By: The Editorial Board
Published: October 02, 2011
The pictures shot by George Stanhope in 2009 of a rain-soaked Coles Hill area have probably been making the rounds ever since he downloaded the images from his camera.
For opponents of uranium mining in Virginia, those images are proof that Pittsylvania County’s climate is far too wet to allow the uranium mining industry into Virginia.
The pictures could have been taken in any part of Pittsylvania County and they would have had the same effect. While the Dan River Region has been blessed with a generally gentle climate, heavy rains, high winds and even tornadoes do occur here.
We don’t know how that kind of weather would affect Virginia Uranium, and not just because severe storms can be so hit-or-miss within the same county.
The real problem is that so much of the "how" VUI wants to extract uranium from under Coles Hill is unknown because the company hasn’t released those details because, in part, there are no regulations guiding a uranium mining company because, of course, Virginia still has a moratorium in place.
That’s how VUI is moving their project forward — get it studied, get the General Assembly to lift the moratorium, get rules written and then develop a site plan to actually mine the 119 million pounds of uranium.
By that time, though, uranium mining would be a done deal in Virginia, and probably not just at Coles Hill. Now is the time to ask questions, including questions about drinking water.
We’re not talking about saving some "Pittsylvania snail darter." Our concern is every house in the Dan River Region that has a water well, and that includes most of the houses in Pittsylvania County.
"Eighty-three percent of those using individual wells own their homes, and more than half are still paying their mortgage," states the website of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality’s Ground Water Protection Steering Committee. "Keeping the water supply clean is essential to protecting these families’ property values."
That’s exactly the issue, and it’s one that has to be addressed now.
For most people, their house is the largest single investment, and that investment isn’t worth anything without a safe, clean, reliable water supply. For people who depend on water wells, the question isn’t Virginia Uranium’s good intentions or the state’s regulations of this new industry, it’s whether they will be able to safely consume the water from their well if uranium is mined at Coles Hill.
It’s hard to imagine Chatham, Richmond or Washington coming to the aid of a Pittsylvania County family that can no longer drink their contaminated well’s water. That’s why this community has to get the uranium mining issue right, before everyone becomes enthralled with the possibility of mining jobs for 35 or 40 years or tax revenue going to the politicians.
This week, the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League issued a report on flooding at Coles Hill.
The real takeaway from the report was the reminder of just how much water falls on Pittsylvania County, and the real concerns of people who will have to live in the shadow of decisions made by others — decisions that could one day affect everything about life in the Dan River Region, even the kitchen sink
Read more:
http://www2.godanriver.com/news/2011/oct/02/groundwater-worries-never-disappear-ar-1349664/
