Who will decide the (uranium) mining issue?

By: The Editorial Board | GoDanRiver
Published: April 17, 2012 Updated: April 17, 2012 - 6:00 AM

To the editor:

Many thanks for an excellent editorial in the Danville Register & Bee, "‘Silent Bob’ and future of mining" (April 11, page A8).

Virginia’s governor, "Silent Bob" McDonnell, hasn’t been so silent in the past and is now realizing he should probably step away from the process he’s started, otherwise, he might receive the pro-uranium mining industry’s praise (as well as blame, by the anti-mining environmental citizen groups), if the state overturns its uranium mining moratorium during the 2013 convening of the General Assembly. With ongoing efforts to have state agencies design a "conceptual regulatory framework" for uranium mining and milling, one could argue the stage is being set to have this occur.

Not to worry, though, about catching either praise or blame; the governor has the Virginia Coal & Energy Commission’s Uranium Mining Subcommittee carrying out his wishes, which, arguably, has been its members’ wish all along, what they called in January the "… third viable option ... ."
Maybe the governor isn’t the only one who should remain silent regarding his feelings on the uranium mining issue. Chief of Staff Martin L. Kent is creating another situation where some backpedaling may be necessary.

Did you read Kent’s March 27 letter to the members of the VC&EC’s Uranium Mining Subcommittee? Page two of this letter states: "Because you are the body charged with deciding whether or not to lift the moratorium, it is imperative that you receive all of the information you require through a process that affords you the opportunity to make a decision founded on a scientific and factual analysis of the risks and benefits of uranium mining and milling in Virginia."

Well, I can assure you, this is not very reassuring news to learn that Kent is giving the VC&EC’s Uranium Mining Subcommittee written permission to decide the fate of the uranium mining and milling question for Virginia. Even with the recent appointment of Southside Del. Don Merricks, R-16th District, to this subcommittee, who I feel is sincerely concerned about how the uranium mining and milling industry might affect the citizenry and environment of Virginia, it does little to allay my concerns that the subcommittee would offer an impartial and unbiased decision on this issue facing the state.

No. 10 on its list of "Powers and duties of the Commission" clearly identifies one of the VC&EC’s functions is to "Investigate and make recommendations regarding the development of nuclear power."

Recognizing that nuclear power is the backend of the nuclear fuel cycle, while uranium mining and milling is the very front end, one could argue that opening up the state to uranium exploration and the mining and milling of the ore deposits at Coles Hill could be reflective and supportive of this function.

Further, under the commission’s powers and duties: "The Chairman of the Commission shall submit to the General Assembly and the Governor an annual executive summary of the interim activity and work of the Commission no later than the first day of each regular session of the General Assembly."
Gov. McDonnell, per his Jan. 19, 2012, directive, has requested that by Dec. 1 of this year, the newly formed Uranium Working Group will have reported its findings to the VC&EC, no doubt, in time for the commission to prepare its annual report for the 2013 General Assembly.

Did Kent, communicating on behalf of the governor, erroneously write the uranium mining issue would be decided by the VC&EC’s Uranium Mining Subcommittee? If he is not in error, shouldn’t this decision really fall into the hands of the entire Virginia General Assembly, whose membership represents all of Virginia — not just a pro-mining/pro-nuclear power entity, like the Virginia Coal & Energy Commission or its Uranium Mining Subcommittee?

And, supposing, Kent’s statement in his letter is correct, what do you suppose this pro-mining/pro-nuclear power entity’s recommendation will be to the 2013 General Assembly on the uranium mining and milling question for Virginia?

In the end, will the VC&EC only make a recommendation to the Virginia General Assembly, or will it, as Kent (the governor’s representative) implied in his letter, take the charge and decide whether to overturn the state’s moratorium on uranium mining and inform the Virginia General Assembly of its decision?

Clearly, some clarification is needed.

ANNE COCKRELL
Danville

http://www2.godanriver.com/news/2012/apr/17/who-will-decide-mining-issue-ar-1847010/