Uranium Reps: Next Boom Won't Pollute Groundwater LARAMIE, WY (wpr) - Representatives of the uranium industry say the next wave of uranium mining in Wyoming will not be as environmentally destructive as the last.

Glenn Catchpole is the CEO of Uranertz Energy Corporation. He says instead of conventional mining, most new sites will use in-situ leaching. Basically they'll pump a solution into the ground to dissolve uranium out. Catchpole says the solution is sodium bicarbonate - baking soda - which is not very damaging to groundwater. He also says the groundwater is not that high-quality in the first place: "Where there is uranium at sufficient concentration to be mineable, that water is already contaminated. It's radioactive, and it can't be used can't be used for drinking water or irrigation."

Catchpole says companies still clean up the groundwater after they're done leaching. © Copyright 2009, wpr