By: | GoDanRiver
Published: September 14, 2012
Published: September 14, 2012
You don’t have to be a local farmer, homeowner or someone who drinks water from a well to understand the potential environmental danger that a uranium mine and mill at Coles Hill could cause.
The Alliance for Progress in Southern Virginia, a group of businessmen, community leaders, farmers and concerned citizens released the results of a poll Thursday showing that local opposition to Virginia Uranium Inc.’s project has topped 50 percent in the Dan River Region.
The poll asked, "[D]o you think uranium mining should be allowed in the Danville/Pittsylvania County area or should it not be allowed in the area?"
The result was 29 percent yes, and 53 percent no.
Poll respondents also were concerned about local water quality, cattle, dairy and crop prices and property values. In one of the polls most lopsided findings, 68 percent agreed with the statement, "Uranium mining could pose a health threat for local residents, as well as, residents of surrounding areas."
The decision to lift Virginia’s 1982 moratorium on uranium mining won’t be made in the court of public opinion, but in the halls of the General Assembly in Richmond.
But clearly, this first sample of public opinion in our community, combined with a growing number of local governments and organizations that are opposed to lifting the moratorium, should help to inform the legislature’s decision.
No matter if VUI operates for five years or 35 years, though, the waste rock left behind will have to be carefully controlled and monitored long after everyone alive today has died. Given that long-term responsibility and the short-term gain, it’s no surprise that this poll found that local people are against the project.
The poll is even more shocking when one considers that the Dan River Region’s unemployment rate has never matched — or bested — the state rate. That means that our economic problems have been around for a long time; clearly, local residents are not ready to welcome Virginia Uranium as the solution to those problems.
In the five years since this project was first announced, VUI has spent of a lot time and money to try to convince local people — and members of the Virginia General Assembly — that this project should move forward. They haven’t succeeded, at least around here, because local people are aware of what’s at stake.
