Comment: Keep the Uranium Mining!
17 June 2011 | 11:59 AM
A legislative battle over whether to lift a nearly three decade ban on uranium mining in Virginia looms large even though the next regular session of the General Assembly is months away.
One reminder of that reality came this week when the Virginia League of Conservation Voters' political action committee Wednesday sent a blast e-mail urging recipients to join their campaign in support of keeping the ban.
That same day, Virginia Beach Republican Sen. Frank Wagner returned from a Canadian exploratory trip to observe mining operations with the National Academy of Sciences, which is compiling a report on the issue expected to be completed in December.
As he was arriving back in the states, several other legislators were departing for a trip to France to visit a decommissioned mine and see how it's been integrated into the surrounding environs.
Their travel is sponsored by Virginia Uranium Inc., a firm that controls a 3,500 acre tract in Pittsylvania County with an estimated 119 million pounds of uranium and wants state clearance to mine the substance.
That deposit -- it's located on the Coles Hill family farm near the town of Chatham -- is believed to be one of the largest in the world and the company wants the moratorium nixed so it can harvest and process the radioactive resource that could provide years of fuel for nuclear power plants.
But environmental groups worry about potential contamination of drinking water, ecological harms and adverse affects on human health.
It's also a concern for Virginia Beach, which commissioned its own study of how a mining disaster would affect the city's water supply from Lake Gaston. Study results suggest that significant flooding near the proposed mine could cause contamination.
(The Washington Post reported Friday that several locals legislators are among those making the overseas journey: Sens. Mamie Locke, D-Hampton; and Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth; and Dels. Mayme BaCote, D-Newport News; John Cosgrove, R-Chesapeake; Barry Knight, R-Virginia Beach; and Lionell Spruill Sr., D-Chesapeake.)
Last year, Wagner and two other lawmakers -- Sen. John Watkins, R-Powhatan County; and Del. Onzlee Ware, D-Roanoke -- took the trip.
The uranium debate has the potential to be a divisive election year issue.
Virginia Uranium Inc. has given more than $55,000 to Republicans and Democrats since 2008, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.
Lisa Guthrie of the League of Conservation Voters said preserving the ban is a "top priority," noting her group will support candidates who oppose lifting it.
Read more:
http://hamptonroads.com/2011/06/uranium-mining-showdown-horizon
