>> today on "earth focus"... mining, a new film on conflict over a uranium mill in cololora, and reports on the unexpected effects of mining cocoal in soututh africa and gold in ecuador. coming up on "earth focus." filmmaker suzan beraza screened her newew film, "uranium drive-in" at the 2014 enviroronmental film festival in the nation'n's capital. prpromise of jobobs from a a prd uranium mill is a tantalizing prospect for an e enomicallyy devastated colorado town, until environmentalists step in to try to shut it dowown. wiwill jobs or health and environment prevail? the film documents hohow a localal communityty

comes s to grips withth the dil. >> we're trying open up a uraniumum mill, andnd they're trying to shut it dowown. you know, it't's a bibig dream, and people are looooking forward to these jobsbs out there. >> i want t them to ununderstand that therere's people e here. >> yeah, but i don't think they care about us people. i mean, there's no compmise. they don't care about us. >> nuclear power was supposed to be our future. a a lot of thihis town wasas hee becausese of union carbide, and then when they left, we're still here. they're long gone now. >> i it's alalmost likee we're still surviving, but it's s just kind of lik those lasast few breaths. we want to keep breathing, but we've got to get something in here to do it. >> nucuclear energrgy remainss our larargest sourcrce of fuell ththat produduces nno carbonon emissionsns. we'll need to increase our supply of nuclear power. >> it is t the first uranium mil

to be built in the united states in 25 years. >> ththe only thing i'm interesd in is seeing thihis mill geget stopped.d. >> if you're onlnly hearing the piece abouout jobs, you're not protectcting your community. i darare you to do better.. >> the people complaining the most are driving to the protests in their mercedes. youou can only kick a dog so many times and d pretty soon he's going to turn around and bite you. >> we havave a lot ofof people telling us ththat the lanand is morere importanant than i its pple. >> there is no impact from what we have done or whwhat we planan to do in thehe future reregarding uranium m mine development.. >> we need more production, more efficiency, more incentives, and that means building a new generation of safe, clcle, nuclear p power plants in t this cocountry. >> they're not telling you the truth. i'm really d disgusted, and i'm against this mill.

>> ♪ for t the one that fefeels >> i guess, initialally, going into the film, i probably feltt that t the mimill was a bad ide, lilike, why would ananyone want to ushsher back inin an industsy that had obviously shortened people's l lives and had created a a lot of environmentalal havoc inin the area? so, i wasas going to o do the fm in this cocommunity lolooking at the pros and consns withihin that community. but what i found, which surprised me, is ththat in that region, almost everyone was unanimously for this uranium mill. so, i rereally wanteted the film to l look from a very humaman perspective, why that wowould b, why people would usher back in this industry. >> as the mayor of naturita, i am very excited anand hopeful that in 6 to 8 months we're going to start seeing ore trucks rolling through the town, we'rere going to see ththe minig pipicking up, and w we're e going to o see the mimilling moving forward. >> the towns of naturita

and nucla are located in the wewest in the e montrose co. >> > can everybybody hear me okay out t there? [m[microphone noise] [laughter] let's talalk a bit ababout the industry in n general, where our project is situated. of course, it is the uranium mining industry, nothing new toto you people. the supply anand demand got such that we could reoeopen these facilities, build this mill, and we're going to bring that to reality so that you can reap benefits s from that alalong with t the companyny. [applause] >> uranium has been a huge economic boom to this whole area. these small communities never had it as good as when there was uranium mining. and i do know that when you're struggling to put your kids through college, put food on the table, some of these arenas look vever,

very appppealing. and i cannot say y that if i i s in t that boat t that i wouldn'e rightht there swimming the same stream. is it wortrth it to o open more m mines and m more mills?s? to m me, it is. it's an issue we all face, not just me or the miners. it's an issue that wewe all fac, because e we do not give up our consumption of fossil fuels, and... soso, where it's goingng to lea? i'm just a cocowgirl. i don't know. >> after spending some time in this commununity, i really empatathized with their position. first of all, they have a very strong sensse of commumunity and of place, and i feel, if you are from some of these smaller towns in america where community isis so imporortant, you donon't want to lose that. you know, people just say, "just pick up and go to a city, like, go somewhere else," and they will say,

"no, you know, we love it here. we've been here for generations." i think it started out for me that i thought it would be more of an environmental film, and very earlyly on i thought, this is much more a story y about ruraral americc, and about economy, and how it's s really unfair whenen-- if someone is in a state of desperatition where they fefl that they have t to pit job against health a and envnvironm, that's like the expression, you knknow, being between a rock and a hard place, that's just not a fair place to be. >> 5 yeyears we havave been tryg to keep our doorors open, thinking, "any day now those jojobs are going to bebe here." these are the only people that have come in and offered us jobs. if anyny of the people here who are against itit had come in and said thehey had jobobs to mh it, we'e'd be b behind that, to. but right now ththis is all we'veve got. and i just want the e people hee to remember ththat they're keepg 1,200 p people omom surving,, aand that's really all i want them to know.

is that every one of you that has stood up against this could have broughght in jobs for usus, and you u didn't yet, 5 years.. so, pleaease, remembmberhat when yoyou guys mamake this decisi. we're waitining, and we've beeen waiting a a long time. thank you. >> the film also strikes on isissues of f classism as we, because tetelluride, w which ise of ththeir closest neighborors, is a very wealththy ski town, and i really felt that it's also looking at the issue of "you can be an enenvironmentalit if you can afford to be an environmentalist." so, obobviously the pepeople in telluride can afford to be concerned about their environment, and thehey are, and not a good or a bad thing, not a judgmement, but the people in nucla and naturita were extremely frustrated, because they felt like telluride and the opposition to the mill was really slowing down the process in getting thee mill built. >> energy fuels and the mill will happen because they have worked diligently in making

thatat process w work. >> but t the prococess has had a a little bit o of extra hehelp frorom some of those peopople. >> they y have kepthisis mill held up a long time. >> and there's not a a job that doesn't have a degree-- >> there's more peoplele killed in skiing accidentnts thaan mining a accidents.. > am i the only o one that's realized t that nucla started as a a hippie commune that got taken over by miners, and telluride started asas a mining community that got takaken over byby hipp? >> [laughs] >> damon, they donon't ccare. >> i think the biggesest thing that i have fouound is it's nott that thehey don't care, it's just that they don''t understatand. you know, we've always been a good neighbor, anand i think in return thatat's what we're asking themem to do, is be a g good neighbhbor. come down and undersrstand us, don't t just tryry to save us, becaususe we don''t need to be saved. we undnderstand the regulations, we undederstand t the problem and we'e're willing to wowork through them. >> and, hopefully, audiences will take... will just enjoy something being balanced,

because the film really is balanced and looooking at both h sides. >> > the coerer uranium mill is a about two miles upuphill from the arkanansas river that flows through our commununity. i live a mile and a quarteter from the mill. and i have two wells that were contaminated by the cotter uranium mill. there are about 125 wells thaat were conontaminatedd from cotter. nobody told us in alall those 8 years that the well was contaminated. we tested our well whwhen we firsrst bought the e property, , we went to the county extension offici, and theyey gave us the bottlese, and toldld us what company to sesend it to, but they failed d to tell us the rereally impmportant thing. "hey, have it tested for raradionuclidedes and heavy memetals." i do not believe that it is okay

for a company, in order to o make profit, to pollute people against their will. i''ve heard energygy fuel offics stand up in front of big g crows and say, , "oh, that't's alll from the e past. it's s all goingng to be didifferent nonow. we h have betterer regulatioion" you know what? you can look at what has been happening right here, this year, lalast month, last year,r, the year before, anand you can see exacactly how ththey will regulate thahat mil. the e claim thatat nuclear e eny is enviroronmentally greenn isis just simplyly a myth, becacause they''re ononly lookig at the cararbon dioxidide relead at the e reactor ititself our coununtry has jujust been bamboozled with ththis. for them to consider building new mills and creating new spots like this, this really, i think, emphasizes

the hidden costs that the people in the country never see that have to do with nuclear energy. rather b be out minining than harvrvesting t tomatoes. frustration doesn't even come close to describing how we feel about our lives and our choices being taken away from us. whwhen you've been out of work, your unemployment's running out, your savings is gone, your wife and your kikids are gone, people are getting very, very angry. if the economy falters any more, if peopople don't realilize that nuclear is our best option, telluridide keeps fighti u us tooth and nail, it might not happen, period. and i really hope i'm wrong. >> my hope for the film is that audiences who see the film understand that it's really

not a simple issue. when n we'rere talking g about ththings likike the big picture of energy, this is a very small microcosm example of people and lives that are affected by our energy policy, which, especially as americans, use more and more energy. more e than europeans, more, obviously, than thee rest of the world, and yet we don't seem to have a very clear understanding of how we are supposed to keep supplying that energy. attention needs to be made to our energy needs and policies. >> across the atlantic, in south africa, plans to put an open coal pit mine next to a white rhino reserve put the health and welfare of both rhinos and local people at risk. jeff barbee reports. >> poaching has become a crcriss the number of rhino killed

for t their horn has gone from 13 in 2007, to over 1,000 in 2013 alone. but a new danger to the park may y be even more disastrous than the widespread poaching problem in the country. a new open-cacast coal l mine on the s southerrbordeder of the parkrk threatens this, africa's most important rhino breeding ground. park officials here worry that this new danger could be a deep dark hole for rhino conservation, because the mine will pollute the air with dangerous gases, like toluene e and benzene, and blow toxic coal dustt over this wilderness area. the mine will also discharge acid mine w water laced with sulfuric acid and radioactive byproducts into ththe umfolozi river, wheere the park's animals and the livestock of the surrounding community alall drink. >> and when we come hehere, we come h here to kind of, lili, to unwind and experience the wild, and now there's a mine happening on

the edge of the wilderness, and d it's diluting every experiencece that the people are getting here. >> if hundreds of rhinos arare killed for their horn, the popupulation can be reestablished as long as enough are saved. but if the park is polluted with toxic mine waste, this last refuge of the rhino will be lost forever. >> where our concern lies is with respect to dust, because there's no analysis of the dust, in terms of the toxic components within that dust, given the coal mining, and the blasting, and thatat sort ofof thing. now, y you can feel this w wind. this wind is blowing across us right into the game reserve. so, they mine here, this southeastern wind will carry the dust, and the fallout will be in the park, in the wilderness area. >> if it goes ahead, the coal mine wiwill be right against the boundary fence of the park. this community of 1,200 peoplee

will be forcrcibly relococated off the land. another coal mine opened in 202007, 10 kililometers awyy from the villllage, and people here already fall sick from breathing the toxic dust. >> [speaking afrikaans] >> this is an aerial view of the older mine, whichch nduna's nephew says is already causing their cattle die. >> we are also feeling the consequences of them allowing that mine there. we'veve already witnessed some of our cows dying. the past year, i'm talking about from june last year till now, i myself have lost about 18 of them. >> to have so many fall ill and die means that the rhinos

and other animals next door in the park w who drink the same water are also in danger. in rural africa, cows are the real wealth, like living, walking bank accounts. to pay for a child's education, ndimande would sell a few cows, but now that is out of the question. this is a small community right on the edge of imfolozi park, and the community experiences a lot of benefits from the park itself, and they are very concerned about what's going to happen if the mine goes in just next to the park and right within their community. >> we are right next to the game reserve, and by us allowing the mine to take over this land there, and then it will mean those animals in the game reserve will end up suffering because of the pollution. >> the dangers of having a mine right on the border of the park is nonot lost to rogeger porter. he'ss the forr r head of conseatation d plplanning at the park's administration.

he agrees with ndimande that the mine could not only threaten the animals, but could make poaching worse. >> the whole security issusue has not been addressed. mines tend to be a magnet, drawing g in people from surroundnding areas beususe of the p potential opportunity of jobs. universally, it's well known that levels of crime increase around mines. so, poaching is a crime. >> according to dr. player, if the mine and the poaching are not stopped, the whole web of life that has been protected here for over a century will fail. >> there's no dououbt in mymy md that if that minene went ahead, it would destroy the wilderness. >> in a press statement, ibutho coal, who declined to comment on this story, touted jobs as a majojor benefit to the localal economy when the mine comes in.

but according to the community,, the mine has not consulted them, or even told them where they will be forced to relocate to. for more than 100 years, the hluhluwe-imfolozi park has been a sanctuary for rhinos and many other endangered animals. it i is a place that inspireres visitors, communities, and conservationists all over the world. to lose this area in a coal mining operation is unacceptable to dr. player. >> the people, they say, "it's impossible, you can't defeat these big mining comompanies." and we said, "no, you can." but you've got to know that what you are doing is absolutely right. if you know that, then the rest is strategy and tactics. >> this is jeffrey barbee reporting from the hluhluwe-imfolozi park in south africa for link tv. >> in ecuador's highlands,

indigenous communities figight foreign gold mining companies in an effort to save something even more precious than gold to them: their water. constantino de miguel reports. >> ecuador is a south h american country with a booming economy driven, in large part, by the world's appetite for its raw materials. ecuador is blessed with some of the richest biological diversity in the world. the wealth of its fauna and flora can be seen in the kimsakocha wetlands in the andes highlands. but beneath the ground there is gold and copper that are set to be exploited on a grand scale. the ecuadorian government awarded concessions to foreign companies to exploit this region, despite local opposition by peasants and indigenous communities whose agriculture depends on the local water resources. the 2,000 families that live on the kimsakocha asked the government to withdraw the mining concessions in 2007. t t when ecuadadorian presidenet rafael correa refused,

this set off an uprising against the mining companies and the government. >> [spepeaking spanish] >> farmers' opposition to mining also landed federico guzman, a peasant leader, in jail. >> [speaking spanish] >> ecuador has attracted

several foreign mining corporations interested in extracting gold, silver, copper, and other metals, mostly from the southern parts of the country. the projected mines are all large scale and stand to significantlyly alter the local ecosystems. toronto-based iamgold got the license to drill on kimsakocha in 2000, then sold the concessions to another canadian company, inv metals, in 2012. these protected natural and forest area of over 34,000 hectares is in danger, but the gold fever is pervasive. according to perez, the mining company already exploring in the area has destroyed the harmony of the local communities. >> [speaking spanish]

>> to obtain just two grams of golold, one ton of rockcks needsds to be moveved, broken down, and sifted. the company will use heavy dump trucks, make big open pits, and use explosives to crash the mineral. an open pit gold mine is like a huge chemical plant where cyanide, mercury, and sulfuric acid are used to extract the mineral. these elements are mixed with the ore to separate gold from waste. the resulting waste will accumulate on mountain sides, contaminating water sources with heavy metals and chemicals harmful for human health. pressure to extract rich minerals like gold or copper from these highlands is increasing. chinese and canadian companies have succeeded to persuade the ecuadorian government

to grant licenses to open up this ground, ignoring the opposition from the native population. president rafael correa is now confronting the quechua indians after he pledged to defend their interests when he was elected 7 years ago. presidedent rafael correa has been concentrating power around his government after being reelected to a third term. now correa's leadership and popularity is threatened by grassrootots and indian movementsts that oppose his drie toto make mining a main source of revenue for ecuador. >> [speaking spanish]

>> ecuador faces a tough dilemma. should its natural resources be exploited on a large industrial scale? or should they be preserved for the sake of the environmental protection? according to this analyst, mineral riches are the only means to finance health, education, andnd public works, so necessary for the development of the country. >> [speaking spanish]

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♪ music [loud raindrops] narrator: torrential rain in the dry season. flooding when there's normalally drought. desert where there used to be grass. ♪ music narrator: tens of thousands of deaths in cities across europe from freak heat waves. even more taken to hospital. is this a taste of our future? dr. patrick kinney: climate change is already profoundly affecting public health across the globe. narratorid