Academy of Science hosts uranium meet Monday-Wednesday in Danville

Comment:  Uranium is located all over Virginia, so U R Next, not just Southside!  No to uranium mining!

By Eva Cassada
SoVaNow.com / December 09, 2010

One of two Virginia meetings on the National Academy of Science’s study of the environmental and public health impacts of a proposed uranium mine near Chatham will be held over several days beginning Monday in Danville.

The Academy is holding six hearings around North America; two are in Virginia.

Testimony from the public about the proposed mine will take place at a town hall meeting at the Institute Conference Center, 150 Slayton Ave., Danville, from 5-9 p.m. Public comment will start at 6:30 p.m., but people are advised to arrive at 5 p.m. to sign up to speak. (Tuesday, open meeting)

Halifax engineer Jack Dunavant said he will attend with Southside Concerned Citizens, which formed more than 20 years ago to oppose the first attempt to mine in Pittsylvania County, by Marline Uranium.

The panel of 12 scientists, announced in August, will spend the coming year preparing a report for the Virginia Coal and Energy Commission. That report is due next December. At that time, the Virginia General Assembly will consider the study’s findings as it weighs the fate of Virginia’s moratorium on uranium mining.

Lifting the moratorium would be required to extract 119 million pounds of uranium from Coles Hill, in Chatham.

Some nearby residents, those downstream and environmentalists argue that the mining cannot be done safely.

Meanwhile, the Danville Regional Foundation has commissioned its own $530,000 socioeconomic study, focusing on a 50-mile radius — which would include Halifax County. RTI International, a non-profit research institute based in Research Triangle Park, N.C., will analyze positive and negative, short- and long-term impacts. The report won’t take a stand for or against the mine. That report is also due in December 2011.

The Academy’s other meetings are in Washington, D.C., (two, which have already taken place); Richmond (Feb. 2011); Denver (March 2011) and Saskatoon, Canada (June 2011).

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