Comment: No to uranium mining and milling!
Uranium and UMW
About 75 students, some hoisting “Keep the Ban” signs gathered in front of a podium at the university’s Ball Circle to voice their displeasure about the possibility of the Virginia General Assembly lifting a 1982 moratorium on uranium mining. Graham Givens, student organizer with the Sierra Club-Virginia Chapter exhorted the assorted students, dogs and older activists to make their objections known, calling the mining a “destructive and wasteful process” that will leave a legacy of radioactive waste if allowed by Virginia Uranium Inc. at a site in Pittsylvania County.
State Sen. Edd Houck, the guest speaker, reminded the students that there’s a local connection and a history here.
http://blogs.fredericksburg.com/waterearthsky/2011/10/20/uranium-and-umw/
Let us not forget
Wednesday, October 19, 2011 9:23 AM EDT
By Frank Newell
Now, I have said everything so far to bring back attention to the terrible threat of that proposed uranium mine in Virginia near the headwaters of the Roanoke River. We should not allow the issue to wane. The government should not allow a few money-hungry individuals to poison Kerr Lake and beautiful Lake Gaston. Those in government office are supposed to protect and adhere to the majority of the common people. They should not give in to a small group whose selfish intentions will cause great harm to a lot of people for a long time.
Those who stand to receive wealth from the uranium mine are saying that it will bring jobs and prosperity. That is true, jobs such as cancer specialists, X-ray technicians, undertakers, coffin makers, drug manufacturers, etc. They are waiting for the uproar to die down, for public outrage to subside and for the blanket of anger to lessen. All of their so-called safety procedures amount to nothing compared to the forces of nature, and just such a site is a prime target for terrorists, a blown-up target that will harm and kill a lot of Americans. The hard, cold fact is that if they are allowed to dig that uranium out of the ground, it's going to kill a lot of people.
http://www.vancnews.com/articles/2011/10/20/warrenton/opinion/opinion03.txt
Sitting on uranium mining
Candidates are taking a wait-and-see approach to moratorium end.
From staff reports
With Election Day looming, politicians have been stumping in their redrawn General Assembly districts, talking up issues such as jobs and taxes, and locally, issues such as utility rates.
There is one topic, however, that doesn't seem to be much of an issue on the campaign trail: whether to lift the state's 30-year-old moratorium on uranium mining.
http://www.smithmountainlake.com/news/lakerWeekly/wb/299960
Regulatory Inroads into Uranium Mining
by: Progressive86
Wed Oct 19, 2011 at 22:16:08 PM EDT
Don't let the brilliance of this suggestion made by VA Sen. John Watkins (R-Midlothian) blow you away: the VA General Assembly may analyze VA's regulatory structure of the uranium mining industry before a decision is made to lift the "moratorium" on uranium mining. Brilliant indeed! Well Sen. Watkins, first things first.
If special permits are to be granted for uranium mining operations and a strict regulatory structure is to be promulgated, the agency(s) in charge will actually need the appropriate funds and manpower to undertake these charges. In our current political environment, who in the General Assembly is willing to spend extra on these important components of a lift on VA's uranium mining moratorium? Further, how long will this budgetary largesse last?
Perhaps, instead, the General Assembly decides to shift money from other, no less important programs, to fund the regulation of uranium mining. Where will the money be taken from, children's cancer research, infrastructure upgrades, afterschool programs? The possibilities are limitless!
Progressive86 :: Regulatory Inroads into Uranium Mining
Oh, of course, the windfall profits from uranium mining will pay for all of these regulatory mechanisms put into place and then some. Windfall profits? What evidence is such an assertion based upon? A French case study or even perhaps one from New Mexico? I'm not convinced that windfall profits are an inevitable consequence of uranium mining in VA.
What is most ironic about the "regulatory debate" is it is being discussed most ardently by the party that proclaims itself to be for small government and minimum bureaucracy.
Yet, they say, another bureaucratic element will have to be created to regulate uranium mining, and a fairly active bureaucratic element at that.
While the hypocrisy might be funny in another time and place, the consequences of uranium mining are no laughing matter. Maybe in another world these elected officials and their business cronies put as much effort into protecting human and environmental health as they do in making an extra buck.
http://bluevirginia.us/diary/5146/regulatory-inroads-into-uranium-mining
Judge Issues Injunction Against Land In Uravan Mining District
Oct 20th @ 5:17 pm in News by Jim Kapp
DENVER - A Judge in Denver has issued an injunction against twenty seven thousand acres of land in the Uravan Mining District used for Uranium Mining. The injunction was issued and requires the Department of Energy to complete an environmental impact assessment on the leases. This stems from a nearly four year old lawsuit filed in 2008 against the uranium lessees. Plaintiffs in the lawsuit also say that the operations violate the endangered species act because they have failed to address toxic discharge from the mining operations.
http://coloradoradio.com/2011/10/20/judge-issues-injunction-against-land-in-uravan-mining-district/
