Few folks realize that Goliad County Commissioner Ted Long’s water well is the closest of all to the proposed uranium mine in Goliad County, lying only around 800 feet away.  One can only imagine waking up every morning, making a pot of coffee and wondering how much longer the water will be safe to drink, if it’s even safe today.

Commissioner Long is in a precarious position.  His primary responsibility is to represent his precinct, but what about his personal feelings?  Does he have questions?  You bet he does.

You see, some of the land owners in his precinct have leased their property for uranium exploration and mining without having all the facts.  It is those facts that he seeks.

Some Goliad County land owners, two of which live miles away in Kenedy and Runge, have expressed their disapproval of the Goliad County Commissioners Court’s decision to spend $150,000 of the taxpayers’ money on legal fees regarding uranium mining in Goliad County, with more budgeted for the future.  Well, folks, Kleberg County has already spent over a million.  They didn’t litigate until late in the game after the damage had been irreversibly done.  Goliad County officials do not want to find themselves in the same position.

If the price of uranium continues to plummet, making uranium mining infeasible or unprofitable, then this situation will resolve itself.  Hopefully, if this occurs, they will not have commenced mining and then leave overnight as they did in the 70’s.  Today’s spot price for uranium is $64.50 per pound, down from $138(?) about a year ago. 

Uranium bottomed out at $7 per pound in the 70’s, causing uranium mining companies to file bankruptcy after which they simply walked away.  No cleanup…no restoration…no remediation…they simply walked away leaving horrible radioactive mess after mess without any obligation to clean it up.  So, who's still cleaning it up for them?...the TAXPAYER!

Is Commissioner Long concerned?  Wouldn’t you be?  Hats off to you, Commissioner Ted Long, and hopefully the resolution which you seek is in the near future.

Some of you may recall how close the St. Peter's Lutheran Church is to the proposed uranium mining site in Goliad.

After pointing this out to both EPA and TCEQ, the responses I got from each of these agencies were quite different.

EPA says "A key component of our evaluation of an aquifer exemption request would be the presence of domestic and/or public water supply wells in the area and the potential impacts on these wells from mining operations."

TCEQ says "However, whether or not the church is designated as a public water supply does not change the information considered in an application for an area permit for an in situ uranium mine or an aquifer exemption."

It then occurred to me that it's "the book" that's dictating these things, not human compassion or common sense.  Mr. Klotzman from Victoria recently suggested that we should leave these people alone and let them do their job.  Well, they are doing their job as "the book" defines it. 

The closest analogy I can think of is Planet of the Apes. The orangutan elders knew very well that their "book" contained erroneous information, but yet they preached the "book" as if it were gospel truth, knowing deep inside that it was a conglomeration of lies.

So, what is the big deal?  Goliad is not Victoria so why worry?  Well, if this uranium mine is approved in Goliad County, logic suggests that the mining will migrate quickly into Victoria County.  Weren't we just having a county-wide conversation regarding ground water, and how the City will ultimately rely upon ground water (again) in the event of a drought?  How will the City and County deal with radium and arsenic issues in the drinking water if a plume escapes and affects the groundwater wells? (This is assuming that mining ultimately will occur in Victoria County). 

Substantial levels of radium 228 have been found in several wells in parts of Victoria County.  Will these dormant pockets of heavy metals be affected by uranium mining?  Will the chemicals injected into the water table oxidize and mobilize these toxins?  These are all questions with no valid answers.

Very specific conditions regarding chemical balance, eH, pH, temperature, etc. were required for the uranium to deposit when and where it did, and once it's released, will it become "reduced" to its original state in a few days or weeks, or even a few years?  Will it precipitate within feet, yards or miles away?  It may have taken hundreds of thousands of years for this uranium and its byproducts to precipitate and turn solid.  How long will it take for this to occur again?  Nobody knows.  Only speculation and theories.

Contrary to popular belief, Goliad is not in the middle of the South Pacific Ocean somewhere, but only a few short miles away from downtown Victoria.  .

What's in YOUR water?