In uranium mining issue, it's Virgina Beach vs. the state (Virginia)

Flooding in Southside

Comment:  Good Luck to VA Beach Study and thanks from Southside people!
By Deirdre Fernandes

The Virginian-Pilot
January 12, 2010
VIRGINIA BEACH

The state is considering lifting its 28-year ban on uranium mining, a move that has so alarmed Virginia Beach officials that they are spending $437,000 to study the worst-case scenario for the city’s water supply .

Virginia Beach has hired engineering firm Michael Baker Corp. to look into what could happen to Lake Gaston if there were a catastrophic accident at a possible uranium mining site upstream in south-central Virginia.

The state has tapped the National Academy of Sciences to provide information about best practices, risks and the potential for uranium mining in Virginia.

But that study won’t be comprehensive enough and state legislators dismissed concerns raised by Beach officials about the scope of the academy’s work, said Thomas Leahy, the city’s public utilities director.

“If the other side had volunteered to look at this issue, we wouldn’t have to do this study,” Leahy said.

Still, the cost of the Baker study surprised some Beach City Council members.

Councilwoman Barbara Henley said, “I know that studies have a tendency to cost a lot of money, but we have a major investment in Lake Gaston.”

Virginia Uranium Inc., the company interested in mining for ore in Pittsylvania County, is paying the $1.4 million cost of the study because of the state’s budget crisis.

The National Academy of Sciences is a reliable resource and its review will be thorough, Wagner said.

Beach officials said they don’t question the academy’s credentials. They hope to share the results of their work with the academy, Leahy said.

The scope of the city’s study includes disaster modeling and a review by a panel of experts. Based on the results, more research may be needed and Virginia Beach may look to the state and neighboring cities to help defray the costs, Leahy said.

Water from Lake Gaston replenishes Norfolk’s reservoirs and Chesapeake is entitled to use a portion of the water.

For now, city officials need to know how concerned they should be about radioactive material getting into the water supply from a mining operation, Leahy said.

Read more:
http://hamptonroads.com/2010/01/uranium-mining-issue-its-beach-vs-state