The questions about uranium mining

Comment:  Uranium mining does ruin water all over the world!  Plus uranium mining will take place all over VA, we have hurricanes!

Published on HamptonRoads.com

PilotOnline.com (http://hamptonroads.com/)

A proposed uranium mine upstream from Lake Gaston from Virginia Beach's study on drinking water safety is needed.

But the computer modeling assessment is steeped in science, not fear.

Preliminary data is starting to trickle in and, by later this fall, city officials will have a better understanding of what to expect if a catastrophic storm were to wash contaminated waste from the mine into streams that feed the lake.

 Lake Gaston is a key public water source for the Beach, and that water mingles with water for Norfolk and Chesapeake in local reservoirs.




The timing of the city's effort is important.

A broader study by the National Academy of Sciences will get rolling next month, but it won't provide the detail about drinking water found in the Beach analysis.

By gathering the data up front, city officials will have a better chance to get answers to their questions. Who is responsible for protecting city residents dependent on Lake Gaston for drinking water? What rights do they have if something goes wrong? The answers are murky.

If Virginia Uranium Inc. wins permission to mine an estimated 119 million pounds of ore in Pittsylvania County, the company will be subjected to volumes of environmental requirements. But the regulatory system is so complex and convoluted that accountability is hard to pin down, according to a recent analysis by the Southern Environmental Law Center.

State and federal agencies oversee mining operations and environmental impacts.

Drinking water comes with its own set of rules.

If contamination occurs, federal agencies would be involved in a cleanup, but the owner of the affected water system faces liability. Modern technology exists to remove contaminants but at a steep cost.

A lawsuit might be required to extract financial damages from the polluter. If contamination occurs after the mine had been shuttered, liability would be further clouded.

Right now, tests show radiation contaminants at just 3 percent of the legal limit. What if a catastrophic storm boosted contamination to 30 percent? What about 50 percent?

"Most people on the drinking end of that aren't going to be too happy, but the industry could sit back and say 'We're not going to do anything,'" said Tom Leahy, the city's director of public utilities.

The U.S. government considers 30 micrograms of uranium per liter of water safe to drink, while the World Health Organization recommends no more than 2 micrograms.

Beach leaders are right to get an early start replacing those anxieties with the best available facts. It's their responsibility to protect their constituents' safety as well as their pocketbooks.

Read more: http://hamptonroads.com/2010/09/questions-about-uranium