Del. Don Merricks/House of Delegates, 16th District/Del. James E. Edmunds II/House of Delegates, 60th District: Uranium Mining

Comments:  Thanks for your comments about u mining, where is Ruff?  Keep the uranium mining ban!


Posted: Wednesday, March 14, 2012 11:49 am

Don Merricks

Del. Don Merricks/House of Delegates, 16th District

Chatham Star Tribune

This past Saturday at approximately 10 p.m., we adjourned the 2012 session of the General Assembly


This past week, Speaker Howell appointed me to the Virginia Coal and Energy Commission. In addition, the chairman of the commission, Del. Terry Kilgore, appointed me to the Uranium Mining Subcommittee. I strongly felt that someone from southern Virginia needed to be appointed to this committee, and I am honored to have been appointed. It would have been easy for me to say no; however, saying no would not have been the right thing to do.

The decision of whether or not to allow the mining and milling of uranium in the commonwealth will most likely be the most important decision the General Assembly will address in this decade, if not longer. I will strive to keep the process as transparent as possible as we move forward. The issues raised in the National Academy study must be fully vetted and analyzed to determine if these risks can be mitigated and, if so, how and at what cost. Each hurdle must be addressed and determined if it’s possible to eliminate the hurdle before moving on to the next hurdle. This will not be easy and there are no easy answers. This is a very serious issue and we must get this right.

I realize there are those who don’t think this can be done under any circumstances, and I also understand there are those who think we can do this under current circumstances. I realize the work will not be easy, and I also realize that whatever side one finds himself, it will be the wrong side. I have never thought of myself as one who shoots from the hip and I don’t consider myself an extremist. My role is to weigh the facts and represent the concerns of the citizens I represent and that is what I plan to do.

http://www.wpcva.com/altavista/opinion/article_59c04576-6ded-11e1-8d81-001871e3ce6c.html

Posted: Wednesday, March 14, 2012 11:47 am

James E. Edmunds II

Del. James E. Edmunds II/House of Delegates, 60th District

Chatham Star Tribune

As my third session of serving you in the General Assembly ends, I wanted to update you on some of the issues we addressed this year. This has been the long, 60-day session, and I am ready to be back in the district! During this session, we looked at over 2,500 bills, many of which were not passed. I continued to serve on three committees: Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources; Counties, Cities and Towns; and Militia, Police and Public Safety. In addition, I served on two subcommittees.

most important legislation that has been passed by both the House and Senate, along with a brief description. I encourage you to go online and read the full bill by logging onto the state website, http://legis.virginia.gov, and typing in the bill number.

Another issue of critical importance to the state is the possible mining of uranium. Virginia Uranium continues to actively lobby legislators to lift the state’s 30-year ban on uranium mining. It is expected that a bill will be introduced next year to lift the ban
.
Don’t hesitate to contact me at any time at 434-476-0077 or by email at james@friendsofjamesedmunds.com. Additional information can be found on my website, www.friendsofjamesedmunds.com.

http://www.wpcva.com/altavista/opinion/article_0e1837be-6ded-11e1-bced-001871e3ce6c.html

Uranium Working Group working its way around the people of Virginia

Comments:  I agree 100%:  "Virginians remember Gov. McDonnell for what he really is, a spineless politician who put the interests of his pals ahead of those of the state of Virginia." by: Progressive86 Tue Mar 06, 2012 at 11:31:35 AM EST

In another attempt to subvert the democratic process in Virginia, Gov. McDonnell is attempting to sidestep the recommendations of the National Academy of Sciences and the will of Virginians by rushing through the proposal on uranium mining and milling and shutting out stakeholders who have already accumulated expertise and information on this matter. The point of taking the decision to allow uranium mining and milling out of the hands of the legislature was to give the Uranium Working Group time to resolve some of the most serious concerns brought up by the possibility of mining and milling for uranium in Virginia. Instead, the governor has taken the decision out of the hands of the legislature in order to circumvent the democratic process and a very uncertain future for this issue in Virginia's General Assembly. Gov. McDonnell has continuously made two contradictory statements. The first is that his administration will pursue an "all of the above" strategy for energy, referring to any source of energy that can be extracted and used will be. Contrarily, McDonnell claims that if the energy source in question poses a known risk to human health, his administration will not pursue it. The risks posed by uranium mining and milling are unmistakable, and even more so in a climate like Virginia's that has never witnessed uranium mining. Thus, any risk assessments undertaken must be magnified by the level of uncertainty that accompanies any assessment of a brand new situation for risk.

McDonnell either doesn't care about the risks involved or has convinced himself (or has been convinced) that the risks posed are negligible. Government's purpose is to promote the public interest, not the interests of a self-serving few. For my own part, I will make sure to live long enough to ensure that Virginians remember Gov. McDonnell for what he really is, a spineless politician who put the interests of his pals ahead of those of the state of Virginia. Way to go, Bob! http://www.bluevirginia.us/diary/6161/uranium-working-group-working-its-way-around-the-people-of-virginia

Door Closing for Wyoming Lawmakers on Resolution Against the Department of Energy

Senator Wagner, Gov Bob, Senator Watkins

Comment:  Tell the "Radioactive" Governor of Virginia to keep the Uranium Ban in Virginia so we really never be taken over by the Federal Branch of the Department of Energy to clean up uranium mining waste done by the Candian government!

By Tristan AhtoneMarch 3, 2012

With only a week to go until the legislative session is over, Wyoming lawmakers are reviewing a number of bills, including a joint resolution requesting Congress to provide for increased monitoring and funding for remediation of the Riverton uranium mill tailings site. The resolution also charges the Department of Energy, the agency responsible for cleanup, with demonstrating “an inability to carry out mandates of federal law in connection with the site and has engendered a climate of distrust, which negatively impacts the ability to reach a solution to remedy a clear health hazard to the residents of the Wind River Indian Reservation and residents of the State of Wyoming.”

The resolution was designed to allow legislators to assist tribal authorities in their dealings with the Department of Energy, and explicitly asks for Congress to provide increased funding and monitoring for the site; enact legislation requiring the DOE to work cooperatively tribal officials and state and local agencies; begin immediate remediation; and that Wyoming’s Secretary of State, Max Maxfield, put the resolution in the hands of President Barack Obama and the speaker of the House of Representatives, the Wyoming congressional delegation, and the Dr. Steven Chu, secretary of the Department of Energy.

“We’d like the Department of Energy to more aggressively handle that situation,” says Republican State Senator Cale Case. “We’re assisting tribal authorities in lending support to them in their assertion that this is a real problem and the Department of Energy hasn’t kept their promises and it’s not going like it’s predicted.”

During debate, Case told the Senate that the federal government expected the site to clean itself up within 100 years, but that hasn’t been the case. The uranium is left over from the ’50s and ’60s when Susquehanna-Western, left behind 1.8-million cubic yards of materials contaminated with uranium, uncapped and unlined until they were finally removed in the late 1980s.
“Pollution at the site has actually increased, especially as a result of the flooding we had in record amounts in 2010,” said Case.

Case isn’t the only one skeptical of the DOE’s assertion that the site will clean itself up naturally after 100 years. Tribal officials on Wind River question this as well, especially in light of recorded uranium spikes in DOE monitoring wells.

James Byrd is the Democratic Representative from Cheyenne. He says the measure is important because when the state gets behind these types of action, it gets the federal government to take notice.

“Basically what we’re trying to do is establish a position,” says Byrd. “A lot of times when we do this is to let the federal government know where we stand so that we can give some ammunition to our congressional delegation, or in other events, the governor if he’s going to meet with governors or other officials on the federal level. What it does is it officially gives him a tool in his toolbox to go and put forth a state platform.”

In February, Governor Mead sent a letter to Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu expressing concern over the DOE’s assertion that the site will clean itself up, and that the department’s efforts may need to be reassessed. He also urged the DOE to “work collaboratively and in close communication with the tribes to reach acceptable, sustained, and well-understood site remediation.” In other words, get on with the work, and play nice with Wind River.


Read more:http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/03/03/door-closing-for-wyoming-lawmakers-on-resolution-against-the-department-of-energy-101171

http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/03/03/door-closing-for-wyoming-lawmakers-on-resolution-against-the-department-of-energy-101171#ixzz1oMJTIsPO

Heavy Diesel Exhaust Exposure Significantly Raises Lung Cancer Death Risk/Colombian gold-mining village fights to stay put/

Heavy Diesel Exhaust Exposure Significantly Raises Lung Cancer Death Risk

Non-metal miners who were exposed to high levels of diesel exhaust appear to have a considerably higher risk of developing and dying from lung cancer compared to other people, according to a new report published in the JNCI (Journal of the National Cancer Institute). The study, part of the Diesel Exhaust in Miners Study, was made by scientists from the NCI (National Cancer Institute) and NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health).

Debra T. Silverman, Sc.D. and team had set out to determine what the cancer risk might be from diesel exhaust exposure, with a focus on lung cancer. Their study involved data on 12,315 miners at eight mines, all of them non-metal facilities. There was one salt mine in Ohio, three potash mines in New Mexico, three trona mines in Wyoming, and one limestone mine in Missouri.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/242490.php

Colombian gold-mining village fights to stay put

Mar. 02, 2012

By Paul Christopher Webster

 

MARMATO, COLOMBIA -- The preparations for the evening Mass on Jan. 15 in the Church of Santa Barbara in Marmato, a mountainside mining village in central Colombia, were ordinary in every detail but one. Shortly before the service began, the village priest, Fr. Carlos Valencia, threaded his way through a tangle of horses and donkey carts into the town square at the wheel of a battered jeep. As he arrived, the bell in the church tower rang out. Inside the brick church, candles were lit as people from the village -- many dressed in colorful handmade clothes, decorative ponchos and heavy leather boots -- gathered beneath rows of brightly glazed ceramic statues of the Virgin and saints. As Valencia commenced the Mass, the only thing out of the ordinary was the presence behind the altar of a bishop from the United States.
The service was well-attended: With only 700 inhabitants, Marmato is a tight-knit place, and the Catholic church has played a vital role ever since the village was founded when Spanish soldiers spotted gold here in 1540. But even though Valencia welcomed the American bishop --Thomas Gumbleton, who retired after more than 40 years as auxiliary bishop of Detroit -- he offered no explanation for his unusual presence. Perhaps he assumed the villagers had no need for an explanation: In Marmato lately, thanks to a series of highly disruptive conflicts with foreign gold companies who say Marmato sits on gold worth $10 billion at current prices, unexpected events have become commonplace. Some of these surprises have been extremely unwelcome: Just last September, the congregation of Santa Barbara was shocked to learn that Valencia’s predecessor, 36-year-old Fr. José Reinel Restrepo, had been assassinated. And that, as every villager in the church could easily guess, was undoubtedly why the American bishop was in town.

http://ncronline.org/news/global/colombian-gold-mining-village-fights-stay-put

“Rebel Farmers” Feed Cows Condemned To Death After Fukushima

• by Kristina Chew
• March 3, 2012
• 9:32 am

March 11, 2012 will be the one-year anniversary of the Fukushima disaster. Almost a year ago, nearly 20,000 people in northeastern Japan died in a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami that led to multiple meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. To say that public confidence in the country’s nuclear program has fallen is an understatement. Just on Saturday, the week before the one-year anniversary, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said that the government “shared the blame” for the disaster and that government officials had indeed been “blinded by a false belief in the country’s technological infallibility” and “too steeped in a safety myth.”
The massive accident turned 930 square miles of land into a “no go zone” and displaced 80,000 residents living within 20 kilometers of the Fukushima district from their homes.
“Rebel Farmers” Feed Contaminated Livestock They Were Ordered to Slaughter
69-year-old Yukio Yamamoto is one of ten farmers from Namie, which is within the “no go zone,” who is defying government orders to euthanize his 36 black-haired wagyu cows. The cows — once prized for their high-quality beef; each was once worth $10,000 — ingested radioactive caesium and Yamamoto was supposed to kill them by lethal injection. In an interview with the Guardian, Yamamoto discussed getting a permit to enter the zone to feed his animalion. Says Yamamoto about the six-hour trip he now routinely makes:

“I left like everyone else after 11 March, “I couldn’t stop worrying about my cows, so I started coming back in every other day to feed them.”…

“Straight after the disaster, my cows had nothing to eat or drink … many of them starved to death right where they were tethered.I had to decide whether to leave the ones still alive or keep them healthy, even though we were separated.”

But Yamamoto, who is very likely the last of generations of his family to raise wagyu cows, has not received any feed from the Japanese government. Private donors, including farmers in Australia, have provided him with food for his cows.

“Eventually the feed will run out, and the government has said it will kill every last cow. But that is something I can’t allow to happen. “I could never kill these cows. They are like members of my family.”

Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/rebel-farmers-feed-cows-condemned-to-death-after-fukushima.html#ixzz1oMIEi63e

 

Nuclear Wasted (the whole Nuclear cycle, uranium mining, milling)

 

Nuclear Wasted - Please sign!

By Michael Saftler

To be delivered to: The United States House of Representatives, The United States Senate, and President Barack Obama

There is no safe way to mine, mill, process and transport Uranium and no safe way to operate a Nuclear Power plant and no safe way to dispose of Nuclear waste.

THEREFORE, Stop the proposed funding of new Nuclear Plants and begin shutting all existing plants down.

Congress and the President have authorized spending 8 billion dollars to finance 2 new Nuclear Power plants in Georgia at a time when there is very little regulation from the NRC or the DOE as to how or where to contain the waste from the back end of Nuclear power generation.




Additionally as Fukishima has lethally demonstrated the effects of an accident can be deadly and last for generations.

Furthermore, the mining and milling of Uranium is dangerous at all stages.

NEW goal - We need 300 signatures

Please click here to sign the petition: 

http://signon.org/sign/nuclear-wasted.fb1?source=s.fb&r_by=2755908

Great Editorials: Uranium group will keep secrets/Panel's work belongs in the open/Shine Light on Uranium Mining Study/URANIUM WORK SHOULD BE PUBLIC

Great comments from FB: 

RRB:  Danville Register & Bee is right on point again: "Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality, Department of Health, and Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy don’t have experience with uranium mining, but they do have a mandate from Gov. Bob McDonnell to develop regulations.  Why are they developing regulations? It’s obvious the governor wants to push this project as far along as possible while he’s still in office."   

UraniumFree Virginia:  Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality, Department of Health, and Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy don’t have experience with uranium mining, but they do have a mandate from Gov. Bob McDonnell to develop regulations.

Why are they developing regulations? It’s obvious the governor wants to push this project as far along as possible while he’s still in office. 

 KBM:  Thank you for so eloquently outlining how certain elected, appointed and taxpayer funded entities are usurping power in order allow the potential destruction of water, health, property values and future diverse economic development of Virginia citizens. Sic Semper Tyrannis. The tyrant on which Virtus's foot rests has many faces. McDonnell wears one of them.

Editorial: Uranium group will keep secrets

The working group created by the governor to study uranium mining will hide much of its work from the public.

http://www.roanoke.com/editorials/wb/306123

Editorial:  Panel's work belongs in the open

Last month we asked this question about the cost to taxpayers of developing regulations for the uranium mining industry: "(W)e have to wonder why Virginia will now spend money developing regulations that will be used by a single company at a single site for something that’s currently not allowed in the commonwealth."

This month, we got one of the first answers: They’re going to cut corners.

Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality, Department of Health, and Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy don’t have experience with uranium mining, but they do have a mandate from Gov. Bob McDonnell to develop regulations.

Why are they developing regulations? It’s obvious the governor wants to push this project as far along as possible while he’s still in office.

For a state that has no experience with uranium mining and milling, that should be troubling enough.

As this issue moves forward — whether we want it to or not — the lack of public meetings by the UWG isn’t the only thing the public should be concerned about. Members of the UWG will only take questions and comments from the public through a website; letters will be accepted.

What’s wrong with that?

Ray Reed, a reporter for our sister newspaper, The News & Advance of Lynchburg, recently reported that Del. Don Merricks of Pittsylvania County asked Cathie J. France, Virginia’s deputy director of the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy and leader of the study group, if the public’s questions and answers would be posted on the group’s website. Merricks was told the questions, but not all of the answers, would be on the site.

Here’s the exchange Reed reported:

"The responses will be incorporated into our work and will be reported," France said.
"I think it would be nice to not only show the questions, but I’d like to see the responses," Merricks said.

"I just don’t think we have the resources to do it the way you are suggesting," France said.
If they don’t have the resources to post all the UWG’s answers to the questions Virginians have about uranium mining, what makes anyone think Virginia will one day have the financial resources to properly and consistently regulate a uranium mine and mill in rural Pittsylvania County?

The last thing we need are government bureaucrats meeting behind closed doors to draft proposed uranium mining regulations when they apparently can’t afford to update a website with answers to the public’s questions.

The Uranium Working Group must do its work in full view of the public. That’s not happening right now.

http://www2.godanriver.com/news/2012/mar/14/panels-work-belongs-open-ar-1762721/


Editorial:Shine Light on Uranium Mining Study

By: The News & Advance | The News & Advance
Published: March 14, 2012 Updated: March 14, 2012 - 6:00 AM

In the closing days of the General Assembly session, legislators — and the public — discovered that state officials conducting a uranium mining study for the governor want their work shrouded in secrecy. They will hold no public hearings and keep many of their papers secret.

That was the word from Cathie J. France, deputy director of the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy. She is leading the study, known as the Uranium Working Group. Their work could result in not only lifting Virginia’s moratorium against uranium mining, but also the first draft of regulations on that mining.

France told Media General News Service that various documents generated by the study group, including reports from expert advisers the group plans to hire, will be kept as “confidential governor’s working papers.” She added that the papers “are prepared for him, at his direction, for him to make a decision.”

That’s hardly the transparency that Virginians have come to demand of government at the local and state levels across the Old Dominion.

The study group’s decision could have a profound impact on the public down the road. The study could lead to Gov. Bob McDonnell’s approval of a proposal to mine and mill radioactive material from what has been called a 119 million-pound deposit in Pittsylvania County worth about $7 billion.

Lawmakers on the uranium-mining subcommittee of the state Coal and Energy Commission responded last week to the veil being thrown over the study with some questions about the team’s transparency and how it will design its task to keep the public informed.

Del. Donald Merricks, R-Pittsylvania, asked France whether the public would be able to see questions raised about the mining proposal and the answers posted on the website. France said it would be possible to post the questions, but the work group would not post all the answers.

She said those responses would be “incorporated into our work and will be reported” to legislators and the public at four meetings to be held this summer.

Merricks wasn’t satisfied with that. “I think it would be nice to not only show the questions, but I’d like to see the responses,” he said. France suggested that would not be possible. “I just don’t think we have the resources to do it the way you are suggesting,” she said.

Read more:
http://www2.newsadvance.com/news/2012/mar/14/shine-light-uranium-mining-study-ar-1762797/


URANIUM WORK SHOULD BE PUBLIC

THE ISSUE The governor’s working group will be exempt from open records laws.

WHERE WE STAND That will undermine the group’s credibility and obscure its deliberations.

NO ACTION stirs more suspicion than needlessly restricting the public’s access to government records that should be open for review.

Yet time and again, officials do it. The latest: The working group commissioned by Gov. Bob McDonnell to study the prospect of lifting Virginia’s moratorium on uranium mining.

It is set to draft a “conceptual statutory and regulatory framework” for mining the element used to fuel nuclear power plants. It also will conduct additional analysis of the Coles Hill site in Pittsylvania County, where Virginia Uranium Inc. is eager to start mining and processing much of the 119 million pounds of uranium underground.

The group has arranged four meetings to gather feedback from the public and provide updates on its research.

But the bulk of members’ work will go on behind closed doors, immune from the state’s open-records laws because of an exemption provided for the governor’s “working papers.”

While Virginia Uranium stands to reap billions of dollars by mining at Coles Hill, and Pittsylvania County stands to reap the benefits of hundreds more jobs, far more is at stake.

Uranium isn’t mined in the eastern United States because this region’s climate is so wet. Virginia, in particular, is prone to flooding, tornadoes, hurricanes and, as last summer reminded, even earthquakes.

Each of those conditions raises the risk involved with storing radioactive materials — in this case, the tailings associated with mining uranium.

Lake Gaston, a source of drinking water for about 1 million people in South Hampton Roads, is downstream from the proposed mine at Coles Hill. Contamination of that lake would be devastating for this region, in both public healthand economic terms. The effects would ripple across the state.

http://epilot.hamptonroads.com/Olive/ODE/VirginianPilot/LandingPage/LandingPage.aspx?href=VmlyZ2luaWFuUGlsb3QvMjAxMi8wMy8xNA..&pageno=MjI.&entity=QXIwMjIwMA..&view=ZW50aXR5

Elliot Lake Uranium Mines

Uranium Tailings #12, Elliot Lake, Ontario, 1995

 

Comments:  You have read letters about how great Elliott Lake is and people are retiring in the area of the uranium mines.  Well Uranium Mining companies do not tell people the truth, greed is the only thing on their minds, not your health, not your children's health.  Keep the uranium mining ban in Virginia!

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

By the early 1980s, the development of high-grade uranium deposits in Australia and Saskatchewan played a major role in driving down the price of uranium -- along with the collapse of the Canadian industry's illegal price-fixing cartel.

The mines at Elliot Lake, Ontario, with their massive but low-grade ore reserves, were unable to compete in the world marketplace and secure new contracts. The mines operated until their contracts ran out, shutting down operations in the early 1990's. Stanleigh remained in operation until July 1996.

The mining companies and regulatory agencies recognised that there were problems associated with the closure of large uranium mining/milling facilities because the waste management areas were not originally designed with currently acceptable standards in mind.

Although these concerns have been addressed, the communities in the Serpent River Watershed are faced with the reality that 170 million tonnes of tailings from the uranium mines "present a perpetual environmental hazard."

The management of the tailings will always be a challenge. The half-life of the radioactive hazards in those tailings is hundreds of thousands of years.

Uranium Tailings in Elliot Lake

from: NUCLEAR AWARENESS NEWS WINTER 1993/1994
The majority of uranium tailings in Canada -- about 200 million tonnes -- are located in Elliot Lake. However, neither the federal or provincial governments can confirm exact locations and quantities. There are about 60 million tonnes of tailings at Rio Algom's Quirke and Panel mines, and about 70 million tonnes at Denison's Stanrock and Denison mines. In addition, Rio's Stanleigh mine is still operating in Elliot Lake until 1996 and has produced over 15 million tonnes of tailings. Former Rio Algom mines in the Elliot Lake area include Nordic, Lacnor, Spanish American and Pronto. There are also a number of areas where tailings have spilled accidentally over the years. The Agnew Lake site near Espanola, while not in the Elliot Lake basin, also has an impact on the regional environment.
Waste from uranium mining takes the form of both waste rock and tailings. In the mill, uranium ore is crushed and chemically treated to remove uranium. The grade of ore in Elliot Lake is typically 0.1% U3O8 (uranium concentrate, known as yellowcake). Thus every ton of ore mined in Elliot Lake yielded a ton of tailings, as well as about two tonnes of process liquid. The leach residue still contains most of the radioactive decay products of uranium. The solids are known as tailings. About two thirds of the tailings are similar to course sand, although the finer remainder (known as slimes) contain a higher concentration of radionuclides. The tailings are normally transferred in slurry and historically were simply dumped into nearby depressions or lakes, depending on nature to do its best to cope with the environmental devastation.
The uranium ore of Elliot Lake contains the sulphide mineral pyrite, which can oxidize into sulphuric acid. Acidic drainage is a major environmental problem with uranium tailings in Elliot Lake. Acidity also mobilizes some metals such as radium, copper, zinc, nickel and lead.
In addition to the problem of acidic drainage, uranium wastes have the problem of radiological contamination. Thorium-230 is the uranium decay product with the longest lifetime -- it has a "half life" of 76,000 years, thorium-230 turns into radium-226, one of the radionuclides of most concern in uranium tailings. Radium is chemically similar to calcium, and thus if ingested, concentrates in the bones, teeth and breast milk of mammals (including humans), where it increases the risk of cancer. Radium in turn produces radon gas (radon-222), which is known to cause lung cancer when inhaled. Because thorium-230 is so long-lived, radium and radon are being constantly produced and released from tailings over an extremely long period of time. The amount of any radioactive element decreases by a factor 1,000 in ten half-lives. Thus, in 760,000 years, one gram of thorium-230 will be reduced to a milligram. For human purposes, radiological contamination from uranium tailings is a problem forever.
It was only following public attention in the 1960s that regulatory attention began to be paid to uranium tailings in the 1970s, looking at long-term radiological and acidification impacts. The theoretical objective is to reduce the flow of water through the tailings, and to eliminate the flow of contaminants from the tailings piles. In the 1970s, rudimentary treatment processes were implemented that can be best described as a form of modified dumping. This remains the current practice. After the settling of solid materials, wastewater flows into holding ponds, where barium chloride is added to precipitate out radium-226, which is left in a sludge on the bottom of the holding ponds. The tailings are also neutralized to reduce acid in surrounding waters. Although there are gates on some roads to tailings sites in Elliot Lake, sites are readily accessible, being neither fenced nor guarded.
There are a number of possible remedial actions for uranium tailings, including waste rock or earth cover; water cover; pyrite removal; removal of harmful radioactive substances; and the use of various types of impervious covers or liners. Tailings treatment for new mines is entirely different from historic sites, where tailings were generally dumped in the nearest lake or ground depression. Various options may involve the moving of existing tailings sites. In the current environmental assessment, both Denison and Rio Algom want to cover most of their tailings with a few feet of water, as a means of preventing acid formation and reducing radiological emissions. The water cover option also happens to be the cheapest option. However, in the long run, the method is dependent on engineered structures such as dams to maintain water levels. It is highly unlikely that these structures will be able to survive for the thousands of years during which the tailings will remain dangerous.

Spill Charge Against Rio Algom

In August 1993, two million litres of contaminated water spilled from a tailings site at Rio Algom's Stanleigh mine in Elliot Lake. The spill took place as a result of a power failure. Rio Algom has been charged by the Atomic Energy Control Board with one count of failure to provide appropriate training for its employees, and one count of failure to prevent the spill under "reasonably foreseeable circumstances". The radiologically and chemically contaminated water spilled into McCabe Lake.


Nuclear Awareness News is the newsletter of Nuclear Awareness Project, a non-profit environmental group based in Uxbridge, Ontario, Canada. We can be reached at Box 104, Uxbridge, Ontario, L9P 1M6, Canada, Tel/fax = +1-905-852-0571, e-mail = nucaware(at)web.net. The editor of Nuclear Awareness News is Dave Martin. These articles may be reprinted with acknowledgement.

Read more:
http://www.miningwatch.ca/elliot-lake-uranium-mines

Danville Regional Foundation publishes uranium study comparison

Posted: Friday, March 9, 2012 9:33 am

Danville Regional Foundation this week published a chart comparing key points of six studies to date on uranium mining and milling. The uranium study comparison is in this week’s Star-Tribune and is available below on the newspaper’s website.

It also is available on Danville Regional Foundation’s website at www.drfonline.org.
The comparison looks at 10 key findings from the National Academy of Sciences Study, RTI Uranium Report, Chmura Study, Virginia Beach Study, Moran Report, and Fairfax Study.

It provides answers to who funded the studies, why the studies were done, and highlights the positive and negative environmental, health, economic, and social impacts of uranium mining and milling.
“The purpose of this comparison of uranium studies is to provide a framework to examine the findings regarding possible outcomes if uranium mining and milling occurs at the Coles Hill site in Pittsylvania County, Virginia,” the foundation said.

“This summary does not take a position on the accuracy of the studies, nor does it take a pro- or anti-uranium mining and milling stance,” the foundation said. “The purpose of this comparison is to provide a summary of information for the public to use as a discussion tool.”

http://www.wpcva.com/news/article_e725264a-69f4-11e1-89f2-001871e3ce6c.html

Federal Agency’s Decision May Halt Uranium Mill’s Progress

Comments:  State of VA, take heed but of course a certain group used Canada and CO as examples of "Best International Uranium Mining Practices" which the gov took to heart!  Okay, I am knock over by the NRC action, thank You NRC for your action, tell the state of VA, open up the Work Group session now!

by Gus Jarvis
Mar 13, 2012

MONTROSE COUNTY – In what seems to be a major blow to the proposed construction of Energy Fuels’ Piñon Ridge Uranium Mill in the Paradox Valley, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has found that the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment did not follow procedures under federal law during the mill’s approval process and may force a new approval process.

Telluride Town Attorney Kevin Geiger told members of the Telluride Town Council on Tuesday that the concerns of the town and opponents of the mill appear to be “substantiated” by the federal government.

“They are very concerned about the pubic hearing components and made a finding that the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment did not follow the proper procedures under federal law,” Geiger said.

Geiger cautioned members of council on further speculating on what the decision means but said it could lead to the reopening of a public hearing.

The Town of Telluride along with Ophir and the Telluride-based environmental group Sheep Mountain Alliance have challenged the licensing of the uranium mill, with the legal services of Public Justice, a national public interest law firm.

The litigation challenges the state’s licensing of the Piñon Ridge Uranium Mill, which was granted in January 2011.

According to Geiger and Public Justice, possible impacts were given little or no consideration by the state in its review process. 

Colorado is an “Agreement State” under the Federal Atomic Energy Act, which gives the state ultimate authority to license and approve radioactive projects. The NRC decision apparently concludes that the state did follow federal guidelines.

“We have said all along that the state needed to conduct public hearings, they did not,” Sheep Mountain Alliance Executive Director Hilary White said on Tuesday. “They needed to conduct a transparent application process, they did not.

They piecemealed all off the things necessary to make an approval and that approval was based on a flawed process.

“The NRC gives the authority to the state to process applications under the Atomic Energy Act,” she continued. “Colorado is an agreement state but it still has to follow the law and they didn’t.” White said she was notified of the decision in a letter from the NRC on Monday and does not yet know what the decision means for the permit itself.

Up until this week, Energy Fuels’ progress toward the start of construction was moving forward with success. Last December the Colorado Court of Appeals denied a legal challenge by Sheep Mountain Alliance, upholding the Montrose County Special Use Permit.

gjarvis@watchnewspapers.com or @gusgusj

Read more:
http://www.watchnewspapers.com/view/full_story/17859438/article-Federal-Agency%E2%80%99s-Decision-May-Halt-Uranium-Mill%E2%80%99s-Progress?instance=top_story

Tainted Desert

Struggling to reclaim their health and land after decades of uranium mining, the Navajos find a strong advocate at Tufts

BY LESLIE MACMILLAN

As a boy, Doug Brugge lived in a double-wide trailer on the Navajo reservation, near an old Indian trading post. It was a modest dwelling, but the towering mesas and red valleys of the West were his backyard. “You could just run out the back door and play,” says Brugge, whose father worked as an anthropologist for the Navaho Nation and the National Park Service.

But there were dangers, too. Flash floods would fill the arroyos, and children could fall in and drown. And one time his sister brought home a new pet in a Dixie cup—a scorpion—that made their mother scream.

It wasn’t until he traveled back to the reservation at the age of thirty-two that Brugge realized a far greater danger had lurked all around him: the sacred land of the Navajos—which had once supplied America’s nuclear weapons program—silently throbs with radiation.

From 1944 to 1986, nearly four million tons of uranium ore was extracted from the reservation, an area the size of West Virginia that spans northeastern Arizona and parts of New Mexico and Utah.

When demand for uranium dried up at the end of the Cold War, the mining companies simply abandoned the roughly thirteen hundred mines, leaving behind radioactive waste piles known as uranium tailings. Navajos inhaled radioactive dust and drank water contaminated with uranium, arsenic, and other heavy metals, and the cancer death rate there doubled, according to Indian Health Service data.

Uranium ore has all these things in it—radium, thorium, uranium,” Brugge says. He explains that the ore’s deadly properties are released only when it is dug up. “Radium decays into radon, and radon decays into a whole series of radioactive isotopes very quickly that are giving off all these alpha particles. When these particles lodge in your lung, that is a disaster for your health. They cause lung cancer.”

Today, Brugge is a leading expert on uranium, and consults on nuclear policy issues worldwide. But he also devotes much of his time to the ravaged homeland of the Navajo people, intent on bringing about some measure of what he calls environmental justice. He presses for health studies and works with federal and tribal organizations on legislation to clean up mine waste and compensate miners who get sick from uranium. He shares both his scientific expertise and his knowledge of the place where he grew up, a place where people can be mistrustful of outsiders and skeptical of government interference.

Read more:
http://www.tufts.edu/alumni/magazine/winter2012/features/tainted.html

Freedom of Information; Let the sun shine

The news dismayed, but its timing proved pregnant with symbolism. On the eve of Sunshine Week, Virginians learned that a study of uranium mining in Pittsylvania County will not be as transparent as it should be. According to a news story by The Times-Dispatch's Rex Springston, the group of state officials involved "will hold no public meetings and will keep many of its papers secret."
This is not good.

Uranium stirs strong emotion. The flat-Earth brigades do not support it under any circumstances, but others will base their decision on scientific evidence. The study's recommendations will be accepted only if the public has confidence in them. Openness is essential to the process. Secrecy encourages rumors and allegations of cover-ups. The uranium question does not need this.

Sunshine Week draws attention to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and other examples of open government more generally. FOIA promotes access. Government cannot keep citizens in the dark. Information is essential to robust debate.

Although the press often invokes the FOIA in its pursuit of news, open government is not of exclusive interest to professional journalists. Private citizens can rely on the FOIA, too. The FOIA belongs to all. Megan Rhyne of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government discussed sunshine in a column on Sunday's OP/Ed page.


Sunshine Week has opened with examples of the good and the bad. Open government cannot be taken for granted.

Read more:
http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/2012/mar/12/freedom-information-let-sun-shine-ar-1758035/

More about info:  http://www.opengovva.org/
Welcome to the Virginia Coalition for Open Government. We are a nonprofit alliance formed to promote expanded access to government records, meetings and other proceedings at the state and local level. Our efforts are focused solely on local/state information access.

Meeting: The Roanoke River Basin Bi-State Commission (RRBBC) and the VA Roanoke River Basin Advisory Committee (VRRBAC

The Roanoke River Basin Bi-State Commission (RRBBC) and the VA Roanoke River Basin Advisory Committee (VRRBAC)

 will hold meetings on Tuesday, March 20, 2012

at the Pepsi Building in Danville, VA

661 Craighead Street, Danville, VA 24541

The RRBBC Meeting will be 10am until 12pm (agenda and minutes attached) and

 the VRRBAC meeting will begin at 1pm and will conclude at approximately 2pm (agenda and minutes attached). 

Lunch for RRBBC and VRRBAC members, VA DEQ and NC DENR staff, and invited guests will be provided by the City of Danville.  A one hour lunch break is provided between meetings.

Directions to the Pepsi Building, 661 Craighead Street, Danville, VA  24541:
To reach the Pepsi Building, from US 58 Business near  downtown Danville, take Main Street south across the Dan River and turn left at the first traffic light onto Craghead Street. Follow that for about 5 blocks until you see the sign for “The Crossing at the Dan”, then turn left beside the Science Museum (if you go through the railroad underpass, you have gone past the Pepsi Building entrance). The Pepsi Building is directly in front of you with parking in the lot on the left.  The train station will be on your right as you turn in.
From the Danville Expressway, US 29/US 58, turn north onto Goodyear Boulevard (State Route 737). Stay on Goodyear until it ends at Industrial Avenue. Turn right onto Industrial, which will become Craghead Street. Follow Craghead until you see the sign for “The Crossing at the Dan”, then turn right into the complex (beside the Science Museum and after the railroad underpass). The Pepsi Building will be directly in front of you with parking in the lot on the left.  The train station will be on your right as you turn in.


Tammy D. Stephenson
Program Coordinator
Office of Water Supply
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
Blue Ridge Regional Office - Roanoke
3019 Peters Creek Road
Roanoke, Virginia  24019
PH (540) 562-6828
FAX (540) 562-6725
tammy.stephenson@deq.virginia.gov
http://www.deq.virginia.gov/watersupplyplanning/homepage.html

Agendas:

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=gmail&attid=0.1&thid=135cfa576e291a41&mt=application/pdf&url=https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui%3D2%26ik%3D87aab9e94c%26view%3Datt%26th%3D135cfa576e291a41%26attid%3D0.1%26disp%3Dsafe%26zw&sig=AHIEtbSAFbMqlzMkbPA0Q86T2YsZuKPWrA

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=gmail&attid=0.3&thid=135cfa576e291a41&mt=application/pdf&url=https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui%3D2%26ik%3D87aab9e94c%26view%3Datt%26th%3D135cfa576e291a41%26attid%3D0.3%26disp%3Dsafe%26zw&sig=AHIEtbQBYzI5cM4Lkvy1MYW3OR_b4d_-4Q

Dangers of mining clear to all

 

By: The Editorial Board | GoDanRiver.com
Published: March 02, 2012 Updated: March 02, 2012 - 7:00 AM

 

To the editor:

Kudos to the author of "A daughter of Elliot Lake remembers" (Feb. 19, page A11). The situation that the miner Gus Froebel faced was just one of untold thousands that had to endure the ravages of uranium mining throughout Canada and the American West.

It must have taken a great deal of courage for Froebel to have to deal with his disease and then fight the uranium industry in its attempt to cover up the dangers of uranium mining. The column’s author goes into detail about the devastating effect that uranium does to the human body. It was all mentioned in the column. These are the facts that the uranium mining companies do not want you to know.

On the other hand, the letter "Facts, not tall tales from Canada" (Feb. 27, page A6) is factually flawed. In the letter the author calls the column’s contention that uranium tailings give off far more radon than undisturbed ore as ridiculous

What is ridiculous is the claim that they do not. It has been proven that uranium ore left undisturbed is not a danger. When uranium is extracted, 85 percent of the radioactivity in the ore remains behind in the crushed rock. That crushed rock — or fine powder — are the tailings that are left behind and there will be millions of tons that have to be disposed of at Coles Hill. History has proven that the taxpayers have to pay the bill.

"A daughter of Elliot Lake remembers" was based on fact and not the over emotional rants of the uranium investors.

So let’s get the permanent ban done and done now.

BOB CLEARY Cascade
http://www2.godanriver.com/news/2012/mar/02/dangers-mining-clear-all-ar-1733393/