Uranium mining debate persists
Wednesday, February, 8, 2012; 9:59 PM
by Josh Higgins, news reporter
Gov. Bob McDonnell issued a directive last month establishing a plan to draft preliminary regulations on uranium mining and exacerbating the debate over the issues behind mining.
On Jan. 19, McDonnell asked staff from the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy, the Department of Environmental Quality and the Department of Health to create a working group to provide a scientific analysis of mining policy.
The purpose of this group is to “help the General Assembly assess whether the moratorium on uranium mining in the commonwealth should be lifted, and if so, how best to do so.”
The issues surrounding uranium mining have caused contention for years, with pro-mining advocates saying it is an economic opportunity, while environmentalists articulate concerns over the impact of mining on public health and the environment. Virginia’s moratorium, or temporary ban, on uranium mining has been in effect for nearly 30 years, after the first plans to mine the Coles Hill uranium deposit in Pittsylvania County, Va., started in the 1980s.
Article V, Section 8 of the Virginia Constitution permits the governor to obtain information from any executive or administrative department about anything pertaining to their work, and therefore, allows the governor to issue this directive. However, Andrew Lester, the executive director of the Roanoke River Basin Association, believes McDonnell has overstepped his power.
Lester said the plan does not give the public ample time to review the information about mining to make decisions and eats state money.
“We’re closing schools here in Pittsylvania County and Danville because of the lack of funding for schools,” he said. “Yet we’re closing schools because of low funding, and (the governor is) going to spend money on creating regulations?”
But the regulation is a step toward learning more about the effective uranium mining, Wales said.
“We will make ourselves available with our professional staff, our site and any information we have to this working group, so they can have the best information available to them to make the best decision on these draft regulations” Wales said.
Lester said no matter what regulations are created, there is no foolproof way to eliminate the risks of mining.
“They can be mitigated, but not eliminated,” Lester said. “The question I have is what does the word ‘mitigate’ mean? Does it mean that they can cut 75 percent of the impact? What does ‘mitigate’ mean? It’s like saying you’re a little bit pregnant.”
http://www.collegiatetimes.com/stories/19211/uranium-mining-debate-persists
Uranium Q&A: Best practices and worst-case scenarios
SoVaNow.com / February 08, 2012
Halifax opponents of the Coles Hill uranium mine were out in force Tuesday night in Danville, where five of the scientists and staff responsible for the National Academy of Sciences uranium study took questions from a crowd of about 200.Largely praised for their heavyweight report – which took many opponents by pleasant surprise with its skeptical undertone – the panel nevertheless repeatedly deflected questions with the response that their study wasn’t site-specific.
Speaker after speaker posed questions about best practices and worst-case scenarios: earthquakes, radiation exposure, worker safety, foreign influences, wildlife and who would pay the clean-up bill if anything disastrous happened.
As often as not, the refrain was similar: “I know we sound like a broken record in saying that,” said Paul Locke, the panel’s chairman and a professor at Johns Hopkins University.
Jack Dunavant of Halifax, leader of We the People, an unapologetically environmentalist group, wanted to know who would be responsible if a clean-up were warranted?
Answer: There are “very strict financial security requirements" on the company, plus the “complete life cycle” of the mine would be addressed in planning and regulating it.
Dunavant pressed on: But the tailings have to be contained for 80,000 years. “They’re gonna be responsible for 80,000 years?” he asked.
Locke deadpanned: “I won’t be here to tell you.”
Equally pointed was Dunavant’s daughter, Sarah Epps, also of Halifax.
She wanted an answer for her two teenage sons back home: Could mining be done safely here?
Again, the panel demurred.
http://www.sovanow.com/index.php?%2Fnews%2Farticle%2Furanium_qa_best_practices_and
Questions flow at Danville uranium meeting
By: | GoDanRiver.com
Published: February 07, 2012
Uranium mining and milling and its risks continue to leave residents asking questions about what would happen if Virginia Uranium Inc. develops the Coles Hill site.
About 200 people packed the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research on Tuesday night to hear the findings in the National Academy of Sciences’ report on uranium mining in Virginia and to ask questions of study panel members and staff.
Repeatedly, study committee chairman Paul Locke told residents many of their specific questions regarding impacts of the proposed Pittsylvania County project would need to be answered by a site-specific study.
“Nothing is as important as a site-specific study,” said John Cannon, chairman of the Halifax County Industrial Development Authority and president of The Virginia Coalition.
Cannon said he’ll take the questions raised at the meeting to legislators and a state workgroup that would be studying the issue and drafting a regulatory framework as requested by Gov. Bob McDonnell last month. The Virginia Coalition hired a lobbying firm and plans, as possible, to attend every public meeting of the workgroup to ensure questions are answered even after the NAS study committee disbands after hosting public meetings on its report, he added.
Cannon asked the NAS panel to host meetings in the Hampton Roads area as well.
Sarah Epps of Halifax asked if based on the NAS report, could she tell her two teenaged boys whether uranium mining can be done safely, as they live downstream of the proposed site on the Banister River. She added the report seems to say there is no guarantee of that.
http://www2.godanriver.com/news/2012/feb/07/questions-flow-danville-uranium-meeting-ar-1672034/
More questions than answers at Uranium Mining hearing:
(Danville, Va.) -- About three-dozen uranium mining opponents Tuesday night addressed a panel that released a major study on the issue back in December. Study Chairman Doctor Paul Locke with the National Academy of Sciences says their report did NOT focus specifically on the Coles Hill site in Pittsylvania County---nor did it explore whether a mine would be profitable. And he says nothing would happen overnight. He estimates a 5-to-8-year long process. The N.A.S report made no recommendations on whether Uranium Mining could be done safely, but indicted the state would have to overcome "steep hurdles" to make it viable. Governor Bob McDonnell is asking the state begin drawing up regulations for uranium mining before lawmakers consider lifting the moratorium.
http://www.wakg.com/AKG-News/7835718
