Thursday, December 9, 2010

Opponents slam proposal to mine Va. uranium


Opponents slam proposal to mine Va. uranium  

Wednesday, December 8, 2010
By PAUL COLLINS - Bulletin Staff Writer

Opponents on Tuesday hammered a proposal to lift the moratorium on uranium mining in Virginia and especially a proposal to allow uranium mining at Coles Hill in Pittsylvania County.

More than 30 people attended a meeting at the Henry County Administration Building that was advertised as “Community Meeting to Stop Cancer Causing Practice in Southside.”

The event was co-hosted by the Virginia Sierra Club, Martinsville-Henry County Voters League and Virginia Interfaith Power & Light, which, according to its website, is a nonprofit advocacy group dedicated to promoting renewable energy, energy efficiency and conservation. Among the other organizations represented were Southside Concerned Citizens and the local NAACP.

Speakers expressed fears that uranium mining would pollute water, the air and land; cause health problems such as cancer, kidney failure and birth defects; and hurt the economy if businesses leave the area or do not come to the area because of uranium mining. Some also expressed fears that Virginia’s taxpayers would be stuck with the cost of environmental cleanup.

Andrew Lester is executive director of the Roanoke River Basin Association. That basin includes 9,580 square miles and more than 400 miles of rivers, including the Smith River, according to the RRBA website.

“It’s never been shown it (uranium mining) can be done safely,” Lester said.

Virginia Uranium, which has proposed mining the massive uranium deposit at Coles Hill near Chatham,
According to brochures by UraniumFree Virginia and Virginia Interfaith Power &Light, uranium is a highly toxic heavy metal that emits alpha-radiation and is soluble in water; for every half-pound to pound of usable uranium mined, a ton of radioactive rock (known as tailings) will be excavated; and the tailings will be required to be held on site for hundreds of years to try to prevent seepage of radioactive tailings into groundwater, overspills into surface waters or dispersion by air.

Trieste Lockwood, director of Virginia Interfaith Power &Light, said in an interview that no uranium mine has been licensed east of the Mississippi because of the wetter climate and much higher population density here than in parts of the west where uranium mining is allowed.

A scientific study on the possible effects of mining uranium in Virginia is being conducted now by the National Academy of Sciences. The moratorium on mining has been in place for nearly three decades.

According to Lester and literature distributed at the meeting, the proposed uranium mine at Coles Hill near Chatham is upstream of Lake Gaston, the primary drinking water for Virginia Beach and some other parts of South Hampton Roads. Also, a number of other localities may need to get water from the Roanoke River basin in the future.

In addition to posing a threat of contaminating waters in Lake Gaston, the proposed mine at Coles Hill could deplete water from Smith Mountain Lake, only 14.5 miles away, according to a brochure by UraniumFree Virginia.

Lester also said uranium mining poses a danger of groundwater contamination.

If the moratorium on uranium mining is lifted, mining could be allowed anywhere in the state, Lester pointed out.

Eloise F. Nenon of Chatham, founder and board member of Southside Concerned Citizens, said she visited a uranium mine in Colorado years ago, and the uranium mill tailings were in piles about 75 feet tall, many miles long, and she saw uncovered uranium mill tailings being blown into the air. She said it was like talcum powder.

When it settles, it can cover the ground, crops and anything else being grown, as well as horses and cattle, she said.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency website, “the most radioactive component of uranium mill tailings is radium, which decays to produce radon.” Radon poses health hazards, including increased risk of lung cancer when it is breathed, according to the EPA.

Nenon rejected reports that uranium mining is done safely in France.

Naomi Hodge-Muse, president of the Martinsville Henry County Voters League, said it takes “copious amounts of water to process” uranium, and then that water is forever unusable.

She said she has traveled in several countries, and none rivals the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The public must not allow Virginia’s pristine natural resources to be polluted, she said.

Hodge-Muse said she believes uranium mining would hurt industries and businesses within a 50-mile radius because they would not want to do business near a uranium mine.

Several speakers urged members of the audience, and the public, to contact state legislators to ask them not to allow uranium mining in Southside and Virginia. Lawmakers would have to vote to repeal the moratorium.

One important event, speakers said, will take place on Monday, Dec. 13, when the National Academy of Sciences will hear testimony from the public about the proposed mine. The town hall meeting will be held at the Institute Conference Center, 150 Slayton Ave., Danville, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. The public comment will start at 6:30 p.m., but people should arrive at 5 p.m. to sign up to comment.

The study is expected to be completed next year.

One attendee, the Rev. David Adkins of Starling Avenue Baptist Church, said during the meeting that the issue of uranium mining points to a larger issue of the need for companies to be held responsible for damage they do to the environment and for cleanup.

Another attendee, Lorene Martin, vice chairman of the Martinsville-Henry County Democratic Committee, said: “This is not a Democratic issue. This is not a Republican issue. This is everybody’s issue. ... I’m going to fight it all the way to Richmond.”

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http://www.martinsvillebulletin.com/article.cfm?ID=26477