The RRBA, along with Virginia and North Carolina coalitions and the city of Virginia Beach, Va., area businesses and municipalities from the headwaters of the Roanoke River to the Albemarle Sound banded together to let Virginia legislators know people along the Roanoke River wanted to keep the 30 year old ban on uranium mining.
In the recent VA legislative session, a move to lift the ban was never undertaken. In addition, a bill to circumvent the ban and begin developing regulations to govern the mining and milling was withdrawn due to lack of support votes.
The possibility of uranium mining on the Roanoke River is arguably the greatest threat to the Basin in its history, and while a battle has been won the war is far from over. Virginia Uranium Inc. has vowed publicly they are not going to walk away from a $7 billion project.VUI is well funded and has a large team of lobbyists, public relations consultants and technical advisers on their payroll.
As a result the RRBA will not only continue our effort with allied coalitions, but is in fact planning to expand it from its current status to a stronger membership, and an organized scope of work and activities geared toward building on previous efforts.
We propose to develop a strong public relations strategy, a full grassroots campaign, as well as to conduct technical and scientific research as needed in order to refute the sometimes outrageous claims of VUI.
We need to match their effort with our own determined resolve.
To that end we are mounting a concentrated fund raising campaign this year and although we will never be able to match the millions of dollars being spent by the uranium investors, we have shown that we can muster enough support to win the minds of the people, thereby influencing legislators to do right thing for the people they represent.
By: Gene Addesso
Vice President – RRBA
March 29, 2013
http://blog.rrba.org/?p=558
In the recent VA legislative session, a move to lift the ban was never undertaken. In addition, a bill to circumvent the ban and begin developing regulations to govern the mining and milling was withdrawn due to lack of support votes.
The possibility of uranium mining on the Roanoke River is arguably the greatest threat to the Basin in its history, and while a battle has been won the war is far from over. Virginia Uranium Inc. has vowed publicly they are not going to walk away from a $7 billion project.VUI is well funded and has a large team of lobbyists, public relations consultants and technical advisers on their payroll.
As a result the RRBA will not only continue our effort with allied coalitions, but is in fact planning to expand it from its current status to a stronger membership, and an organized scope of work and activities geared toward building on previous efforts.
We propose to develop a strong public relations strategy, a full grassroots campaign, as well as to conduct technical and scientific research as needed in order to refute the sometimes outrageous claims of VUI.
We need to match their effort with our own determined resolve.
To that end we are mounting a concentrated fund raising campaign this year and although we will never be able to match the millions of dollars being spent by the uranium investors, we have shown that we can muster enough support to win the minds of the people, thereby influencing legislators to do right thing for the people they represent.
By: Gene Addesso
Vice President – RRBA
March 29, 2013
http://blog.rrba.org/?p=558
