To the editor:

There is a complete lack of support for the false hyperbolic thesis that Republicans don’t care if children drink dangerously radioactive water.

Recently Randi Hacker alleged such an uncaring viewpoint based upon a quote pulled out of context from a federal government press release. I’m a registered independent and as a child in 1962 I lived downwind from atmospheric nuclear weapon tests conducted in Nevada. Accordingly, I was intrigued by Hacker’s diatribe, particularly the quote about uranium, aquifers and the Safe Drinking Water Act exemption. I researched the quotation provided and learned the language referred to a proposed private-sector uranium ore mining project. The project is subject to permitting from South Dakota authorities as well as federal Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Hacker might be surprised that the formal record in the permitting process states, “aquifers proposed for exemption do not currently serve as a source of drinking water.”

Most non-fabulists understand radioactivity is a natural process encountered in uranium ore mining. Companies are entitled to seek permits to extract uranium ore, a key fuel ingredient for almost one-fifth of our nation’s electrical generation capacity, not to mention propulsion for many U.S. Navy vessels. Similar to the notice about animal safety, “No drinking water wells will be harmed in the production of this essential electrical power resource.” Actually, the information Hacker cited is from professional engineers and geologists seeking safety permits under South Dakota and federal laws and is completely inconsistent with an uncaring thesis.