Wednesday, February 23, 2011 1:14 PM EST
To the editor,
Caleb Tomlin, an Areva engineer in Lynchburg, has been speaking out against those who are in opposition to a proposed uranium mine and mill at Coles Hill in Pittsylvania County.
The title of his letter was "Science, not hysteria, must prevail." He claims he wants to clear the air, but like many a political pundit, he, too, is putting up a smoke screen, or he doesn't know relevant history.
He clouds the air by using the clinical term "hysteria," a diagnostic clinical term used by licensed psychiatrists and psychologists, not engineers.
We who oppose removing the moratorium on uranium mining and milling are well aware of its disastrous history, as well as the advances made in its technology over the past 50 years. Yes, governmental safety regulations of the mining industry have somewhat improved.
Let's clear the air! We are hearing the big talk about cutting the size of government. Robert Hurt, congressman of the 5th District, when recently running for office, said that he would cut the size of government by doing away with the EPA, the Environmental Protection Agency. This demands a rebuttal from environmentalists.
Tomlin gave a list of the regulatory agencies, some of which oversee the safety of nuclear power plants and uranium mining and milling. He must be well aware of the efforts in the past to end those environmental controls, spearheaded by Colorado brewer Joseph Coors and carried out by the Bush administration.
Coors founded the Mountain States Legal Foundation to challenge environmental laws. He also was a founder of the right-wing Heritage Foundation, and today the Koch brothers, oil barons in Texas, are key supporters of the foundation, which provides the philosophical underpinnings of the anti-environmental movement. They have repeatedly pushed for small government in order to reduce environmental oversight, and continue to do so.
Tomlin would like for us to be compliant, i.e., brainwashed, while we wait for the independent studies. Meanwhile, they, as well as corporations, politicians and lobbyists are working hard behind the scenes for the removal of the Commonwealth of Virginia's 1983 statewide moratorium on uranium mining and milling.
Next, he would take us blindly down the future road to "possible" thousands of years of contamination of our air, land and water. This would not only affect Pittsylvania County, but the Dan, Roanoke and Banister rivers and their basins, Lake Gaston, the Halifax and Kerr reservoirs and on down to Virginia Beach and North Carolina.
As responsible citizens, we know our own history and we have studied our environment. We can see our responsibility. This is the American way. We see their indifference through name calling as a cover for their own personal gain or just plain shortsightedness.
We also see their misuse of the scientific study with its "sound modern laboratory science." The National Academy of Science is gathering empirical evidence to study the possibility of safe uranium mining, while Virginia Uranium Inc. is working behind the scenes in Richmond with heavy lobbying at the General Assembly before the study is concluded.
We see their use of the study, which VUI funded through Virginia Tech, as a smoke screen to hide their intended goal of political action before the study is completed. We further see their misuse of the federal government to do their scientific study, which when completed in December 2011, will not make recommendations, but just submit their findings. As NAS has stated, it will be up to the politicians to make the decision on the moratorium. This will coincide with the previous mentioned efforts of the Heritage Foundation to do away with oversight of the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act and the EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, to profit their owners and shareholders.
By the way, VUI has indicated to their investors that they will have a bill in the General Assembly in January 2012. So, we see the real reason for their very intensive lobbying of the General Assembly while the NAS study is being carried out.
As citizens, we would ask for a year for the General Assembly to study the findings of the NAS and other studies being done, as well as providing multiple opportunities for citizen input throughout the commonwealth.
It's time we clear the air!
Bob Martin
Chatham, VA
http://www.wpcva.com/articles/2011/02/24/altavista/opinion/opinion01.txt
