Va. uranium mining stirring on 2 fronts
The Associated Press
RICHMOND
The drafting of proposed uranium mining legislation is expected to be completed this week in Richmond as yet another study on the subject makes its debut.
Sen. John Watkins has proposed legislation that could open the door to the mining of a 119-million-pound deposit in Pittsylvania County.
Meantime, Gov. Bob McDonnell's Uranium Working Group expects to issue its final study, this one on the socioeconomic impact of allowing uranium mining.
Virginia Uranium Inc. has proposed mining the Southside deposit of the ore. Environmentalists and groups that include the NAACP and the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation want the 1982 ban to remain in place.
The issue is expected to be fiercely debated in the Legislature
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Jeff's Notes: Uranium mining
Legislators make (Comments: Try with lies) case for uranium mining
A state senator and a delegate plan to introduce bills that would apply to Virginia Uranium Inc.
RICHMOND -- Lawmakers in both houses of the General Assembly outlined plans to lift Virginia's moratorium on uranium mining Thursday, and advocates of a proposed mining and milling operation in Pittsylvania County came to the Capitol to show support for the legislation.Sen. John Watkins, R-Powhatan, and Del. Jackson Miller, R-Manassas, said they will introduce bills to establish regulatory and licensing requirements that would apply to Virginia Uranium Inc., which hopes to mine a 119 million-pound uranium deposit at Coles Hill near Chatham. The uranium legislation likely will be one of the most contentious issues the General Assembly takes up during this year's session.
Opponents of uranium mining held their own news conference in Richmond earlier this week, voicing concerns about the environmental and health risks associated with mining waste, or tailings, that would be stored on the site. Some opponents contend that a uranium mining operation would create a stigma in a region already struggling with high unemployment
Because the bills call for SCC oversight, they likely will go to the commerce and labor committees in the House and Senate. Bills dealing with mining typically get referred to the House and Senate panels on agriculture and natural resources.
Miller touted the Coles Hill project's economic and energy potential. He said some Southside Virginia residents and some of his own constituents have wrongly accused him of trying to "force something down the throat of someone at the opposite end of the state."
Even if the General Assembly lifts the moratorium and the state establishes regulations, Miller said, uranium mining at Coles Hill "will not be done without a special-use permit by the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors."
That would occur no earlier than 2017, according to a timeline that Virginia Uranium outlined for the Coal and Energy Commission earlier this week.
Two state legislators who represent the Coles Hill site - Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin County, and Del. Don Merricks, R-Chatham - oppose lifting the ban. Stanley said it appears legislators from other parts of the state want to impose their will on the region.
"It kind of reminds me of what my father used to say: 'When I want your opinion, I'll tell you what it is,'" Stanley said Thursday.
Stanley said his constituent surveys indicate that residents who live near the Coles Hill site are evenly divided on the issue. Stanley said he has not been convinced that uranium tailings can be contained "without risk to the life and property of our citizens."
Beyond Southside Virginia, the uranium debate doesn't break along partisan or geographic lines. Senate Minority Leader Richard Saslaw, D-Fairfax County, voiced support for lifting the ban at Thursday's news conference. Earlier this week, Sen. Janet Howell, D-Fairfax County, declared her opposition.
"They need jobs down there," said Saslaw, a member of the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee. "This economic prosperity that we have in Northern Virginia has got to be spread elsewhere, and while this will not solve all of the problems in Southside Virginia from an economic standpoint, it's certainly a start."
Stanley said uranium mining "is not the magic bullet that is going to save Southside."
"We don't have a lot of unemployed geologists down there," he said.
http://www.roanoke.com/politics/wb/318897
Keep uranium mining ban, Sen. Ruff says
Lifting the ban would create jobs and have a positive economic impact, according to Virginia Uranium Inc. The company said Coles Hill holds an estimated 119 million pounds of uranium that could be used to fuel Virginia’s nuclear power plants.
On the WebThe website of the Virginia Coal and Energy Commission is at http://dls.virginia.gov/commissions/cec.htm
Opponents of uranium mining have a website at http://keeptheban.org/
However, uranium mining opponents say they fear the environmental consequences.Chris Miller, president of the Piedmont Environmental Council, cited a report that the National Academy of Sciences released about possible uranium mining in Virginia.
“Our initial review of the report confirms that uranium mining would be a dangerous experiment for Virginia. The report establishes that neither the mining industry nor federal or state regulators have any experience with uranium mining or milling in climatic and hydrogeological conditions like Virginia’s,” Miller said.
“The risks of containing huge amounts of waste for thousands of years – especially in a wet climate like Virginia’s – have never been addressed.”
Capital News Service is a student news-gathering program sponsored by the School of Mass Communications at Virginia Commonwealth University.
http://www.rappnews.com/2013/01/13/keep-uranium-mining-ban-sen-ruff-says/109590/
Our View: Make your voice heard against lifting uranium ban
Posted: Sunday, January 13, 2013 6:00 am
