This report deserves the Yellow Cake Award: it said nothing for $250,000 of taxpayers monies, plus the rest of $2 million the UWG spent on a group of miners from the West for their report, paid again by taxpayers but from the Gov slush fund .....none of reports had "Science' behind it!
Comments from KM: Delete now if you are "sensative".
The report is entitled "Final Report for the Business Attitude Regarding Uranium Mining in Pittsylvania County, Virginia. If this is a Pittsylvania County issue, as the report indicates, 700 members of the Danville/Pittsylvania County Chamber of Commerce have weighed in and said keep the ban...IN A BIG WAY.
VUI, Senators Watkins, Miller and Saslaw and their ilk bureacratsare making a mockery out of the UWG's work and using our tax dollars in attempt to fraudulently support a private company at the expense of our health, water and future diverse economic development. They call it a either a state issue or a site-specific issue, depending on which furthers VUI's uranium mining agenda.
We must keep working to make a majority of the General Assembly members see THE FACTS. Those facts are contained in the reports/studies and documents that they should have reviewed. They can either take VUI's Patrick Wales' abridged and biased account or read the reports themselves to learn the truth.
All in all, the business community of Virginia as a whole has shown wisdom in their caution regarding this issue.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- A business leaders from across Virginia opposes ending the state's decades-old moratorium on uranium mining, but their concerns could by allayed if they learned more about how the radioactive ore is mined and what protections would be in place, a survey released Tuesday said.
The report was the final issued by Gov. Bob McDonnell's Uranium Working Group, which in late November laid out the regulatory structure that would be required if Virginia allowed a mining company to tap uranium deposit in Pittsylvania County that is the largest in the U.S. The issue is expected to be fiercely debated in the General Assembly this session. The report, the latest of many examining uranium mining, sampled business attitudes about the issue in surveys conducted in November and December. Its primary message: while many business leaders were aware of the uranium deposit, few had a clear understanding how the ore would be extracted and processed for use in nuclear power reactors.
"The need for clear, unbiased and accessible information provided a common thread through all the studies included in this report," wrote the authors, ORI, a market research firm in Herndon.
Of the business leaders surveyed, about 60 percent were aware of the 119-million-pound uranium deposit in Southside Virginia and the debate over whether a 1982 moratorium should be lifted. The business leaders, however, have a low to moderate trust in the information available on perhaps the most important environmental issue in the state.
"Respondents reported that although they have concerns about uranium mining,Opponents counter the environmental risks are not worth the economic benefits.
Just slightly more than 50 percent of the business leaders surveyed said they do not support ending the ban, while 39 percent want it to end. About 10 percent didn't have an opinion. About two-thirds of the businesses surveyed have fewer than 10 employees.
Among the survey's other findings:
— The top concern involved mining's possible negative impacts on children, followed by worries about the environment, workers and residents, as well as its impact on housing values in Southside.
— Local business leaders were primarily concerned about public water supplies and agriculture.
— Responses were mixed on mining's impact on local economic growth, with most concluding that it would have a negative effect on business revenue rather than positive.
Andrew Lester of the Roanoke River Basin Authority, which opposes uranium mining, said the report appears to downplay concerns raised by a National Academy of Sciences study by "suggesting that those who are concerned must not be educated enough on this issue."
The NAS study concluded Virginia would have to overcome "steep hurdles" to ensure that uranium mining and processing could be conducted safely. It did not offer a recommendation on the moratorium.
Mary Beth Jacksonnewsadvance.com
Businesses surveyed for the delayed socioeconomic report of the governor’s Uranium Working Group have mixed opinions about how uranium mining and milling could affect them.Gov. Bob McDonnell’s office has released the delayed socioeconomic report of the Uranium Working Group, and few conclusive statements can be made about the potential business impacts – positive or negative – that a mining and milling operation could have.The one certainty is that business leaders are questioning their sources in forming their opinions. The study states, “Commonwealth business leaders have low to moderate trust in the information that has been currently researched on the topic of uranium mining.”
McDonnell formed the Uranium Working Group in January 2012 to research the potential benefits and pitfalls of allowing uranium mining and milling in Virginia. The group submitted its final report in December to governor, but it was missing the socioeconomic component.
That report could not be finished by the December deadline. The UWG's contractor, Wright Engineering, had a difficult time finding a subcontractor that could do the work that didn't have ties to factions on either side of the uranium mining debate. The firm eventually contracted ORI to do the work, but the late start pushed back its completion.
McDonnell formed the Uranium Working Group in January 2012 to research the potential benefits and pitfalls of allowing uranium mining and milling in Virginia. The group submitted its final report in December to governor, but it was missing the socioeconomic component.
That report could not be finished by the December deadline. The UWG's contractor, Wright Engineering, had a difficult time finding a subcontractor that could do the work that didn't have ties to factions on either side of the uranium mining debate. The firm eventually contracted ORI to do the work, but the late start pushed back its completion.
