Feeling The Heat On Uranium Mining In Virginia
Jessie Thomas-Blate, Coordinator, Most Endangered Rivers
December 21, 2012 | Most Endangered Rivers
Roanoke River, VA | Dan River Basin Association
Uranium mining is a hot topic right now in Virginia. You might remember that American Rivers listed the Roanoke River as one of America’s Most Endangered Rivers® of 2011 due to a proposed uranium mine. Since that time, the Virginia legislature has been talking about whether or not to lift a 30-year ban on uranium mining in Virginia.
Recently, the Virginia Pilot’s Editorial Board issued a clear and concise summary of recent activity with this issue. Their ultimate conclusion is key— that the local taxpayers will ultimately have to shoulder the burden of maintaining the radioactive waste from this mine in perpetuity. Thirty years or so of mine production is not worth thousands of years of radioactive waste maintenance. The Roanoke Times Editorial Board agrees.
Similarly, the Danville Pittsylvania County Chamber of Commerce recently voiced their opposition to lifting the ban, as did Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling.
Opposition to the mine has even starting flowing in from across the border, as the
North Carolina General Assembly’s Environmental Review Commission sent a letter to the Governor of Virginia on December 13 outlining its reasons for opposing the lifting of the mining ban.
These entities join the already extensive list of groups who oppose lifting the ban on uranium mining in Virginia.
The Governor’s Uranium Mining Working Group recently reported its findings on regulatory needs associated with potentially lifting the uranium mining ban. The list included basically everything because the state has no regulatory structure in place for this type of industrial development.
Virginia Uranium Inc. will continue to lobby the Virginia General Assembly to end the state's 30-year moratorium on uranium mining. Sen. John Watkins (R-Midlothian) says he will sponsor legislation during the upcoming session to end the ban.
The fight is not over.
- If you are a resident of Virginia, tell your legislator that you care too much about the Roanoke River and the water it supplies to thousands of area residents to allow the ban on uranium mining to be lifted! Also, you can sign this petition from Keep The Ban to retain the momentum on this important issue.
If you would like to have more information before forming your own opinion on this issue, Keep The Ban has compiled a list of scientific studies to examine the issue of uranium mining in Virginia.
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Comments List
Submitted by BL_Steinhagen at: December 24, 2012
Keeping the Ban in place makes perfect sense to me. As a resident of Virginia the uranium mining/milling industry long and short history of operating violations, water issues and the unknown issues related to health trumps economic gain Any benefit quickly disappears in the face of a BP type accident (BP guaranteed that it wouldn’t happen) that spews radioactive tailing waste into the water supply of over 1 million citizens of Virginia and North Carolina. No one can guarantee safety or predict what will happen. Proponents say they can. Even if it could be done safely it makes no sense because of Coles Hill location to that water supply. We wouldn’t allow a production munitions, explosive or a chemical production plant to be built in a heavily populated area or in an area that has any potential to effect a large populated area. Munitions,eplosives and chemical industries for the most part are safe but it is recognized that the risk remains; hence they are zoned in areas that minimize risk to large number of people. How is Coles Hill any different than these industries in relationship to its proximity to Lake Gaston? Hopefully the Virginia legislators will do the right thing and keep the ban.
Submitted by Audrey Clement at: December 23, 2012
The bipartisan nature of opposition to uranium mining in Va. is encouraging. But I just finished reading "Full Body Burden," a first hand account of the effect of Cold War plutonium production on area residents at Rocky Flats outside of Denver. To this day DOE insists that plutonium, which is thousands of times more lethal than cigarette smoke, doesn't cause cancer. So I'm pessimistic. I've also been told that all of the law firms in Richmond have been purchased by Virginia Uranium and its Canadian sponsors.