Jailed Montrose Man on Hunger Strike to Protest Pending Uranium Mill
Nov 24, 2009 | 765 views | 4 
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Geana’s wife, Shirley Bradbury, said he is being held for 30 days for contempt of court after failing to obey Judge John Mitchel’s injunction against use of recording devices in a court hearing on a Wednesday, Nov. 18 hearing for a minor traffic violation. Mitchel handed down 10 days jail time for each of the contempt of court charges.
Bradbury said she heard about the hunger strike late that night: “I finally talked to Adrian round 11 p.m.,” she said. “He told me what happened and that he was in good spirits and then he said, ‘Oh, by the way, I am on a hunger strike.’ He said he is protesting the mill.”
Bradbury and Geana have been against the mill in the Paradox Valley since Energy Fuels, Inc. first applied for the special use permit, more than one year ago.
Now, special use permit in hand, the company’s next step is to acquire a state permit. Bradbury said her husband wants people to understand the risk of allowing the mill to be built, adding that Geana, who grew up under Communist rule, in Romania, and now is a citizen of the U.S. is very sensitive to the erosion of civil liberties and rights because he knows firsthand what it means to lose human rights and freedom, and believes that silence and complacency can lead to the loss of freedom.
“He is putting his money where his mouth is because he feels so strongly about the mill not being good for the community,” she said. “He chose to do this because it his way to get people to look at the mill and what it is. Right now, people are just complacently going along with it.”
She added that Geana wants people to take a look at the risks of building the mill, among them air and water pollution, and possible health hazards for workers.
“Manmade things break,” Bradbury said. “We know that. We are risking the water and air in the area. When the wind blows, all that stuff is going to come right over here. There have been too many examples across our country of the effects of radiation exposure. It screws up people’s health. Adrian believes that he is helping his community by bringing it to light and to get people to think about it.”
Bradbury said she doesn’t know how long he intends to stop eating but she is supporting his actions because he is “very dedicated to the things he believes in.
“I don’t want my husband getting hurt because of this,” she added. “He decided to use his time in jail to protest something that he is passionately against and to him, it seemed like a good idea a t the time.”
Her husband doesn’t just want to stop the mill, she said, but to also find other ways of creating jobs in the area with fewer health risks.
Geana filed a lawsuit against Montrose County on Oct. 29, charging the Montrose County Commissioners and county employees with taking actions that may damage the environment and adversely affect residents’ health with their approval of a uranium mill special use permit.
He's wasting his time with the people in this area, most of them limited and small-minded.
Look beyond the hype you're getting fed from the county, health services, and Energy Fuels. Look at what has happened to other areas. Evaluate for yourself, don't just accept the rhetoric of people who will get more money out of this than the actual workers will ever see.
And use your brain - stop using labels to shut off your mind from the good that "tree huggers" accomplish. By the way, there are so few trees to hug here, that's a useless label you copied from somewhere else. THINK FOR YOURSELF!
In a few years, you'll get what you've earned - polluted air and toxic water, like they have near the Cotter mill. You'll get more children and grandchildren born with birth defects, as well as increased cancers and disease. Plus too few good paying jobs to make it worthwhile.
Keep your leftist views out of Montrose county where they don't belong.
Go ahead. Don't eat anything. Why do I care?