By Tara Bozick
Published: May 12, 2011
Support is growing across the state for keeping the current moratorium on uranium mining, according to the Keep the Ban Coalition.
The coalition announced in a teleconference Thursday morning that 41 localities and organizations are joining the movement to urge state legislators to resist lifting the ban on uranium mining that has been in place since 1982. Members and environmentalists anticipate the that the issue could come up in next year’s legislative session after various studies, including a National Academy of Sciences study on uranium mining in Virginia, are due to be completed in December.
Additionally, the coalition kicked off its statewide keep-the-ban petition drive, after already collecting 1,000 signatures.
“Mining proponents think this issue will be won behind closed doors in Richmond, but the people of Virginia are demanding it be debated in town halls and on front porches,” said Mary Rafferty, grassroots organizing manager for the Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club.
The uranium industry is already lobbying legislators to lift the ban, said Cale Jaffe, senior attorney for Southern Environmental Law Center. Virginia Uranium Inc., which proposes to mine a 119-million-pound uranium deposit at Coles Hill in Pittsylvania County, told investors it expects a bill in January 2012.
Yet, the issue affects more than just Pittsylvania County as uranium could be discovered elsewhere in the state and East Coast, Jaffe said. The uranium industry had secured leases in Culpeper, Fauquier, Floyd, Henry, Madison, Orange and Patrick counties in the past.
Given the statewide impact, state leaders and the public should have more than just a few weeks to review study results, Jaffe said.
“There are just too many questions and potential risks of radioactive and toxic materials contaminating our streams, rivers and drinking water,” said Naomi Hodge-Muse, leader of the Sierra Club Keep the Ban team in Martinsville in a statement. “With all the storms and hurricanes we get, this is the worst possible place you could put a uranium operation.”
Local legislators agreed that more time would be needed to digest the information from the NAS study, two socioeconomic studies and the continuing Virginia Beach water supply impact study.
Delegate Danny Marshall, R-Danville, said if legislation is introduced, it shouldn’t be introduced until 2013 to give both the General Assembly and citizens time to digest the study information, especially as many residents outside Pittsylvania County might not have been following the issue.
“It’s an important issue so we want to make sure we get the feedback from our citizens,” said Marshall, who is against lifting the moratorium.
Delegate Don Merricks, R-Pittsylvania, agreed, saying introducing a bill in 2012 is a “tad hasty.”
Merricks would like everyone to make informed decisions rather than assumptions. He said he is against lifting the moratorium until “somebody proves to me without a shadow of a doubt that mining can be done safely without adverse effects to the environment, to the health and safety of our citizens and to our economy.”
Both Merricks and Marshall encourage constituents to call, email and write them with their comments. They both want the public to have time for input after the studies.
“This is a big deal. It can make you or break you for years to come,” Merricks said. “With something of that magnitude, you don’t need to jump in there and be in a hurry about it.”
Read more:
http://www2.godanriver.com/news/2011/may/12/coalition-kicks-statewide-petition-against-uranium-ar-1035713/
