By: | Richmond Times-Dispatch
Published: October 01, 2012
Published: October 01, 2012
RICHMOND --
A proposed uranium mine and mill would be a big economic boon to Pittsylvania County if the plant operated smoothly, a new report says.
The operation would provide a net tax benefit of $1.3 million a year to the county, according to the report by George Mason University’s Center for Regional Analysis.
But all that assumes the uranium operation doesn’t cause a significant pollution release or other major problem.
“This is what you get if everything works,” said Stephen Fuller, the center’s director. The report did not delve into possible negative effects.
Fuller released the report and discussed it during a Monday afternoon news conference at the Capitol.
Virginia Uranium Inc., which is proposing the mine and mill, didn’t directly commission the report but agreed to contribute $147,000 to the university to have the report done, Fuller said. Most of that money will be used to fund center operations, Fuller said.
But Virginia Uranium had no control over the report, Fuller said. “I feel comfortable that the work we’ve done is as objective as I can be.”
Thomas Michael Power, a University of Montana economist, took issue with the report. Power said he has studied uranium operations in New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Washington.
“Based on that experience, I am somewhat baffled by claims that uranium mining and milling is a ‘boon’ to local areas,” Power said in an email.
“In general the conventional uranium mining and milling industry has been an extremely unstable and disruptive industry that has left behind significant environmental damage,” Power said.
Virginia Uranium wants to mine and mill the radioactive metal from what it says is a 119 million-pound deposit in Pittsylvania worth about $7 billion. Uranium fuels nuclear power plants.
Opponents fear the mine could cause air and water pollution. Virginia Uranium officials say their mine would use modern methods to avoid many of the problems at older mines.
