Professor needs to get out of lab

Comment:  A great Letter, Mr. Stuart!  No to uranium mining and milling!

Wednesday, May 26, 2010 8:52 AM EDT

We'll I'll be, now we have professors telling us how wonderful uranium mining is.

Is it me or is it the ones that want mining who worked in the nuclear field, an investor, or a friend of an investor hoping to get a handout if this mine happens?

This gentleman must have had an investor to call him to write this article unless he gets the Star-Tribune in Tennessee where he lives.

Being from that state he might recall a little incident that must have slipped his mind in neighboring Kentucky back in 1997.

A group of landowners just last month settled on a lawsuit for 1.75 million over allegations that water leaks from a western Kentucky uranium enrichment plant had devalued property values.

An attorney representing the landowners are aimed at compensating between 70 and 80 homeowners for the devaluation of their property because of radiation contamination.

Homeowners sued multiple companies, including Lockheed Martin and Union Carbide in 1997, saying radiation contamination by air and water had ruined their land and well water and sickened residents.

But the sad part is they will only receive 11 percent of the value of their property based on 1997 real estate values.

The high court in Kentucky also held that land devaluation by intentional trespassing is a recognized measure of damages once actual injury is determined.

There is injury if ground water is contaminated and it can't be consumed.

He also stated certain agencies are vigilant in enforcing their strict standards for radiation protection, air and water contamination.

Sounds like the fox guarding the hen house.

So, as far as a few down here spreading "misinformation", that's up to the people.

And as for this professor, he needs to get out of his controlled environment and seek the truth.

When the truth is there, people don't want to hear or see it.

I guess it would be hard to see with dollars in your face.

And as for those people along the gulf coast, just remember accidents do happen.

Timothy F. Stuart
Chatham, VA

http://www.wpcva.com/articles/2010/05/26/chatham/opinion/opinion01.txt#blogcomments