Wednesday, November 6, 2013

11/5 u-news: VUI's billboard messaging is either in violation of 24VAC30-120-90 / Meeting: City Council’s meeting Thursday, Nov. 7, at 7 p.m. in the municipal building on Patton Street.: City Council with a certificate on behalf the Keep the Ban Coalition applauding the city’s steadfast support of the moratorium.




Comments from KM:  (My comments:  I agree with KM!)


Do you really want to do something helpful help?

 
Contact the Office of Secretary Sean Connaughton (VDOT) Sean.Connaughton@Governor.Virginia.gov and Georgia.Esposito@Governor.Virginia.gov
 
Emmett R. Heltzel, P.E.,State Maintenance Engineer, Virginia Department of Transportation, Phone: (804)-786-2949, Cell: (804)-370-6691, Email: Emmett.Heltzel@VDOT.Virginia.Gov  has been given the task of investigating the matter so you will want to include him in your correspondence.
 
Tell them them that VUI's billboard is advertising an illegal activity.
Please encourage others to do the same.
 
 
The cowardly way out for the state and county is to erroneously refer to this as a First Amendment issue. 
 
IT IS NOT.  VUI's billboard messaging is either in violation of
 24VAC30-120-90 
or it is not.
 
The email below was sent to VDOT and to the Pittsylvania Board of Supervisors yesterday.  
 
As of this afternoon, VDOT has had only 2 inquiries regarding VUI's billboard which is in violation of 24VAC30-120-90.  The Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors is not one of them. 
 
I am being told by VDOT that they will have to communicate with legal counsel at state and federal level ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highway_Beautification_Act ) regarding the issue.  What? 
 
Insert any illegal activity you like in the verbiage seen on the VUI billboard.  How would that fly? 
 
Please contact VDOT to let them know that you are aware of:
 
Code of Virginia "§ 45.1-283. Uranium mining permit applications; when accepted; uranium mining deemed to have significant effect on surface. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, permit applications for uranium mining shall not be accepted by any agency of the Commonwealth prior to July 1, 1984, and until a program for permitting uranium mining is established by statute. For the purpose of construing § 45.1-180 (a), uranium mining shall be deemed to have a significant effect on the surface."
 
and:
 
24VAC30-120-90. Prohibited signs. states, "The following signs are prohibited: 1. Signs advertising activities that are illegal under federal or state laws or regulations in effect at the location of those signs or at the location of those activities."
 
----- Original Message -----


This link http://www.wset.com/story/23845974/new-virginia-uranium-billboard-promotes-safety-of-uranium-mining pictures a billboard which is advertising what is currently an illegal activity in Virginia.

Uranium mining is not at present, according to statute, a "legal" activity in Virginia as evidenced by "§ 45.1-283.

Uranium mining permit applications; when accepted; uranium mining deemed to have significant effect on surface.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, permit applications for uranium mining shall not be accepted by any agency of the Commonwealth prior to July 1, 1984, and until a program for permitting uranium mining is established by statute. For the purpose of construing § 45.1-180 (a), uranium mining shall be deemed to have a significant effect on the surface."

The billboard also gives the impression that Pittsylvania County, of which I am a resident, is complicit in this advertisement. There is grave concern that the advertisement of this illegal activity is, and will continue to negatively impact economic development in Pittsylvania County.


http://codecommission.dls.virginia.gov/faq_va_admin_code.shtml states, "The Virginia Administrative Code contains the permanent regulations for the Commonwealth of Virginia. Regulations have the force of law and are written and administered by state agencies as authorized by the General Assembly."

 

24VAC30-120-90. Prohibited signs. states, "The following signs are prohibited: 1. Signs advertising activities that are illegal under federal or state laws or regulations in effect at the location of those signs or at the location of those activities."
 
I request that your office exercise its authority to enforce 24VAC30-120-90 and order messaging on the billboard which is advertising the illegal activity be removed.

Sincerely,
Karen B. Maute

 
 

Election results


You can view election results at http://www.vpap.org/elections/live_results/nov_2013 This non-profit organization is factual and non-biased.
 
  
 

 
 
Posted: Tuesday, November 5, 2013 11:11 am

DANVILLE — After efforts to overturn the state’s 30-year ban on uranium mining were thwarted earlier this year, citizens of Danville will recognize
 
City Council with a certificate on behalf the Keep the Ban Coalition applauding the city’s steadfast support of the moratorium.
 

The presentation will be made at City Council’s meeting Thursday, Nov. 7, at 7 p.m. in the municipal building on Patton Street.
 
The recognition follows the city’s passage of a formal resolution in defense of the ban in January, cementing it among the over 60 government entities and dozens of organizations from the state NAACP to the Farm Bureau that have taken a firm stance against uranium mining in Virginia.
This year, uranium prices have spiraled to a seven-year low of about $35 per pound – lower than the $45 per pound price used to predict an $11 billion loss statewide under a worst-case scenario of uranium mining in an analysis authorized by the Virginia Coal and Energy Commission, a Keep the Ban spokesman said.
 
Potential water contamination with radioactive materials from mining could also cripple economic activities in downstream communities – including Southside’s $360 million and Virginia Beach’s $1.3 billion tourism industries, said Laura Lee Cascada, conservation program coordinator for the Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club.
 
The award presentation follows reports that despite the bleak economic
 outlook, Virginia Uranium Inc. spent $572,607 lobbying Virginia public officials last year — the most of any group in Virginia during each of the last five years, and nearly as much as the next two top spenders, Dominion Power and Altria, combined.
Keep the Ban supporters will ask for a renewed commitment of the city in protecting the ban as Virginia Uranium continues to exert pressure on officials to lift the ban, Cascada said.
 
Update on VUI's exploration permit renewal...An email received from DMME today states:
The renewal request was submitted on 10/10/2013.
At this time, no changes have been requested.
DMME has not asked for additional information regarding the permit renewal to my knowledge at this time.
The permit must be renewed on or before 11/20/2013.
No surprises here.