NAS Virginia Uranium Mining Study Series of Articles
National Academy of Sciences meeting spurs further debate over uranium
• February 10th, 2011 9:39 am ET
• By Daniel Carawan, Richmond Progressive Examiner
A meeting was held on Monday at the Richmond Marriott that brought together a National Academy of Sciences panel of scientists, mining experts, and environmental officials to discuss the moratorium on uranium mining that has existed in Virginia since 1982.
Those who were opposed to lifting the uranium moratorium claimed that the statements by department heads of regulatory bodies in Virginia made it apparent that the state does not have adequate resources to supervise the mining of the biggest uranium deposit in America.
The meeting was an all-day session, the second of its kind.
The findings of the National Academy of Sciences panel are expected to be completed in December on the socioeconomic consequences of lifting the uranium mining ban in Virginia. The committee will not, however, be making any recommendations.
Perhaps needless to say, if there is not enough personnel to supervise uranium mining operations, undue risks to the uranium miners and the surrounding communities far exceeds the potential benefits.
Virginia should be looking for renewable, cleaner, and safer sources of energy like solar, geothermal, and wind, not at another nonrenewable and potentially hazardous form of energy.
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Virginia Debates Opening Largest Uranium Mine East of Mississippi
Panel Weighs Lifting Ban on Uranium Mining in Virginia
by Scott Harper
VIRGINIA - The National Academy of Sciences on Monday took up the controversial issue of possible uranium mining in Virginia, with experts testifying for hours and environmentalists protesting what they say is a dangerous business idea.
The all-day hearing came less than a week after the city of Virginia Beach released a study showing that the proposed mine, some 200 miles away in Pittsylvania County, would pose risks to drinking water piped from Lake Gaston to more than 1 million residents of Hampton Roads.
"The threat to downstream communities like Virginia Beach is real," said Cale Jaffe, a senior attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center, based in Charlottesville.
Jaffe was among a crowd of environmentalists who trekked to Richmond to urge the National Academy of Sciences to recommend that state lawmakers keep in place a ban on uranium mining first imposed in 1982.
A company, Virginia Uranium Inc., wants the ban lifted so it can extract and process the radioactive resource buried beneath a historic farm, Coles Hill, outside the town of Chatham.
If developed, Coles Hill would be one of only a few uranium mines ever tried east of the Mississippi River; most U.S. mines are found in arid, western states.
Critics say Virginia's climate is too wet and could lead to flooding that might contaminate the nearby Roanoke River system, which includes Lake Gaston, with uranium wastes called tailings.
Tom Leahy, utilities director for Virginia Beach, testified Monday that most of the tailings would not make it to Lake Gaston. But as much as 20 percent would travel to Kerr Reservoir, where the toxic wastes could threaten water supplies for Norfolk, Virginia Beach and parts of Chesapeake.
"I don't think you'd find a better place in the United States for tailings to move downstream," Leahy told the panel.
Meetings are next planned in Colorado and Canada before wrapping up in California.
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/02/08-3
Uranium mining meeting held
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS -
RICHMOND — A National Academy of Sciences committee pressed Virginia mining and environmental officials Monday on the state’s ability to regulate uranium mining if a 1982 state ban is lifted.
Opponents said the statements of the department heads made it clear the state doesn’t have the resources to oversee the mining of the largest uranium deposit in the United States.
The meeting was the second all-day session held in Virginia by the panel of scientists, mining experts and environmental officials. Members are expected to complete their findings in December on the consequences of Virginia ending its ban on uranium mining. The committee will not make a recommendation.
Environmentalists and some local residents have opposed tapping the Pittsylvania County deposit because they are fearful the mining and milling will foul the air, rivers, streams and reservoirs with radioactive tailings scattered by torrential rains or hurricanes. Uranium mining in the U.S. has taken place in drier, western climates, and this would be the first on the East Coast.
Virginia Uranium, which estimates the ore’s value at $8 billion to $10 billion.
The directors of three state agencies outlined how various aspects of uranium mining would be overseen by their agencies, with the director of the state’s largest environmental agency making it clear budget cuts already have stretched his staff.
“In the context of resources, we set priorities,” said David K. Paylor, director of the state Department of Environmental Quality, which has 800 employees. “The things of the highest importance continue to get done.”
The directors of the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy and the Department of Conservation and Recreation also spoke before the committee. They at times struggled to explain to the committee how the state bureaucracies would regulate uranium mining.
Before that happens, however, the General Assembly will have to lift the decades-old ban.
Opponents of uranium mining said the statements did not leave them encouraged the state is up to the task.
“We don’t have the financial resources to put the kind of robust regulatory program in place you would need,” said Cale Jaffe, a staff attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center.
A man who once held Paylor’s job agreed with that assessment. “I didn’t hear anything that was very comforting, other than we’ll make cuts someplace else,” said Robert Burnley, a former director of the state DEQ who now works as a consultant with the SELC. “Something’s going to be cut.”
The committee also accepted a study from Virginia Beach that concluded the water supply of the state’s largest city could be threatened if a historic storm lashed the area where the mining would occur.
The National Academy study is one of at least several looking at uranium mining. A legislative committee has approved $200,000 for a socio-economic study, and local studies are also planned or under way.
http://www.martinsvillebulletin.com/article.cfm?ID=27249
Speakers at NAS Meeting discussed uranium mining in Va.
By REX SPRINGSTON
Published: February 08, 2011
Concern citizens of VA are worried about a proposed uranium mine in Southside Virginia say it would cause water pollution that cash-short regulators would be hard-pressed to address.
Supporters said the mining would be done safely while providing hundreds of jobs.
Speakers expressed the diverging views Monday during a Richmond meeting of a panel studying the safety of uranium mining in Virginia. State officials requested the study because Virginia Uranium Inc. wants to mine and mill uranium in Pittsylvania County.
Some fear that radioactive waste could get into streams and hurt economic development.
"There is no win in this. Pandora's box needs to stay closed," said Naomi Hodge-Muse, president of the Martinsville-Henry County Voters League and the Martinsville NAACP.
Uranium is a radioactive fuel for nuclear-power plants. Virginia has banned its mining since 1982, but Virginia Uranium wants the ban lifted. The study should be finished by the end of this year. The General Assembly could reconsider the mining ban in 2012.
Concerned citizens include Virginia Beach, which fears that a storm could wash radioactive waste into streams leading to Beach drinking waters.
Robert Burnley, a former director of the state Department of Environmental Quality, said state oversight "won't be as strong as it should be because of budgetary restraints." He is a consultant for the Southern Environmental Law Center, which opposes the mine.
DEQ Director David Paylor said, despite limited resources, "the things of the highest importance continue to get done."
The National Academy of Sciences is doing the study. Virginia Uranium says about 119 million pounds of uranium ore, worth $8 billion, lies underground at Pittsylvania.
http://www2.nelsoncountytimes.com/news/2011/feb/08/tdmet01-speakers-voice-support-opposition-for-uran-ar-826997/
