Ok, let me explain my approach. Firstly, I operate with one primary premise....where money is involved trust absolutely no one. Therefore, given the FN experience with the "other culture", I would say they would fairly much be in line with my thinking. Thus you attack your bargaining opponent on every issue to make sure that they stay on their toes and never doubt your resolve to protect your interests.

Now lets talk about contamination. Of course the studies will be done but they will be just studies. In practice there are a whole host of things that may not be carried out quite as diligently as the crossed t's and dotted i's on the printed page. This would be the practical side where one hopes that those doing the "welds" weren't in a pissy mood or suffering a hangover at critical moments. As for your commentary Hoov, on Cr toxicity not necessarily having been totally the fault of mines, though "man's actions exacerbated the problem", it doesn't remove the fact that the toxicity problem was loaded in the barrel and man pulled the trigger. The end result was the same, a problem that can impact adversely. Further, when I specified toxicity issues and mentioned asbestos mines, my point was not really to be specific about a particular contaminate but to highlight the potential for contaminates which can come from a variety of places including fuel dumps etc. It is almost always the stuff that doesn't get thought about that serves to haunt us thus scrutiny can't be overplayed.

My main point really is the attitude some people have about moving forward without due interest for the consideration of others whether it's a whole city or a handful of people. Life is still precious isn't it....last time I checked? The FN are doing nothing that wouldn't be done by any other human....black, white, eastern, western or what have you. They are haggling forcefully from their position to make sure they aim for the most.......knowing that they'll get something less. Is it a game? Yes, but a very serious one and one you only get to play once. They will play with every weapon they have at their disposal as would anyone else. If you don't happen to be on their side then it is likely that you are not happy with them at best and outright hate them at the worst. You know where you stand.

In the end it'll get done, the FN will settle, certain areas, particularly open pit, will get ugly, there will be pollution, people will get exposed to things they wouldn't have ordinarily, a few animals will take a hit because of the new presence up there, things that weren't forseen nor intended will take place.....and lots of minerals will come out of the area and people will benefit financially from it. In short, some will lose a portion of their former way of life and they will become more like the rest of the world with the benefits and compromises that go with it. The most important variables will be how it gets done and how will the wealth and health will be shared.