Uranium Work Group VA Beach Meeting
Virginia Beach Convention Center, 1000 19th Street, Virginia Beach, VA 23451
Virginia Beach Convention Center, 1000 19th Street, Virginia Beach, VA 23451
By Eileen Levandoski on Aug 15, 2012
Studies by the National Academy of Sciences and the City of Virginia Beach have raised serious concerns about the safety of mining uranium in such a wet climate up river from more than one million people in Hampton Roads. These studies are done, and they have each told us that uranium mining and milling in Virginia is a very bad idea.
Sadly, that did not keep Governor McDonnell from riding to the rescue of Virginia Uranium, Inc. His Uranium Mining Work Group (or should we say “Workaround Group”) is attempting an end run around the legislative process. That Work Group has been widely criticized for its lack of transparency and for the short time line established to develop regulations. We don’t need regulations if we don’t lift the ban so why is the McDonnell Administration drafting them?
Please attend the next Workaround meeting!
When: August 28, 2012 – 6 pm
Where: Virginia Beach Convention Center (1000 19th Street Virginia Beach, VA 23451)
Click here to RSVP.: http://action.sierraclub.org/site/Calendar?id=165641&view=Detail
When: August 28, 2012 – 6 pm
Where: Virginia Beach Convention Center (1000 19th Street Virginia Beach, VA 23451)
Click here to RSVP.: http://action.sierraclub.org/site/Calendar?id=165641&view=Detail
Uranium mining is the number one environmental issue in Virginia despite the consensus amongst the scientific community that this is bad idea. Big money is contaminating the political process. Last year, Virginia Uranium, Inc. was flying legislators to Paris (France, not Paris, Virginia) – perfectly legal under Virginia law. Despite the overwhelming opposition to mining, Governor McDonnell intervened to set up a process biased in favor of approving mining. The lack of transparency in this process has made the Governor’s Uranium Working Group the butt of editorials and articles, including this one in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Sierra Club is leading the grassroots effort for the Keep the Ban Coalition (www.keeptheban.org) and we have had big turn-out of our folks at every public meeting the Governor’s Uranium Working Group has had. We must keep it up!
Our Keep the Ban fight is a classic fight between people power vs. money, gobs of money! That means that we need every one of you to contact your State Senator and Delegate. Send them an e-mail, call their office, write them a letter. And if you get an ambiguous response back, write or call them back and tell them that we need a firm commitment from them to oppose lifting the ban.
There is also this action alert you can send legislators: https://secure.sierraclub.org/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&id=8979&autologin=true&s_src=312Z5000N1&JServSessionIdr004=xrao004o61.app225a
Click here for all info:
