| Written by Paula I. Bryant |
| 07:44 am 04/18/12 |
Andrew Lester, president of the Roanoke River Basin Association, tells supervisors and council members how the Banister River would be contaminated forever if some sort of catastrophic event caused a failure in one of eight proposed uranium tailings containment cells at Coles Hill in neighboring Pittsylvania County. (Doug Ford/Gazette-Virginian)
Andrew Lester, president of the Roanoke River Basin Association, showed how the Banister River would be contaminated forever if excess rains, earthquake, tornado or other catastrophe caused a failure in one of eight proposed uranium tailings containment cells at Coles Hill in neighboring Pittsylvania County.
Lester’s presentation was a follow-up on the initial finds from Virginia Beach’s Study presented to the three governing bodies last October on the Impacts of Uranium Mining and Milling on the Banister River and Dan River in Halifax County along with the entire Roanoke River Basin downstream of the proposed uranium mining and milling operation at Coles Hill in Pittsylvania County.
Jack Dunavant, chairman of We the People of Virginia, introduced Lester who presented the half-hour program on the study that pronounces dangers uranium mining poses to the Banister River, Kerr Lake and Lake Gaston.
“We catch the brunt of it,” Dunavant said, describing what could happen to the Banister River and surrounding areas downstream from the proposed uranium mining site should any tailings containment failure occur.
“We’ve known this for years, but we’ve never had any real proof. Well, you will see real proof tonight,” Dunavant said of the $500,000 computer model study done for Virginia Beach.
“It’s quite graphic. It’s something that proves the point that we’re ground zero,” Dunavant said.
Virginia Uranium Inc. plans to mine and mill approximately 63 million tons of uranium from the Coles Hill site in Pittsylvania County if Virginia lifts the moratorium on uranium mining.
Lester said the problem with uranium mining lies in the refining activities that yields large amounts of radioactive tailings - - a fine, powdery substance that can be blown or washed into nearby rivers and streams contaminating water supplies.
He explained that once deep-shaft mining begins at Coles Hill of the 63 million tons of uranium, 29 to 30 million tons of tailings waste would be the by-product resulting in mountains of powdery waste Virginia Uranium Inc. plans to contain in eight 40-acre cells.
“They crush the ore and mill it, and what’s left over is liquid and solid waste,” he added. “Only a small percent of what they get out will they keep. The rest they will pile up.”
According to Lester, the study proposes if one of the eight underground cells were to rupture, then one-third of one-eighth, or 1/24th of the tailings material would be lost in a normal storm event, like a hurricane or a man-made mistake.
The result would be contamination of water supplies, the study maintains.
“This is the kind of fight that goes way beyond political ideas,” Lester told supervisors and council members. “We all see it as a common danger to our river and to our region. And most of us are not going to stand by and be sold down the river for a few pieces of silver.”
Lester explained Virginia Beach paid for the study because it draws 65 million gallons of water a day from Lake Gaston and would be affected should some sort of disaster occur at the proposed uranium mine in Pittsylvania County.
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