Grandmother Donna Dillman on Hunger Strike near Ottawa against Uranium exploration and mining

by Mike Nickerson

Donna Dillman is on the 36th day of a hunger strike outside the gate of the proposed uranium mine, at Robertsville, 13 km. north of Sharbot Lake, and up river from Ottawa. Donna stopped eating Thanksgiving Monday morning, October 8, and aims to continue until there is a moratorium placed on uranium exploration and mining, at least for Eastern Ontario.

This story, is, more than anything about the grandchildren, of which Donna and I, have four, two of which live 30 km. down wind from the proposed site. If drilling and mining were to go ahead, these young people would be subjected to the various radioactive dusts and gasses that inevitable drift up when steel and dynamite, crushers and sorters break up uranium bearing rock.

Bring Gramma Home!

Aged between one and a half and nine years, the grandchildren are oblivious of the problem their grandmother is boldly calling public attention to. They only want her to come home.

You can help. Make a sign that says: "Bring Gramma Home", and put it in your window, on your lawn, or wear it on your lapel. When anyone asks what's up. The conversation is started, and you can tell them.

More Than a Family Concern

While the personal story of grandchildren asking for their grandmother has popular appeal, the stakes of this issue are far more profound.

The danger of radioactive contamination and other environmental degradation is shared by more than a million people who live downwind and downstream from the site (Sharbot Lake to Ottawa). Hundreds of millions more face similar dangers from other such sites around the world.

Sooner or later we are going to have to pay respect to what the Earth and Sun offer on an ongoing basis. Nuclear energy is only tempting us to think that we can ignore this responsibility. Were we to shift our electricity demand to nuclear power, uranium reserves would be depleted in 30 to 40 years. Then, the grandchildren would find themselves saddled with the same problems we are trying to avoid today, except that the problems would be far worse. The resources available for working on solutions would be diminished and there would be quantities of radioactive waste, here, there and about, to haunt them for tens of thousands of years to come.

Both the Earth and the Sun are hugely abundant. Together they have enabled life to thrive for thousands of millions of years. Humans are fully capable of being successful here. By saying yes to living within the natural process of life on Earth, we can avoid freeing the genie of uranium from the rock in which it is trapped. Civilization is now at the height of its possibilities, if this generation cannot meet the challenge of sustainability, how do we expect the grandchildren to do so when it comes to be their turn?

As countless generations have cared to deliver a better world for those who followed, we are responsible to the grandchildren of today.

Contact your local media and tell them to cover this courageous stand to protect the grandchildren.

To stay informed about Donna's hunger strike, she posts a regular blog, LINK: the web site of the Community Coalition Against Mining Uranium CCAMU.

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