Dairy Farmer Wants Uranium Mining Answers / Uranium spot prices – exceptionally weak, uranium market at a standstill / MINING-INDUCED EVENTS IN THE EARTHQUAKE CATALOGS OF THE USGS/NEIC / Banister River eyed as scenic river; ramifications for uranium battle / One slip-up too many: Uranium Working Group / Uranium Mining Workshop
Dairy Farmer Wants Uranium Mining Answers
Posted: Aug 08, 2012 5:31 PM EDTWednesday, August 8, 2012 5:31 PM EST
By Heather Rosenbaum
the Health Department over the potential impact of uranium mining in Pittsylvania County. He spoke out at Tuesday night's meeting in Chatham.
Tommy Motley's dairy farm is less than three miles from Coles Hill, a potential uranium mining site. He worries that if air particles from uranium mining land on his cow's feed, it could possibly transfer to the milk. Motley worries that the three thousand gallons of milk he produces a day could be ruined.
Motley says that there is no direct group looking at the health for agriculture. Instead he says the health department is focusing on water quality. So Motley hopes a study will be done and a guarantee will be made that his milk is safe.
"I think that is not being unreasonable, it's just being realistic as a business type person. It's business. I can't endorse something that might damage my income," said Motley.
http://www.wset.com/story/19230485/dairy-farmer-wants-u
Uranium spot prices – exceptionally weak, uranium market at a standstill
Uranium Spot Prices Slip Below $50 Uranium Investing News, August 8, 2012, By Melissa Pistilli - The uranium spot price slipped further last week, dropping below the $50 mark for the first time in nearly a year as sellers gave in to lower bids.
This week, TradeTech is reporting a spot price of $49.50 per pound, down 25 cents from the previous week. …. The consulting firm said transaction activity in the spot market remains “exceptionally weak,” with transaction volume at less than 500,000 pounds of U308 over the past two months. Even with ConverDyn’s Metropolis Works conversion facility looking at a possible 15-month shutdown for safety upgrades, “the market is at a standstill.”…
http://antinuclear.net/
Silver Spruce Resources Acquires Labrador Uranium Property
Highlights - Located in the uranium-rich Central Mineral Belt, contiguous with our Snegamook property - Significant uranium values in diamond drilling to 0.13% U3O8 / 23.4 m, incl. 0.25% / 9.7 m - No exploration since 2007 Marketwire - Canada
BRIDGEWATER, NOVA SCOTIA--(Marketwire - Aug. 8, 2012) - Silver Spruce Resources Inc. (TSX VENTURE:SSE) is pleased to announce that it has purchased the Anomaly 7 (A7) uranium property in the Central Mineral Belt (CMB) of Labrador from Virginia Energy Resources Inc. (TSX VENTURE:VAE). The 446 claim (111.5 km2) property consists of two mineral claim licences in the western part of the Central Mineral Belt in Labrador. The company is acquiring a 100% interest, subject to a 2% Net Smelter Return (NSR) with a 1% buyback for $500,000 to a third party, for a one-time share payment of two million shares. Completion of the transaction is subject to a number of conditions, including TSX Venture Exchange approval.
http://www.equities.com/news/headline-story?dt=2012-08-08&val=356563&cat=material
MINING-INDUCED EVENTS IN THE EARTHQUAKE CATALOGS OF THE USGS/NEIC
Longwall roof-collapses and non-planned mining-associated rockbursts and mine collapses have usually have been reported in regular USGS/NEIC earthquake catalogs if their magnitudes were of a size that they might affect estimates of seismic hazard in the regions in which they occur. Some large and otherwise atypical mining explosions might also be occasionally listed in the regular USGS/NEIC earthquake catalogs. Events that are listed in regular earthquake catalogs of the USGS/NEIC are not listed in the catalogs of "Routine Mining Seismicity in the United States." Information on mining related seismic events that have been listed in the regular earthquake catalogs of the USGS/NEIC may be obtained from the main USGS/NEIC website.
The following events were located in the conterminous U.S. in the period January 1973 through March 2000 and are listed as induced events in the earthquake catalogs of the USGS/NEIC. Cavity collapses associated with nuclear tests in the Nevada Test Site have been removed from the list. Almost all the events listed were thought to be induced by mining operations. The USGS/NEIC did not systematically tabulate U.S. mining-induced events until the mid-1980's. The list is given in the GSE2.0 format.
VIRGINIA
Big Stone Gap -- Large longwall coal mines are situated in southwesternmost Virginia. Some underground mines in southwestern Virginia and adjacent Kentucky border experience rockbursts (Martin Chapman, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, personal communication). The largest suspected mining-associated event from this region that is listed in the catalogs of routine mining seismicity for May 1997 -- March 2000 had mbLg(USGS) = 3.4. Earthquake catalogs of the USGS/NEIC for 1973 -- March 2000 contain mining-associated events from southwestern Virginia and adjacent Kentucky that have magnitudes as high as 4.3(MB) and 4.0(mbLg) (see Mining-induced events in the earthquake catalogs of the USGS/NEIC).
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqarchives/mineblast/induced_pde.php
Banister River eyed as scenic river; ramifications for uranium battle
SoVaNow.com / August 08, 2012
A study is under way to determine if a portion of the Banister River should be designated a state scenic river.
The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation and the Virginia Tech Community Design and Assistance Center are studying nearly 40 miles of the Banister that run through Pittsylvania County, Halifax County and the town of Halifax.
Officials from the three localities formally requested the study.
Also bordering Halifax County, a 51-mile stretch of the Roanoke River – including a local segment known as the Staunton River – already has state scenic river designation.
The possible designation has implications not merely as a nice honor, but as possible ammunition for opponents fighting a proposed uranium mining and milling project in Pittsylvania County. The land near Chatham where the uranium deposit lies drains into the Banister River. A study by the City of Virginia Beach, whose leaders oppose the project, shows potentially devastating effects to the Banister should toxic mill tailings ever get into the watershed.
Halifax Town Manager Carl Espy declined to comment on ramifications for the uranium issue; Halifax Town Council has been out front in its opposition.
However, Del. James Edmunds said he thought such a designation might win over those who are “fence-riding” on the issue.
“The Banister is really a gem,” he said, adding that he hoped a designation would bring more awareness.
http://www.sovanow.com/index.php?/news/article/banister_river_eyed_for_possible_state_scenic_river_designation/
The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation and the Virginia Tech Community Design and Assistance Center are studying nearly 40 miles of the Banister that run through Pittsylvania County, Halifax County and the town of Halifax.
Officials from the three localities formally requested the study.
Also bordering Halifax County, a 51-mile stretch of the Roanoke River – including a local segment known as the Staunton River – already has state scenic river designation.
The possible designation has implications not merely as a nice honor, but as possible ammunition for opponents fighting a proposed uranium mining and milling project in Pittsylvania County. The land near Chatham where the uranium deposit lies drains into the Banister River. A study by the City of Virginia Beach, whose leaders oppose the project, shows potentially devastating effects to the Banister should toxic mill tailings ever get into the watershed.
Halifax Town Manager Carl Espy declined to comment on ramifications for the uranium issue; Halifax Town Council has been out front in its opposition.
However, Del. James Edmunds said he thought such a designation might win over those who are “fence-riding” on the issue.
“The Banister is really a gem,” he said, adding that he hoped a designation would bring more awareness.
http://www.sovanow.com/index.php?/news/article/banister_river_eyed_for_possible_state_scenic_river_designation/
One slip-up too many: Uranium Working Group
This comes on top of previous attempts by the administration to keep the work of the Uranium Working Group hidden from public view: The panel’s lead bureaucrat, the deputy director of the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy, initially contended that the UWG’s findings would fall under the status of “confidential governor’s working papers.” McDonnell distanced himself from that public relations blunder, but the work of a panel that almost no one asked for — and whose very formation came as a surprise to many — grinds on.
Enough with this nonsense. It should be evident by now that one of two things must be true (if not both): (1) the carelessness that the administration evinces on the very issue that the NAS panel emphasized above all — transparency — suggests strongly that this entire process is a dog-and-pony show, which would help to explain the sloppiness of it all; (2) if the state of Virginia is this incapable of organizing a process that is respectful of members of the public who would be most affected by the operation of a uranium mine, what are the chances it can effectively oversee the mine itself — especially with so many potential campaign contributions at stake? In posing any question, the first thing to consider is the likelihood that multiple answers may exist. So let’s make this simple: Feckless or clueless? And do we have to choose?
http://www.sovanow.com/index.php?/opinion/article/one_slip-up_too_many/
Enough with this nonsense. It should be evident by now that one of two things must be true (if not both): (1) the carelessness that the administration evinces on the very issue that the NAS panel emphasized above all — transparency — suggests strongly that this entire process is a dog-and-pony show, which would help to explain the sloppiness of it all; (2) if the state of Virginia is this incapable of organizing a process that is respectful of members of the public who would be most affected by the operation of a uranium mine, what are the chances it can effectively oversee the mine itself — especially with so many potential campaign contributions at stake? In posing any question, the first thing to consider is the likelihood that multiple answers may exist. So let’s make this simple: Feckless or clueless? And do we have to choose?
http://www.sovanow.com/index.php?/opinion/article/one_slip-up_too_many/
Uranium Mining Workshop
PLEASE JOIN US FOR A WORKSHOP
Presenter: Val Green, mining /wastewater engineer
Topic: Local and Site-Specific Impacts -- Uranium Mining and Milling at Coles Hill
Date: Thursday, September 13, 2012 from 7 to 9 p.m.
Location: Olde Dominion Agricultural Foundation
19783 US Highway 29 South, Chatham, VA 24531
Sponsor: Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League
BREDL Contact: Ann Rogers, Community Organizer
540-312-3104 or email:amelvin3@verizon.net
More Info: Event Flyer
Presenter: Val Green, mining /wastewater engineer
Topic: Local and Site-Specific Impacts -- Uranium Mining and Milling at Coles Hill
Date: Thursday, September 13, 2012 from 7 to 9 p.m.
Location: Olde Dominion Agricultural Foundation
19783 US Highway 29 South, Chatham, VA 24531
Sponsor: Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League
BREDL Contact: Ann Rogers, Community Organizer
540-312-3104 or email:amelvin3@verizon.net
More Info: Event Flyer
Bucks accumulating in fight against uranium
SoVaNow.com / August 01, 2012
The Town of South Boston is looking at donating another $5,000 to the effort to fight uranium mining in nearby Pittsylvania County.
For those with a calculator:
South Boston Town Council gave $5,000 in May, in the last fiscal year. It will now propose a budget amendment for another $5,000 in the current fiscal year.
The Town of Halifax, on the Banister River, has already put nearly $10,000 toward the cause, and several of its Council members have long been high-profile in their opposition.
The Halifax County Industrial Development Authority pitched in $5,000 several weeks ago.
And Del. James Edmunds of Halifax is planning a fund-raiser at his River Road home this fall with the aim of raking in $100,000 to fight the uranium mine.
SoVaNow.com / August 01, 2012
The Town of South Boston is looking at donating another $5,000 to the effort to fight uranium mining in nearby Pittsylvania County.
For those with a calculator:
South Boston Town Council gave $5,000 in May, in the last fiscal year. It will now propose a budget amendment for another $5,000 in the current fiscal year.
The Town of Halifax, on the Banister River, has already put nearly $10,000 toward the cause, and several of its Council members have long been high-profile in their opposition.
The Halifax County Industrial Development Authority pitched in $5,000 several weeks ago.
And Del. James Edmunds of Halifax is planning a fund-raiser at his River Road home this fall with the aim of raking in $100,000 to fight the uranium mine.
http://www.sovanow.com/index.php?/news/article/bucks_accumulating_in_fight_against_uranium/
NRC Freezes at least 19 Pending Reactor Reviews
WASHINGTON, D.C. – August 7, 2012 – The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) acted today to put a hold on at least 19 pending reactor reviews – nine construction & operating licenses, eight license renewal, one operating license, and one early site permit – in response to the landmark Waste Confidence Rule decision of June 8th by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The NRC action was sought in a June 18, 2012 petition filed by 24 groups urging the NRC to respond to the court ruling by freezing final licensing decisions until it has completed a rulemaking action on the environmental impacts of highly radioactive nuclear waste in the form of irradiated, or ‘used’, reactor fuel storage and disposal.Lou Zeller, Executive Director of the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, said, “It appears that the Commissioners have, at least initially, grasped the magnitude of the Court’s ruling and we are optimistic that it will set up fundamentally transparent, fair process under the National Environmental Policy Act to examine the serious environmental impacts of irradiated nuclear fuel storage and disposal prior to licensing and relicensing nuclear reactors.”
http://www.bredl.org/#event3-tab
July 2012 hottest ever recorded esp VA
http://grist.org/news/july-2012-the-hottest-month-ever-in-five-charts/
NRC PARTICIPATION IN COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA URANIUM
| Date | Description |
|---|---|
| 08/02/2012 (6:00 p.m.) |
Meeting of the Commonwealth of
Virginia Uranium Working Group (NRC invited to participate): Old Dominion Agricultural Complex 19783 US Highway 29, Suite G Chatham, VA 24531 |
http://pbadupws.nrc.gov/docs/ML1220/ML12206A071.pdf
http://www.nrc.gov/materials/uranium-recovery/public-meetings/2012/
