• by Earth Island Journal
• July 5, 2013

Written by Michelle Tolson

In April this year, two concurrent events were reported from the Dornogobi (East Gobi) province in Mongolia. AREVA, a multinational uranium mining company headquartered in France, announced that its Mongolian subsidiary, Kojegobi LLC, had located an estimated 55,000-ton uranium depositin the Ulaanbadrakh district. Around the same time, local media reported the strange deaths and deformities of a number of young livestock in the district.

Herders living a few miles from the exploration site were saying their lambs, goats and camels were birthing deformed babies. In some cases, the newborns were blind or hairless; in others, the deformities were more extreme. When I recently met two environmental activists — Baatarkhuyag of Gal Undesten Kholboo or “Protecting the Fire of Mongolia” and Aldarmaa of No Radiation Future — they told me that there were reports of a lamb with two-heads, another with no lower jaw, and goat kids and baby camels with missing or shriveled limbs.

A herder named Norsuren, living about four miles from the mining camp, had lost 22 calves, lambs and goats. So many “that he stopped counting,” said Aldarmaa. Overall, about 20 herder families reported spring birth deformities in their livestock, she said.

The previous winter, large numbers of livestock had also died mysteriously. The deaths have led to concerns among the villagers about uranium radiation from mining activities in the region. They suspect the animals had died because the uranium exploration work had contaminated the local environment.

Mongolia has a long history of uranium mining dating back to Russian operations in the 1950s when it was a Soviet satellite state. Though there are no functioning uranium mines in the country currently, its significant uranium deposits continue to attract investors. AREVA, for instance, has 28 exploration licenses and is currently exploring nearly 5,400 square miles of the province for the valuable radioactive ore.

Following media reports about the villagers’ radiation and water contamination fears, the Mongolian government ordered the nation’s Nuclear Energy Authority to conduct tests in the region. To the herders’ disappointment, the tests concluded that uranium radiation wasn’t the problem. Rather, it was exposure to naturally occurring selenium and copper in the soil that was killing their animals.

The government asked the herders to “stop creating a sensation,” said Aldarmaa.

Skeptical about the findings, 319 herder families joined with 12 civil society groups and sent a letter to the Mongolian administration in the spring demanding independent testing of the area and the cessation of uranium exploration in the region.

Given that the Gobi region is rich in mineral resources, many water sources here already contain traces or high levels of naturally occurring minerals and heavy metals, like arsenic, copper, selenium and yes, even uranium.

A peer-reviewed study analyzing the Dornogobi’s groundwater, also published in spring, found high levels of naturally occurring uranium and arsenic in the groundwater. The study noted that health officials do not normally test the water for uranium. According to the report: “Average uranium and arsenic concentrations in eight and five of the 14 soums (counties), respectively, exceeded the WHO guidelines.”

However, Nuclear Energy Authority chief N. Tegshbayar maintains that uranium did not cause the livestock deaths.

This incident is yet another example of the increasing tension between Mongolia’s traditional pastoralists and the country’s government and multinational mining companies that are eager to exploit the country’s rich natural resources.

In the past two decades, massive reserves of uranium and a host of other valuable metals and minerals — including coal, oil, gas, copper and gold — have been uncovered in this remote nation locked between China and Russia. Much of these resources are buried under the vast Gobi desert, one of the world’s last great wilderness regions where traditional herders still live a nomadic existence. The ensuing resource extraction boom has led to fears among locals and environmentalists about the survival of the unique Gobi grasslands ecosystem and a traditional way of life.

“There is often a feeling of disempowerment in the general population,” said Lars Hojer, an anthropologist from Copenhagen University researching post socialist transition processes in Mongolia. “People are disillusioned with politicians and do not feel that they have any say, and they see ‘big people,’ politicians and oligarchs, as corrupt people who are only interested in increasing their own wealth.”

“Such narratives of suspicion and conspiracy — which are not simply fictions — are difficult to counter, as any ‘proof’ to the opposite — such as the fact they, AREVA, did not pollute the water (if this is the case) — may be seen as yet another instance of insincerity from people in power.”

Water use is a special concern since mining activities can suck up huge volumes of water, a precious resource in this arid region. (The Gobi desert is already expanding at the rate of about1,400 square miles a year, eating up fertile grasslands that have sustained herders and their livestock for millennia).

Dornogobi, just one province in the southern Gobi region, is home to 1.3 million livestock and 60,000 people. According to World Bank estimates, the entire Southern Gobi region, consisting of the Dornogobi, Omnogobi and Dundgobi provinces, has 3.8 million livestock and 150,000 herders and town residents. The livestock need an estimated 31,600 cubic meters of water a day, while residents need 10,000 cubic meters daily. Meanwhile, the combined existing mines in the Southern Gobi Region use an estimated 191,230 cubic meters of water a day — almost five times the amount of the water that livestock and people use, according to the 2010 World Bank water assessment for the Southern Gobi Region.

A 2009 World Bank map shows almost the entire Dornogobi province to be covered in mining exploration licenses, lending credence to herders’ fears for their livelihood in an already difficult and harsh environment. Based on World Bank projections, groundwater resources will run out in 10 years unless alternative sources are found.

Asked if water sources in the area could potentially be impacted by AREVA’s exploration work, a company spokesperson replied via email that government testing had shown selenium, copper and strontium, “three naturally occurring elements in the Mongolian subsurface and neither used nor produced by our activities” had caused the cattle to die. “The analyses are still going on by independent entities regarding the possible presence of natural heavy metal in the water,” the spokesperson said. AREVA maintains they did not use sulfuric acid to determine concentrations of uranium in the soil, as local activists allege. Rather, the exploration drillings were utilizing “mud (bentonite + water), nothing else.”

AREVA said their communications team is working with locals to help them understand the results of the testing. However, activists like Aldermaa, Baatarkhuyag and other civil society groups still want “neutral” (independent) testing to be conducted in the region.

Since transitioning to a democratic government and market-based economy, Mongolia has sought to build relationships with other democratic countries, in part to protect itself from the hegemony of its authoritarian neighbors, China and Russia. But it seems that democratic investors do not necessarily garner more trust. As Hojer pointed out, even if independent tests reveal naturally-occurring arsenic, selenium, copper and uranium in the groundwater, because of the intense competition for resources, the herders’ stance against foreign-operated mines, uranium, copper or otherwise, isn’t going to soften.

This post was originally published at Earth Island Journal.

Read more: Gobi desert, industry, mining, mining pollution, mongolia, pastoralists,pollution,uranium

Photo from Thinkstock

At the same time, the shows of strength over the removal of Egypt's first freely elected president were far from ending, with tens of thousands in the streets Sunday from each side. The military deployed troops at key locations in Cairo and other cities amid fears of renewed violence.

The Muslim Brotherhood pushed ahead with its campaign of protests aimed at forcing Morsi's reinstatement, bringing out large crowds in new rallies. Its officials vowed the group would not be "terrorized" by arrests of their leaders and the shutdown of their media outlets.

The Brotherhood's opponents, in turn, called out large rallies in Tahrir Square and other squares in Cairo and several cities to defend against an Islamist counter-push. Military warplanes swooped over the crowd filling Tahrir, drawing a heart shape and an Egyptian flag in the sky with colored smoke.

Two days ago, clashes between the rival camps left at least 36 dead and more than 1,000 injured nationwide.

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Opponents of Egypt's ousted President Mohammed Morsi rally in Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, …

Senior Brotherhood members Saad Emara said there was no possibility for any negotiations with the new leadership after "all betrayed us," and following the military's clampdown on the group.

"We are not regressing to a Mubarak era but to ... a totalitarian regime," he told The Associated Press. "Anything other than protest is suicide."

Morsi and five top Brotherhood figures are currently in detention, and around 200 others have arrest warrants out against them. The group's TV station and three other pro-Morsi Islamist stations were put off the air. Among those detained is Badie's deputy Khairat el-Shater, seen as the most powerful figure in the group and its main decision-maker.

The wrestling over the prime minister spot underlined the divisions with the collection of factions that backed the military when it pushed Morsi out of office on Wednesday and installed a senior judge, Adly Mansour, as an interim president.

At center stage of the feuding is the ultraconservative Salafi al-Nour Party, the sole main Islamist faction that sided with the mainly secular groups that led the charge against Morsi. On Saturday, the party blocked the appointment of reform leader Mohammed ElBaradei, a favorite of liberal, leftist and secular groups, as prime minister.

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A supporter of Egypt's ousted President Mohammed Morsi waves in front of a car turned into a stand s …

Another member of the coalition, Tamarod, the main organization behind the massive protests last week calling for Morsi ouster, said ElBaradei was still its candidate for the post. It railed against al-Nour on Sunday, accusing it of "blackmail" and "arm-twisting."

Showing the outside pressures on al-Nour, Emara of the Brotherhood said al-Nour "has lost credibility and trust after they sided with the takeover" — a sign the Brotherhood hopes to draw the party's Salafi supporters behind it in the streets alongside other Islamists.

The prime minister is to be the real power in whatever interim government emerges, since the president's post will be largely symbolic. The prime minister will also likely have strong influence on the process of writing a new constitution.

That's a major concern of al-Nour, which pushed hard for the Islamic character of the charter pushed through under Morsi's administration, which was suspended after his ouster.

Mohammed Aboul-Ghar, the leader of the liberal Egyptian Socialist Democratic Party, said al-Nour initially agreed to ElBaradei taking the post, but then shifted its position for unknown reasons. He said talks are still ongoing through mediators.

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A man walks by a stand selling billy clubs used by supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood near their s …

Abdullah Badran, a leading al-Nour lawmaker, said there was "a misunderstanding" and that it hadn't accepted ElBaradei. The party has asked for 48 hours to propose alternatives, he said, adding that it will finalize its position but will not back ElBaradei.

"This sensitive period requires an independent who can win consensus not cause more divisions and polarization," he told The Associated Press. "We don't want prejudices because it would only lead to more divisions."

He said that objections to ElBaradei are rooted in his lack of popularity not only among Islamists but among a large sector of Egyptians.

ElBaradei, a 71-year-old Nobel Peace laureate for his time as head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog, is an inspiring figure among the leftists, secular and revolutionary youth groups behind the 2011 uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak. Word on Saturday that he would be appointed prime minister sparked cheers among many of their ranks, believing he can push a strong reform agenda.

But he is deeply distrusted as too secular among many Islamists and seen by much of the public as elite.

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Supporters of Egypt's ousted President Mohammed Morsi chant slogans at a sit-in in Nasser City, subu …

Walid el-Masry, of Tamarod, said al-Nour is using the ElBaradei issue to press liberals on the constitution, worried about changes to the Islamist-drafted charter.

"They are afraid about the articles that concern the state's Islamic identity," he said, adding that the liberals assured Salafis that they won't touch these articles.

Al-Nour was once an ally of Morsi but broke with him over the course of his year in office, saying his Brotherhood was trying to monopolize power, even over other Islamists. When the June 30 wave of anti-Morsi protests began, the party called on its followers to stay neutral. But it supported the military's intervention to remove the president, joining in talks with army chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.

Meanwhile, the Brotherhood and their opponents sought to show their power in the streets. The Islamists have denounced the removal of Morsi as an army coup against democracy. Their opponents have aruged the president had squandered his electoral mandate and that the Brotherhood was putting Egypt on an undemocratic path.

Tamarod, Arabic for "Rebel," called on its supporters to turn out to defend "popular legitimacy" and "confirm the victory achieved in the June 30 wave." By Sunday evening, large crowds filled Tahrir Square and the streets outside the Ittihadiya presidential palace.

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Supporters of Egypt's ousted President Mohammed Morsi stand guard at a barricade near Cairo Universi …

Pro-Morsi rallies turned out in several places around the city, centered outside the Rabaah al-Adawiya Mosque where they have been holding a sit-in for more than a week.

In a Facebook posting Sunday, the Brotherhood's supreme leader Mohammed Badie said the "leaders of the unconstitutional coup continue flagrant violations against the Egyptian people."

A Brotherhood spokesman, Gehad el-Haddad, said the military is not giving any positive signals for the group to be willing to talk, pointing to the arrests of the leadership figures and shutdowns of media.

"They are trying to terrorize us," he said.

Outside Rabaa al-Adawiya, Brotherhood supporters waved flags as young men wearing makeshift helmets jogged in place and did calisthenics, as part of security teams the group says are to defend its rallies from attack.

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This image released by the office of the Egyptian Presidency on Saturday, July 6, 2013 shows newly-a …

"Do we not deserve democracy, aren't we worth anything?" said an emotional Alaa el-Saim, a retired army engineer in a broad-brimmed hat to protect from the sun. He pointed to the shooting by troops on Friday of pro-Morsi protesters. "It's the first time I've seen that, the army shoots at us with weapons they bought with the taxes I paid."

Khaled Galal, a young bearded man in a skull cap, called the army's actions the "rape of legitimacy."

"Muslims aren't allowed democracy, and when we pick up weapons to defend it we get called terrorists," he said.

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AP correspondent Tony G. Gabriel contributed to this report

PARATY, Brazil (AP) — Brazil's foreign minister said Sunday his government is worried by a report that the United States has collected data on billions of telephone and email conversations in his country and promised an effort for international protection of Internet privacy.

The O Globo newspaper reported over the weekend that information released by NSA leaker Edward Snowden shows that the number of telephone and email messages logged by the U.S. National Security Agency in January alone was not far behind the 2.3 billion reportedly collected in the United States.

Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota, speaking from the colonial city of Paraty where he was attending Brazil's top literary festival, expressed "deep concern at the report that electronic and telephone communications of Brazilian citizens are being the object of espionage by organs of American intelligence.

"The Brazilian government has asked for clarifications" through the U.S. Embassy in Brazil and Brazil's embassy in Washington, he said.

Patriota also said Brazil will ask the U.N. for measures "to impede abuses and protect the privacy" of Internet users, laying down rules for governments "to guarantee cybernetic security that protects the rights of citizens and preserves the sovereignty of all countries."

The spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Brazil's capital, Dean Chaves, said diplomats there would not have any comment.

But the Office of the Director of National Intelligence issued a statement saying, "The U.S. government will respond through diplomatic channels to our partners and allies in the Americas ... While we are not going to comment publicly on specific alleged intelligence activities, as a matter of policy we have made clear that the United States gathers foreign intelligence of the type gathered by all nations."

The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff warned Sunday that Snowden's overall disclosures have undermined U.S. relationships with other countries and affected what he calls "the importance of trust." Gen. Martin Dempsey told CNN's "State of the Union" that the U.S. will "work our way back. But it has set us back temporarily."

Patriota's reaction in Brazil extended diplomatic turbulence the U.S. has faced from friends and foes around the world since Snowden began releasing details of the surveillance.

Germany's top security official suggested last month that Internet users could shun operations that use U.S.-based computer servers to avoid security worries. France's Interior Minister used a July 4 garden party at the U.S. Embassy in Paris to complain about alleged U.S. spying, saying "such practices, if proven, do not have their place between allies and partners."

Hong Kong officials last month declined a U.S. request to extradite the former NSA contract worker amid indications of displeasure over his revelation that the former British colony had been a target of American hacking.

The O Globo article said that "Brazil, with extensive digitalized public and private networks operated by large telecommunications and internet companies, appears to stand out on maps of the U.S. agency as a priority target for telephony and data traffic, alongside nations such as China, Russia and Pakistan."

The report did not describe the sort of data collected, but the U.S. programs appear to gather what is called metadata: logs of message times, addresses and other information rather than the content of the messages.

The report was co-authored by U.S. journalist Glenn Greenwald, who originally broke the Snowden story in the Britain-based Guardian newspaper, where he writes a regularly blog.

In a Sunday posting, Greenwald wrote that "the NSA has, for years, systematically tapped into the Brazilian telecommunication network and indiscriminately intercepted, collected and stored the email and telephone records of millions of Brazilians."

He said Brazil was merely an example of a global practice.

"There are many more populations of non-adversarial countries which have been subjected to the same type of mass surveillance net by the NSA: indeed, the list of those which haven't been are shorter than those which have," he wrote.

The O Globo article said the NSA collected the data through an association between U.S. and Brazilian telecommunications companies. It said it could not verify which Brazilian companies were involved or if they were aware their links were being used to collect the data.

Brazil was among several nations asked to provide political asylum by Snowden in recent days. The foreign ministry said last week that it did "not plan to respond" to the leaker's request, though spokesmen declined to say they explicitly denied his application. Other Latin American nations — Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua — have already said they will grant asylum.

While some Brazilians were upset by the revelations, others seemed to shrug.

"On the one hand, the size of the U.S. espionage program and the number of Brazilians who fell into it is ridiculous," said Rodolfo Andrade, a 29-year-old businessman in Sao Paulo. "On the other hand, it helps international security."

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Associated Press writer Marco Sibaja in Brasilia and John Rice in Mexico City contributed to this report.