March 11, 2012
Cathie J. France
Deputy Director, Department of Mines, Minerals, and Energy
Richmond, VA
Dear Ms. France:
Governor McDonnell has charged the recently appointed Uranium Working Group with answering technical questions not addressed by the National Academy of Sciences report, doing site-specific research, and developing regulations to govern the mining of uranium in Virginia. Robert Bodnar, Professor of Geosciences at Virginia Tech at first glance would seem an appropriate expert to inform the Working Group since he has directed research on the Cole’s Hill uranium deposit in Chatham since 2008. But therein lies the rub.
Both Virginia Tech and Dr. Bodnar’s Department of Geosciences at the university have profited from contracts with VUI and stand to gain even more if Virginia allows uranium mining. Dr. Bodnar is an outspoken advocate of uranium mining, using his standing as a scientist and his affiliation with Virginia Tech to influence public opinion to lift the moratorium.
Virginia Tech’s financial relationship with VUI and Dr. Bodnar’s public advocacy for uranium mining in Virginia create an appearance of bias that could seriously undermine the public’s confidence in research and other work done by the university related to uranium mining in Virginia. For that reason, Virginia Tech and its faculty should be disqualified from participating in Uranium Working Group contracts and, further, the Uranium Working Group should not rely on information submitted by VUI without verification from an independent research group. If the Working Group does not have the resources to accomplish its task in a transparent fashion using independent experts, then its findings and recommendations will be seen as a rubber stamp of the uranium mining lobby and a waste of taxpayer money.
VUI paid Va Tech at least $437,000 and possibly more than $700,000 in research grants to Dr. Bodnar’s Geosciences Department between 2008 and 2011. VUI also paid Va Tech $300,000 to serve as a conduit for a $1.4 million NAS study that VUI financed. All told, VUI has paid Virginia Tech at least $737,000 and possibly more than $1,000,000. VUI in addition paid for Dr. Bodnar to organize in November 2011 a “Workshop on Public Health and Safety of Uranium Mining and Milling and Nuclear Energy Production.” Experts with serious reservations about uranium mining were not invited.
Dr. Bodnar is an outspoken public advocate of uranium mining in the state. He has repeatedly stated that he believes “[there] are many reasons to support the mining of uranium in Virginia…” (Richmond Times Dispatch, January 18, 2012). On July 14, 2010, he wrote in the Altavista Journal, “Lifting the moratorium on uranium mining will encourage mining companies to explore for uranium in Virginia, and this could lead to Virginia becoming the “….Saudi Arabia of nuclear fuel….” He has dismissed those who have expressed concerns about uranium mining in Virginia of NIMBY—Not In My Back Yard. And Dr. Bodnar is listed as co-author with VUI of a power point presentation used by VUI representatives to promote uranium mining.
Scientific analysis must be conducted in a neutral environment using a methodology that neither prejudges nor influences the outcome. It is hard to imagine that a university with a financial stake in the outcome that is doing business with the uranium company at issue could be an impartial contractor. Hiring a scientist such as Dr. Bodnar who already has articulated a desired outcome raises the likelihood that his personal bias might taint, even unintentionally, the structuring and conduct of his investigation, the questions he asks, the data he evaluates, and the interpretation of that data.
Given the magnitude of the decision that the legislature and the Governor will have to make, it is essential that there be no conflict of interest - real or perceived - that might call into question the outcome that Virginians will live with for thousands of years.
The Uranium Working Group should engage explicitly and completely independent researchers to lead the inquiry as mandated by the Governor’s directive. Many do not believe that Virginia Tech and its faculty meet that standard.
Sincerely,
Corbin Harwood, MD
Halifax County native and property owner
Cathie J. France
Deputy Director, Department of Mines, Minerals, and Energy
Richmond, VA
Dear Ms. France:
Governor McDonnell has charged the recently appointed Uranium Working Group with answering technical questions not addressed by the National Academy of Sciences report, doing site-specific research, and developing regulations to govern the mining of uranium in Virginia. Robert Bodnar, Professor of Geosciences at Virginia Tech at first glance would seem an appropriate expert to inform the Working Group since he has directed research on the Cole’s Hill uranium deposit in Chatham since 2008. But therein lies the rub.
Both Virginia Tech and Dr. Bodnar’s Department of Geosciences at the university have profited from contracts with VUI and stand to gain even more if Virginia allows uranium mining. Dr. Bodnar is an outspoken advocate of uranium mining, using his standing as a scientist and his affiliation with Virginia Tech to influence public opinion to lift the moratorium.
Virginia Tech’s financial relationship with VUI and Dr. Bodnar’s public advocacy for uranium mining in Virginia create an appearance of bias that could seriously undermine the public’s confidence in research and other work done by the university related to uranium mining in Virginia. For that reason, Virginia Tech and its faculty should be disqualified from participating in Uranium Working Group contracts and, further, the Uranium Working Group should not rely on information submitted by VUI without verification from an independent research group. If the Working Group does not have the resources to accomplish its task in a transparent fashion using independent experts, then its findings and recommendations will be seen as a rubber stamp of the uranium mining lobby and a waste of taxpayer money.
VUI paid Va Tech at least $437,000 and possibly more than $700,000 in research grants to Dr. Bodnar’s Geosciences Department between 2008 and 2011. VUI also paid Va Tech $300,000 to serve as a conduit for a $1.4 million NAS study that VUI financed. All told, VUI has paid Virginia Tech at least $737,000 and possibly more than $1,000,000. VUI in addition paid for Dr. Bodnar to organize in November 2011 a “Workshop on Public Health and Safety of Uranium Mining and Milling and Nuclear Energy Production.” Experts with serious reservations about uranium mining were not invited.
Dr. Bodnar is an outspoken public advocate of uranium mining in the state. He has repeatedly stated that he believes “[there] are many reasons to support the mining of uranium in Virginia…” (Richmond Times Dispatch, January 18, 2012). On July 14, 2010, he wrote in the Altavista Journal, “Lifting the moratorium on uranium mining will encourage mining companies to explore for uranium in Virginia, and this could lead to Virginia becoming the “….Saudi Arabia of nuclear fuel….” He has dismissed those who have expressed concerns about uranium mining in Virginia of NIMBY—Not In My Back Yard. And Dr. Bodnar is listed as co-author with VUI of a power point presentation used by VUI representatives to promote uranium mining.
Scientific analysis must be conducted in a neutral environment using a methodology that neither prejudges nor influences the outcome. It is hard to imagine that a university with a financial stake in the outcome that is doing business with the uranium company at issue could be an impartial contractor. Hiring a scientist such as Dr. Bodnar who already has articulated a desired outcome raises the likelihood that his personal bias might taint, even unintentionally, the structuring and conduct of his investigation, the questions he asks, the data he evaluates, and the interpretation of that data.
Given the magnitude of the decision that the legislature and the Governor will have to make, it is essential that there be no conflict of interest - real or perceived - that might call into question the outcome that Virginians will live with for thousands of years.
The Uranium Working Group should engage explicitly and completely independent researchers to lead the inquiry as mandated by the Governor’s directive. Many do not believe that Virginia Tech and its faculty meet that standard.
Sincerely,
Corbin Harwood, MD
Halifax County native and property owner
