Comment: Great letter, thanks for all your help and service to keep our waters clean!
By: ANDREW LESTER Published: August 21, 2011
From the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia and North Carolina, the Roanoke River flows through the piedmont to the coastal plain and the Outer Banks.
It begins in communities such as Blacksburg, Meadows of Dan and Kernersville, and meanders through farms and towns on its way to the sea. There are many tributaries to this 410-mile-long system: the Dan, Banister, Hyco, Smith and other great rivers and streams.
It is the essential lifeblood of the people and the economic base in the basin. But the river can be a natural threat, too. The system is prone to overwhelming flooding during hurricanes and major stormevents prevalent in the region.
After several years of major flooding leading to loss of life and property, several civic leaders in North Carolina andVirginia formed an organization to counter the problem. Thus, in 1945, the Roanoke River Basin Association was born.
To that end, the association immediately pushed to have the first dam built in the river system, Kerr Lake, or Bugg’s Island Lake, as it’s known in Virginia. After its completion the association helped shepherd the construction of Smith Mountain Lake and Leesville Lake. Over the proceeding years, the Roanoke River Basin Association has vigorously worked to protect social and economic integrity of the entire river basin.
Today, the Roanoke River Basin Association remains faithful to our mission. Our membership includes towns and counties, individuals and businesses throughout the basin. Our board of directors includes several local and state public officials and business leaders from both states — Republicans, Democrats and tea party members.We have a permanent seat on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers StakeholdersWater Management Committee. This summer, we are generating an educational, recreational and tourism program called Upper Reach, which will complement the fine work that our friends at the Dan River Basin Association and the Roanoke River Partners have established.
We seek the wise use of our water resource, the security of that resource and, ultimately, the social and economic vitality of our region.
With the emergence of prospective uranium mining and milling in the midst of the basin, once again the Roanoke River Basin Association has been asked by its constituents to review and take a position on the matter. After a thorough presentation of the Virginia Beach Study, the board of directors voted to oppose any lifting of the uranium-mining moratorium in Virginia. More than 30 localities and groups in the basin followed suit and went on record in support of the ban on uranium mining.
TheVirginia Beach Study, of all the studies and reports either underway or completed, is not only definitive, but unlike the others, is peer reviewed. It tells us what common-sense and history about this river already informs, that the Roanoke is prone to frequent storms and hurricanes leading to flooding… flooding which can carry radioactive material into our great river. But we perceive this not only as an environmental issue, but just as importantly, an economic stigma for miles in all directions around the proposed mining site.
We are faced with an irreparable proposition— degradation of the environment, degradation of the communities’ economic attractiveness, degradation of the viability of the region. This is in direct conflict with our mission. We are the voice of the river’s resources and we oppose uranium mining and milling in Virginia.
Lester is executive director of the Roanoke River Basin Association. The group’s website is www.rrba.org
Read more:
http://www2.godanriver.com/news/2011/aug/21/our-quality-life-and-roanoke-ar-1255176/
