By Eva Cassada
SoVaNow.com / June 20, 2011
Local legislators say they will not be among those flying to France this week courtesy of Virginia Uranium Inc. More than a dozen legislators are taking the five-day trip, costing an estimated $10,000 per person, to see a reclaimed uranium mine in France and spend three work-free days in Paris.
Del. James Edmunds of Halifax said he was “absolutely not” packing his bags.
State Sen. Frank Ruff of Clarksville said he wouldn’t want to waste Virginia Uranium’s money.
“I can imagine a trip, a free trip, would be very exciting under the guise of looking at a uranium mine,” said Edmunds, but he suspects it carries the expectation of “look my way” when it comes time for lawmakers to decide whether the company may mine uranium in Pittsylvania County.
“The reality of it is it’s a trip to France,” said Edmunds, a first-term delegate. “What does it sound like to you? A business trip?”
He said it’s insulting to constituents to assume a legislator could be objective about the issues when he returned.
Ruff, who opposes the mine, said that if he went he’d be wasting Virginia Uranium’s money “and I think that’s ethically wrong.” If he changed his position, “I’d look like I got paid off.
“I’ve seen nothing, and I don’t expect to see anything, to change my position,” said Ruff, calling the invitation “a no-win situation for them and me.”
Other Southside legislators, including Del. Danny Marshall of Danville, Del. Don Merricks of Pittsylvania County, State Sen. Roscoe Reynolds of Martinsville and Del. Charles Poindexter and State Sen. Bill Stanley, both of Franklin County, told the Danville Register & Bee they will not go, either.
But among those making the trip is state Sen. Louise Lucas, a Portsmouth Democrat who formerly represented Halifax County and parts of Mecklenburg County during a previous district configuration.
The free trip marks the second time that Virginia Uranium has taken legislators to France in an attempt to persuade the General Assembly to overturn a ban on mining uranium in Virginia. The trips are legal as long as legislators report them.
According to The Post, already in France are Lucas; state Sen. Mamie E. Locke, Democrat of Hampton; Dels. William R. Janis, Republican of Goochland; John A. Cosgrove, Republican of Chesapeake; and Mamye E. BaCote, Democrat of Newport News. Headed to France on Tuesday are Dels. David L. Englin, Democrat of Alexandria; Barry D. Knight, Republican of Virginia Beach; L. Scott Lingamfelter, Republican of Prince William; James P. Massie III, Republican of Henrico; Kenneth R. Plum, Democrat of Fairfax; Lionell Spruill Sr., Democrat of Chesapeake and Roslyn Tyler, Democrat of Greensville.
Opponents say uranium mining in a damp climate is dangerous to people and the environment.
Read more:
http://www.sovanow.com/index.php?/news/article/edmunds_ruff_pass_on_vui_trip_to_france/
