Uranium Mining Puts Clean Water at Risk
Location: Virginia, North Carolina
River Update
The Roanoke River, flowing from Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains to North Carolina’s Outer Banks, provides water to more than one million people for drinking, farming, fishing, and boating.
The Roanoke forms the backbone of southern Virginia’s agriculture sector, valued at more than $300 million in 2007. It also boasts a world-class striped bass fishery, drawing thousands of anglers each year. As one of the Mid-Atlantic’s most biologically diverse rivers, it is an exceptional recreational resource for boaters, birdwatchers, and outdoor enthusiasts. The river also feeds two hydroelectric dams, with a total generating capacity of 328 megawatts.
But all of this could be irreversibly damaged by the toxic run-off from a proposed uranium mine.
The Threat
Companies would like to mine a large uranium deposit on a tributary of the Roanoke River— one of many uranium deposits believed to be in Virginia.
Extracting uranium ore requires intensive use of water and chemicals, and leaves behind massive amounts of radioactive and contaminated waste. The mining, processing, and waste disposal would leave a toxic, radioactive legacy in the watershed for centuries.
In 2007, a uranium company announced intentions to develop the deposit, in spite of a state ban. The proposed project would demand thousands of gallons of water each year during production and generate about 29 million tons of waste that could endanger human, animal, and plant life in the Roanoke watershed for centuries.
To reduce the impact on the local environment, most uranium production in the US occurs in arid, sparsely populated regions. By contrast, Virginia and North Carolina have experienced some of the highest rainfall ever recorded in North America. In the last 40 years, nine hurricanes and other major storms have deluged Virginia. This makes the Roanoke region one of the worst places to store waste from uranium processing.
Factoring in high moisture levels and the close location close to population centers, the uranium project could could result in environmental catastrophes downstream.
The potential health impacts of exposure to uranium and mining chemicals are well-documented and include several types of cancer, birth defects, hormone disruption, and vital organ damage.
What Must Be Done
Virginia is underresourced to regulate a massive uranium industry. While permitting and enforcement costs continue to rise, state environmental departments have had their budgets reduced. Virginia spends less than one-half of one percent of its total annual budget to fund its Department of Environmental Quality and Department of Mines, Minerals, and Energy and would be ill equipped to handle oversight uranium mining.
To ensure clean drinking water along the Roanoke River and across the state, the Virginia legislature must maintain the ban on uranium mining, which would sustain the region’s agricultural heritage, tourism industry, and quality of life.
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