Uranium forum airs concerns in Roanoke
ROANOKE, Va.—
As Virginians try to educate themselves on
the promise and the peril of uranium mining, a conference in Roanoke aired many
of the concerns Friday.
A state panel is studying the prospect of
lifting the moratorium on uranium mining, and allowing the development of a
large deposit in
Pittsylvania county. State lawmakers expect to take up the issue in January.
The forum at Virginia Western Community College was organized by opponents of uranium mining and it included speakers who believe the risks outweigh the benefits, but supporters were also there, including one speaker who believes it is possible to mine uranium with an acceptable level of risk.
The forum at Virginia Western Community College was organized by opponents of uranium mining and it included speakers who believe the risks outweigh the benefits, but supporters were also there, including one speaker who believes it is possible to mine uranium with an acceptable level of risk.
Peter deFur is a biologist. "My personal, professional opinion is the risks of
uranium mining in Virginia are insurmountable," deFur said. "We have threats to
our wildlife, to our ecological systems, to our river systems and human health."
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Uranium study discussed at Roanoke symposium
A symposium focused on the policy implications of the National Academy of Sciences report.
Map
The Roanoke Times
Click the image to see a map of uranium deposits in Virginia.
On Friday, a member of the study committee expressed his own views about mining the radioactive metal.
"I don't see how we can do it," said Peter DeFur, a research associate professor at Virginia Commonwealth University.
"I hope we don't."
DeFur made his comments during a symposium on uranium mining at Virginia Western Community College.
As part of a 14-member committee that spent nearly two years researching the topic, DeFur stressed that he was speaking for himself and not the National Academy of Sciences. He said he became free to do that only after June1, when the committee ended its service.
Uranium mining has been a hot topic in Virginia ever since a mining company announced plans three years ago to tap a huge deposit that lies below rolling cow pastures in Pittsylvania County.
Concerns about the safety of uranium mining prompted the Virginia General Assembly to impose the moratorium 30 years ago.
With lawmakers expected to revisit the issue at next winter's session, the academy study is expected to play a key role in the debate.
In its report, the academy said Virginia would face "steep hurdles" in protecting the health of its people and environment if the moratorium was lifted.
But the report made no up or down recommendation to the General Assembly.
At Friday's symposium, which included speakers on both sides of the issue, DeFur made his first public comments on the issue.
His concerns, he said, are based in part on recent natural disasters in Virginia — an earthquake, tornadoes, a derecho — and how they might disturb huge amounts of radioactive waste that would be left behind at the mining operation for decades.
"What's next?" DeFur said of the severe weather events that seem to be happening with greater frequency.
"What will this mean for our children? I don't know. I don't think any of our experts know."
Reached by email Friday, Locke declined to say whether he thinks the moratorium should be lifted.
Bodnar, who has studied the Pittsylvania County site in detail, said uranium can be mined with "minimal and acceptable risk to the environment and to human health."
The academy report found 55 other sites in Virginia where uranium exists in higher-than-normal concentrations. One is on the southern edge of Roanoke; another straddles the Roanoke County-Craig County line.
http://m.roanoke.com/mapp/story.aspx?arcID=312130
Member of NAS uranium panel says he's opposed to mining in Virginia
|
ROANOKE, Va. — A member of the National Academy of Sciences panel that reviewed the statewide impacts of uranium mining says he's opposed to mining the radioactive ore in Virginia. The Roanoke Times (http://bit.ly/LVJ3gF) reports that Peter DeFur made his feelings known Friday during a symposium on uranium http://www2.wsls.com/news/2012/jul/27/member-of-nas-uranium-panel-opposes-mining-ar-2090137/ Virginia uranium mining debate continues By: | WSLS 10 Published: July 27, 2012 ROANOKE, VA -- The debate over uranium mining in Virginia continues. Area leaders, professors and environmental groups gathered for a day-long conference on the issue at Virginia Western Community College Friday. Most agree we need uranium but have mixed opinions about if mining should happen in Southside Virginia. “There's not enough of it and the dangers of the world's supply and the danger to the community and to the state, I don't think it's worth it” says Cabell Brand, founder of the Cabell Brand Center. “I'm concerned that any leakage of any radioactivity into the air, the water, the soil with have adverse consequences. Not only on human health but the water supplies, well life, the agriculture in Pittsylvania County if it gets into the milk and the dairy cows, or into the food supply. Of the course the chances of this happening are not very great, but any chances like that are probably more than we should accept” says former Roanoke City councilman Rupert Cutler. http://www2.godanriver.com/news/2012/jul/27/virginia-uranium-mining-debate-continues-ar-2090004/ |
