Comment: Everybody in Virginia needs to attend the Uranium Mining Symposium; this is the science behind the problems of uranium mining! Uranium mining has never been mined safely in the world! Between human mistakes or Mother Nature, both problems destroy the idea of safe mining!
Wednesday, March 3, 2010 9:58 AM EST
RICHMOND - A free symposium on uranium mining in Virginia will be held Thursday, March 11, from 9:15 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Richmond.
The symposium, which is open to the public, will examine the health and socio-economic impacts of proposed uranium mining in Virginia.
It will be held at the Richmond Center Stage for the Performing Arts at 7th and Grace Street.
The conference will provide participants with information about experiences with uranium mining all over the world.
Specific attention will be given to the water quality and quantity impacts of uranium mining, alternatives to uranium mining, health consequences of uranium mining to local populations, and new versus old techniques of uranium mining.
Speakers will include Dr. Doug Brugge, professor of public health and community medicine at Tufts University; Dr. Gordon Edwards, Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility; Manuel Pino, director of American Indian studies at Scottsdale Community College; Paul Robinson, research director for the Southwest Research & Information Center in New Mexico; and Dr. Rianne Teule with Greenpeace International.
Brugge has written numerous analyses of the health impacts of uranium mining and processing. A co-editor of "The Navajo People and Uranium Mining," he testified in 2007 before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on uranium contamination in the Navajo nation.
Edwards is a founder of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility and has served as its president since 1978.
He is an expert on the nuclear cycle in Canada and has helped many communities deal with radioactive contamination.
Through research, articles, public presentations, and radio and television appearances, Edwards played a key role in bringing about moratoria on uranium mining in Labrador, British Columbia, and Nova Scotia.
Pino is a professor of sociology and American Indian studies at Scottsdale Community College.
Formerly, he served as an assistant professor at Arizona State University in the School of Justice Studies.
A member of the Acoma Pueblo in New Mexico, Pino's research focuses on environmental issues and their impacts on American Indians.
He has published widely in academic journals in both the United States and Canada with a focus on uranium mining and nuclear fuel cycle issues impacting indigenous peoples.
Robinson is an environmental analyst, natural resource management planner, and environmental and technology assessment consultant.
He serves as research director of the Southwest Research & Information Center in New Mexico, which provides technical services for communities facing mining and other resource development issues.
He has provided technical analysis for formal proceedings in the United States, Canada and Europe, as well as for publications of the national and international organizations, including the New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources and the Western Governors' Association.
Teule has a doctorate in physical chemistry and is an expert on all aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle with Greenpeace International.
She has examined areas with radioactive contamination around the world, including the Chernobyl region of Ukraine, Iraq, and Brazil.
Most recently, she visited two uranium mines in Niger, Africa and documented the contamination of the cities of Arlit and Akokan.
The symposium is open to state and local officials, the media, concerned citizens, planners, and people living in potentially impacted areas.
Other sponsors include the Dan River Basin Association, Piedmont Environmental Council, Sierra Club, Southern Environmental Law Center, Virginia Conservation Network and Virginia Interfaith Power & Light.
Participants may register at http://www.vcnva.org/
or by calling 804-644-0283.
Read more:
http://www.wpcva.com/articles/2010/03/03/chatham/news/news54.txt
