Roxstop: leave it in the ground

It is more than 10 years since the first blockade at the Roxby Downs uranium mine in South Australia. The demand of those protesters was -- “Leave it in the ground”.

A decade later, mining company WMC is planning a billion dollar expansion at Roxby; Energy Resources Australia is planning a new uranium mine at Jabiluka; and many more uranium exploration projects and new mines are in the pipeline.

In response, “Roxstop” is being organised by the Roxby Action Collective, a community-based activist organisation. The Roxstop Desert Action and Festival to oppose uranium mining will take place from September 22 to October 3.

The first four days of Roxstop will focus on the Olympic Dam mine at Roxby Downs, where there will be protest actions, workshops on nuclear and related issues and a public meeting to discuss the effects of low level radiation on Roxby mineworkers' health.

The second part of Roxstop will be a music festival to celebrate the beauty and fragility of the Lake Eyre-South Mound Springs region. It will take place 100 km north of the mine, within sight of the pipeline from the Great Artesian Basin to WMC's uranium mine.

Three days of workshops and Mound Springs visits will follow, enabling participants to learn about the damage and degradation caused by WMC's activities.

To register or find out more about Roxstop, contact Cam Walker at Friends of the Earth on (03) 9419 8700 or write to PO Box 222, Fitzroy Vic 3065.

This article was posted on the Green Left Weekly Home Page.
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