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Canada, cancer, CFIUS, Chubais group, clean water, corruption, dangers of nuclear, Energy Fuels Resources, environment, Federal Government, Lundin, mining, NAFTA, NRC, nuclear, nuclear power, Putin, Russia, Russia 1990s, Russia privatization, St. Petersburg, State Government, Trump, uranium mining, Uranium One, US AID, Virginia, Virginia Uranium, Virginia Uranium Mining, Walter Coles
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to decide if US states have the right to protect themselves against uranium mining. [1] The CEO of Virginia Uranium, subsidiary to Canadian Registered Virginia Energy Resources, Walter Coles, was a USAID privatization chief for Russia in the early 1990s. In that capacity he worked with/supported the St. Petersburg Chubais group, which ultimately gave us Putin. At the best, he has the sort of poor judgement one wouldn’t want for a uranium mining company. At the worst, this may be another back-door plan for Russia to take over US uranium mining through Canada, again. Canadian Mining Companies Energy Fuels and Sprott Resources are major investors. Energy Fuels appears to be connected to the Swedish Canadian Lundin mining family. For the Uranium One case, it was Timothy Geithner, Secretary of the Treasury, at the time, who oversaw the selling of Uranium One to Russia State owned Rosatom, as lead of the CFIUS Committee. Any of the nine members of CFIUS can raise concerns about a transaction but only the president can block it, on national security grounds. Canada was the back-door, since Uranium One was a Canadian company bought by Russia. (NAFTA and WTO may make blocking under CFIUS more difficult.) BGR Group was hired by Uranium One regarding the CIFIUS process.
For more about Energy Fuels read here and do a blog search for Energy Fuels and EnergyFuels:
In “VIRGINIA URANIUM, INC., et al.,
Petitioners, v. JOHN WARREN, et al., Respondents. ”
Excerpt from Brief by the Attorney General of Virginia (opposing uranium mining):
“QUESTION PRESENTED
Whether the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 preempts Virginia’s moratorium on uranium mining.
“….the Atomic Energy Act “confers no federal regulatory or licensing authority over nonfederal uranium deposits or their conventional mining. It has never done so.”110 So even assuming for purposes of a Rule 12(b)(6) motion that Virginia’s uranium-mining moratorium was based on radiological safety concerns, nothing in the Atomic Energy Act barred Virginia from relying on such concerns to prohibit mining.
Nor does Virginia’s uranium-mining moratorium have, in the words of English, “a direct and substantial effect on the decisions made by those who build or operate nuclear facilities concerning radiological safety levels.”111 To be sure, “uranium milling and tailings storage are ‘activities’ under Section 2021(k) because they are regulated by the NRC, and [S]tates may there-fore not regulate them except for purposes other than protection against radiation hazards.”112 But Virginia has not prohibited or otherwise regulated milling facilities or tailings storage… ”
VIRGINIA URANIUM, INC., et al.,Petitioners,
v. JOHN WARREN, et al.,Respondents.
On Petition For A Writ Of Certiorari To The United States Court Of Appeals For The Fourth Circuit BRIEF IN OPPOSITION, MARK R. HERRING, Attorney General of Virginia, TREVOR S. COX Deputy Solicitor General , MATTHEW R. MCGUIRE, Assistant Solicitor General, STUART A. RAPHAEL Solicitor General Counsel of Record OFFICE OF THE VIRGINIA ATTORNEY GENERAL, 202 North Ninth Street Richmond, Virginia, August 2, 2017 http://www.scotusblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/16-1275-BIO.pdf
According to the National Academy of Science Study: “There is no federal law that specifically applies to uranium mining on non-federally owned lands; state laws and regulations have jurisdiction over these mining activities. Federal and state worker protection laws, and federal and state environmental laws, variously apply to occupational safety and health, and air, water, and land pollution resulting from mining activities.” See: “Uranium Mining in Virginia: Scientific, Technical, Environmental, Human Health and Safety, and Regulatory Aspects of Uranium Mining and Processing in Virginia” (2012) https://www.nap.edu/read/13266/chapter/2 The National Academy of Science also warns of the additional risks with uranium mining in Virginia because it is such a wet climate.
Virginia Uranium is a subsidiary of Canadian Miner Virginia Energy Resources:
“Virginia Energy Resources Inc.
Mailing Address and Head Office Address: 650- 1021 West Hastings Street
Vancouver, British Columbia V6E 0C3
Contact Name: Karen A. Allan
Principal Regulator: British Columbia
Business e-mail address: karen@forde.ca
Telephone Number: 604 558-7682
Reporting Jurisdictions: British Columbia, Alberta, Quebec
Fax Number: 604 558-7695
Stock Exchange: TSX Venture
Date of Formation: Sep 27 2012
Stock Symbol: VUI
Jurisdiction Where Formed:
British Columbia
Auditor:
Smythe Ratcliffe LLP
Industry Classification:
metals and minerals – mining
General Partner:
CUSIP Number:
92780V
Transfer Agent: Computershare Investor Services Inc.
Financial Year-End: Dec 31
Size of Issuer (Assets):
$25,000,001 to $100,000,000. https://www.sedar.com/DisplayProfile.do?lang=EN&issuerType=03&issuerNo=00033649
The Trump Administration is petitioning on behalf of the mining company. Read about the scum Trump Appointed General Counsel, further below:
“No. 16-1275
In the Supreme Court of the United States
VIRGINIA URANIUM, INC., ET AL., PETITIONERS
v. JOHN WARREN, ET AL.
ON PETITION FOR A WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
BRIEF FOR THE UNITED STATES AS AMICUS CURIAE
ANDREW P. AVERBACH Solicitor CHARLES E. MULLINS JEREMY M. SUTTENBERG Attorneys U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.C. 20555
NOEL J. FRANCISCO Solicitor General Counsel of Record JEFFREY H. WOOD Acting Assistant Attorney General MALCOLM L. STEWART Deputy Solicitor General JEFFREY E. SANDBERG Assistant to the Solicitor General VARU CHILAKAMARRI Attorney Department of Justice Washington, D.C. 20530-0001 SupremeCtBriefs@usdoj.gov (202) 514-2217
QUESTION PRESENTED
Whether the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (AEA), 42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq., preempts state laws that prohibit activities within a State’s regulatory jurisdiction (here, conventional uranium mining) when such laws are grounded in radiological-safety concerns about related activities that are federally regulated under the AEA (here, the milling of uranium ore and disposal of “tailings” byproduct material).”
Click to access 16-1275_virginia_uranium_inc._ac_pet.pdf
Beware! Noel Francisco is apparently third in line at the Justice Dept! If something happens to Rosenstein then he would apparently have oversight of the Mueller investigation!
Noel Francisco is formerly of Jones Day law firm: “Jones Day currently represents President Trump’s campaign committee, the Republican National Committee and other Trump political action committees, according to the National Law Journal…. Jones Day’s client list includes Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, Deutsche Bank, Chevron, Qualcomm, Toyota, Verizon, United Airlines, GE, GM, Volkswagon, Reynolds American, Inc (the second largest American tabacco company), and Gazprom export LLC (a Russian gas company)….“, Excerpted from: “For Trump, ethics rules are no more than an inconvenience to be waived aside” by ROBERT WEISSMAN Corporate Presidency, Ethics, JUNE 1, 2017, Citizen Vox. Read the article here: https://www.citizenvox.org/2017/06/01/trump-ethics-rules-no-inconvenience-waived-aside/
Noel Francisco “was part of the legal team that worked for George W. Bush on the Florida recount in the 2000 presidential election.[4] In 2001, Francisco was appointed as an Associate Counsel to President Bush in the Office of Counsel to the President. He later moved to the Office of Legal Counsel for the Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the United States Department of Justice, serving in that capacity from 2003 until 2005. In 2005, Francisco moved to the private sector, joining the Washington, D.C. law firm Jones Day, eventually becoming the chair of the firm’s Government Regulation Practice. While at Jones Day, he appeared several times before the Supreme Court, including in McDonnell v. United States, which involved the meaning of “official act” under federal bribery statutes; Zubik v. Burwell, which involved the application of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act to regulations related to insurance coverage for contraception; and NLRB v. Noel Canning, which involved the Constitution’s recess appointment power.[9] He also argued numerous cases in the lower federal and state courts on a wide range of constitutional, civil, and criminal matters.[6] Francisco left Jones Day when he was appointed by President Donald Trump to the position of Principal Deputy Solicitor General for the United States, effective January 23, 2017.[7][10][11][12] He served as the Acting Solicitor General from that date until March 10, 2017. On March 7, 2017, the White House announced Francisco’s nomination to the position of Solicitor General.[7][13][14] He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate by a vote of 50–47 on September 19, 2017.[15] With the resignation of Rachel Brand on February 8, 2018, Francisco became the third-ranking official in the Justice Department; he would be in charge of the Mueller investigation should the second-ranking official, Rod Rosenstein recuse himself, quit, or be fired.[16]….“Excerpted from, CC-BY-SA-3.0, as updated 24 April 2018: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noel_Francisco. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_Creative_Commons_Attribution-ShareAlike_3.0_Unported_License
Click to access summary_key_findings_NAS_report.pdf
Note 1: “U.S. top court takes up challenge to Virginia uranium mining ban Reuters, The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to decide whether states have the right to ban uranium mining for public health reasons in a dispute over a moratorium Virginia put in place on the …” https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-uranium/u-s-top-court-takes-up-challenge-to-virginia-uranium-mining-ban-idUSKCN1IM1EY
Walter Coles describes himself as an “architect” of the US privatiation in former Soviet countries: http://web.archive.org/web/20171117225208/http://www.virginiaenergyresources.com/s/Management.asp
Walter Coles was the Acting NIS Privatization Division Chief US AID Office of Privatization and Economic Restructuring, in the 1994 US AID directory.
Excerpt from Wedel testimony before the US Congress:
“U.S. support for Anatoly Chubais, Yegor Gaidar, and the so-called “Chubais Clan” (dominated by a decade-old clique from St. Petersburg), bolstered the Clan’s standing as Russia’s chief brokers with the West and the international financial institutions. The Chubais Clan — not the Russian economy as a whole — was the chief beneficiary of economic aid from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)… Despite evidence of corruption and lack of popular support, many Western investors and U.S. officials embraced the reformers’ dictatorial modus operandi and viewed Chubais as the only man capable of keeping the nation heading along on the troublesome road to economic reform. As Walter Coles, a senior adviser in USAID’s Office of Privatization and Economic Restructuring program, said, “If we needed a decree, Chubais didn’t have to go through the bureaucracy,” adding, “There was no way that reformers could go to the Duma for large amounts of money to move along reform….” Excerpted from:
“U.S. AID TO RUSSIA: WHERE IT ALL WENT WRONG by Janine R. Wedel
THE UNITED STATES AND RUSSIA, PART U: RUSSIA IN CRISIS
HEARING
BEFORE THECOMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED FIFTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
SEPTEMBER 17, 1998
Printed for the use of the Committee on International Relations”
Click to access The%20U.S.%20and%20Russia%2C%20Part%20II-%20Russia%20in%20Crisis.pdf
Many thanks to FC for the Reuters article:
https://flyingcuttlefish.wordpress.com
https://lasinkhole.wordpress.com
Mining Awareness + 