegraph Journal Office (210 Crown Street, Saint John).

Send a message to the newspaper that we want a labour voice and fair taxation!

JANICE HARVEY
February 13th, 2008

Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practise to deceive." Sir Walter Scott's immortal warning is an apt characterization of the nuclear web being spun in New Brunswick. Neither the media nor the opposition Conservatives seems to be trying to understand what's going on. Yet the very public release of what everyone expected to be the long-awaited Lepreau-2 feasibility study last week should have prompted some very pointed questions.

AECL's feasibility study wasn't released that day. Instead, Minister Keir unveiled a surprise "viability study" prepared by a third-party consultant, MZ Consulting. At best, the report reads like a cautionary tale, citing several very thorny conditions to be met before a

Fournier: Bilcon action groundless
By DAVID JACKSON Provincial Reporter
Wed. Feb 6 - 7:37 AM
http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/Front/1036279.html

A company seeking more than US$188 million in damages related to the government rejection of its Digby Neck quarry proposal doesn’t appear to have a leg to stand on, says the chairman of the environmental review panel that recommended the project not go forward.

The chairman, Dalhousie University professor Robert Fournier, said Tuesday he doesn’t think the panel’s report, released in October, is grounds for the challenge that Bilcon of Delaware and four individual owners of the company — members of New Jersey’s Clayton family — have launched.

JANICE HARVEY
February 6th, 2008

As Premier Graham stands poised to sign a deal with Atomic Energy of Canada, the advice "buyer beware" seems apt.

AECL, a Crown corporation, wants to sell us a brand new reactor, the ACR 1000, or Advanced Candu Reactor. This 1000 megawatt reactor is so fresh it exists only on paper. And yet, according to court documents, Premier Graham has already urged NB Power to tag it as the preferred reactor. (I'm sure this has nothing to do with the fact that Liberal lobbyist Doug Tyler is one of the salesmen, and that former Liberal premier Ray Frenette did a stint as chairman of AECL).

February 5th, 2008

The Conservation Council of New Brunswick is not mistaken about the increases in benzene emissions from the refinery as cited in a story in the Jan. 29 Daily Gleaner.

We are well aware of how benzene and volatile organic compounds are reported. Benzene stack emissions were 4.88 tonnes in 2003 and 6.69 tonnes in 2006. Those figures represent an increase of 37 per cent.

Average annual ground level concentrations of benzene at the Champlain Heights air quality monitoring station have increased from 0.38 ppb before the upgrade (2000) to 0.62 ppb in 2005 after the upgrade, an increase of 63 per cent, contrary to statements made by a Department

The New Brunswick Federation of Labour has announced that they are holding round table discussions on Atlantica, Public-Private Partnerships and Job losses in the Manufacturing and Forestry Sector throughout New Brunswick over the next 3 Months. All Discussion are open to the public.

Oromocto - February 20th at 7pm Royal Canadian Legion Br. 93, 284 Restigouche Rd

Miramichi - February 26th at 7pm, CEP Local 689, 138 Burns Street

Bathurst - February 27th at 7pm, Union Centre, 975 King Street

Edmunston - March 18th at 7pm, Chateau Edmunston, (100 Rice Street)

Dalhousie - March 25th at 7pm, NBIP Hall, 361 William Street

Sent: Tuesday, January 29, 2008 8:58 AM

Dear chapter activists,

As reported by Reuters this morning, "To a standing ovation from Congress, the U.S. president said: 'Tonight I am pleased to announce that in April we will host this year's North American Summit of Canada, Mexico, and the United States in the great city of New Orleans.'"

CNN reported that, "Among other proposals in the 53-minute speech, the president: Announced plans to hold the annual North American Summit of U.S., Canadian and Mexican leaders in New Orleans, still rebuilding from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said the president decided to hold the summit there to send a signal about the city's redevelopment since the hurricane, which killed more than 1,800 people on the Gulf Coast."