Safer ways to generate jobs – we don’t want uranium mining
The handful who stand to gain financially want us with farms, homes, businesses, and families to turn a blind, trusting eye as they play Russian roulette with all that could be negatively affected.The risks far out-weigh any possible benefit to the general public here, and others surrounding us, as well as future taxpayer expense.
There are safer ways to generate jobs, and tax revenue for this county.
Cree Nation stand against uranium mining in Quebec
many concerned groups and individuals are now joining the Crees in urging the Quebec government to conduct an independent and comprehensive assessment of the long-term environmental, social and ethical challenges presented by the uranium industryWhen the mining is done and the profits have been taken, these tailings will be left behind in my people’s backyard, where we have lived for thousands of years, and where we hunt, fish and trap, raise our children and bury our dead.
It is indisputable that these uranium tailings will remain radioactive and highly toxic for hundreds of thousands of years.
The Cree Nation will not be intimidated or silenced
Quebec should support Cree moratorium on uranium mining http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Opinion+Quebec+should+support+Cree+moratorium+uranium+mining/7695600/story
Danville/Pittsylvania County Chamber of Commerce oppose uranium mining
Chamber of Commerce Takes Stance on Uranium Mining http://www.wset.com/story/20340605/danville Dec 13, 201 By Tola Adamson Danville, VA– The Danville/Pittsylvania County Chamber of Commerce has now taken their stance on uranium mining.They released a statement on Tuesday saying they believe the moratorium on uranium mining and milling should not be lifted.Their decision came after the board of directors read studies and went to the public forums.
The Chamber said they did consider the possible economic benefits. However, the board said there are still unanswered questions about safety. They are also concerned it could negatively effect businesses.
“The Chamber is a pro-business, pro- economic development organization,” Chamber president Laurie Moran said. “We wanted to make sure we protected the jobs that were here as well as the future jobs that might come here.” In the statement the Chamber also said they
oppose the development of a uranium permitting program and anything that would help end the ban.
Vogtle Nuclear Plant costing $14 billion, and more costs each year
Monitor: Ga. nuclear plant delayed at least 1 year http://www.cbsatlanta.com/story/20328554/monitor-ga-nuclear-plant-delayed-at-least-1-year Dec 12, 2012 By RAY HENRY ATLANTA (AP) – Building the first in a new generation of nuclear power plants could take at least a year longer than expected and involve hundreds of millions of dollars in extra costs.TO THE HONORABLE LEGISLATORS OF VIRGINIA
Posted: Wednesday, December 12, 2012 10:15 am
Dear Legislative Aide:
Please give the Honorable Delegate o rSenator this article on uranium mining and milling cleanup. Written by a resident of MadisonCounty,Virginia, it includes the proposed issue of uranium mining and milling for the Commonwealth of Virginia. (The article and link is below.)
From the article: ...a new, state- of-the-art uranium mill would be a vast improvement over previous models. But if a uranium mill managed not to pollute groundwater, it would be the first time... Of the 52 mill sites in the U.S. (of which only one, in Blanding, Utah, is currently active), all 52 have led to ground- water contamination...
Not exactly a ringing endorsement for the uranium milling industry, is it?
When the Virginia General Assembly convenes in January, there is a high probability this issue will be discussed. It would be prudent to look at areas where uranium mining and mill- ing have already occurred and the costs associated with the cleanup afterwards. Was theamount set forth in surety bonds for clean- up enoughtoaccomplishthat goal? And, as the article queries, is it possible to restore the landscape to what it was before mining and milling occurred?
It would be prudent to be concerned about the future health, safety and wellbeing of Virginia citizens: This is an industry with an estimated operation period of 30 to 35 years, depending on the price of uranium and, historically, the boon and bust economy associated with it.
It would be prudent to consider the drinking water needs (as well as business and recreational needs) of those people living downstream of the proposed uranium mine and mill site. Virginia Beach draws water from Lake Gaston which supplies over one million Tidewater area residents with their drinking water, as well as the military complex there.
In North Carolina, seven counties, multiple municipalities and an estimated one million people draw their drinking water from the Roanoke River.
Lastly, considering there were 15,000 acres held under historic uranium mineral lease in the late 1970s and 1980s in several north central Virginia counties (Orange, Fauquier, Culpeper and Madison), are the honorable legislators certain uranium mining and milling would only occur in Southside Virginia? What could just the ex- ploration process for uranium mean (environmental impacts) for these counties’ drinking water supplies, or the Potomac, Rappahannock, Occoquan, and Rapidan
Rivers running through or beyond them? The Chesapeake Bay?
Remember that Virginia is home to eight million-plus residents, the legislators’ families and loved ones included. Consider whether risking the state’s annual $55 billion agri- cultural business is worth the min- ing and milling of a radioactive, heavy metals-laden element, like uranium.
Is bringing this industry to Virginia worth risking all Virginia has going for it now? Considering this industry’s costly legacy of negative impacts to both human health and natural environment, will the honorable legislators conclude a federal and state regulatory frame- work will really keep Virginia or its citizens safe?
If the answer is “yes,” I’d kindly ask for the article below to be reread-- especially where it discuss- es the costs of ongoing cleanups in Colorado, Utah and New Mexico.
Thank you for this e-mail’s consideration,
Anne Cockrell, Citizen,
Chatham-Blairs District of Pittsylvania County, VA
Worldwide, uranium mining declining, as its economic forecast sinks
Uranium miners still struggling to emerge from shadow of Fukushima Canada.com. BY PETER KOVEN, FINANCIAL POST DECEMBER 12, 2012 Following the Fukushima nuclear facility disaster in March 2011, uranium miners were quick to rationalize that the fundamentals of their business were unlikely to change and the world still needed more nuclear power.They were wrong, to put it kindly.
The recovery in Japan has been slower than we expected More than 21 months after Fukushima, the uranium business is still stuck in a rut. Uranium’s spot price has plummeted to nearly US$40 a pound (compared to a high topping US$135 in 2007), and there has been minimal activity in the spot market. Utilities are well-supplied with uranium for the foreseeable future, and, thanks to Fukushima, the outlook for demand growth is not nearly as healthy as it was a couple
of years ago Now the question on everyone’s mind is whether things will finally start to turn around in 2013?
The market is still waiting for news on Japanese reactor restarts, while digesting Germany’s plans to get out of the nuclear business entirely. And France, which derives three-quarters of its power supply from nuclear and is the industry’s biggest success story, is talking about scaling back its supply.
http://antinuclear.net/2012/12/13/worldwide-uranium-mining-declining-as-its-economic-forecast-sinks/
Chamber breaks its silence on uranium
BY MARY BETH JACKSON mjackson@registerbee.com (434) 791-7981 | Posted: Wednesday, December 12, 2012 7:53 pm
Saying its membership expects it to act on their interests, the Danville Pittsylvania County Chamber of Commerce has broken its silence about uranium mining and milling by supporting Virginia’s mining moratorium.
Chamber President Laurie Moran said the chamber’s board was honoring the membership by making the statement it released Tuesday. “They felt it was important that the business community in our region be represented,” she said.
The chamber is asking that the 1982 moratorium not only be kept in place, but says it “opposes the development of a uranium permitting program and regulatory framework that would effectively end the state’s moratorium.”
Virginia Uranium Inc. wants to mine a 119-million-pound uranium ore deposit
The chamber said this is not the time.
“The board of directors … believes there are still too many questions and uncertainties that could have negative consequences on our region,” the chamber said Tuesday.
Other business leaders from around Virginia have had little to say in the debate over whether or not to allow uranium mining in Virginia. The Virginia Chamber of Commerce does not mention uranium mining once in its 2013 Legislative Agenda, released in October. The Hampton Roads Chamber does not plan to take a position on the subject. Bucking the crowd, the Halifax County Chamber said in September that it is adamantly opposed to uranium mining in the Commonwealth.
The Danville Pittsylvania County Chamber’s board said it has yet to be convinced uranium mining would serve the greater good.
“Despite multiple studies and informational forums, there are still significant questions around whether uranium can be mined and milled safely in the Commonwealth of Virginia, specifically at the Coles Hill site,” the statement said.
The statement also expressed concern about the area’s economic viability if a uranium mine and mill were allowed to be established in Pittsylvania County.
“While considering possible economic benefits of such an industry, the board still has significant concerns surrounding the potential impact of uranium mining and milling on existing businesses and the region’s ability to attract, retain and grow jobs,” the statement said.
The local chamber of commerce has approximately 700 member enterprises. The board asked its members in October to weigh in on mining issues. Members were asked whether or not the chamber should take a position; if yes, what position; and what impact they believe a local uranium mining and milling operation would have on their businesses. The board said it would make a decision taking those opinions into account, but that it wouldn’t necessary reflect the sentiments of the responders.
Moran said the results of their questions would not be released, explaining it was not a scientific survey, but a request for comments.
“Because we promised to keep it confidential, we’re not going to say how that came back,” she said.
“I totally trust our board is engaged enough in this issue that their position is reflective of the membership,” she said.
Gov. Bob McDonnell’s Uranium Working Group is also looking at the potential effects that uranium mining and milling could have on business if the moratorium is lifted. The Uranium Working Group was formed in January by McDonnell to explore concerns connected with the uranium industry and form a draft regulatory framework for uranium mining and milling. The working group’s final report was issued Nov. 30, but was missing a socioeconomic study, which is not due back to the working group until Jan. 15.
That study examines perceptions of the uranium industry on economic development, measured through surveys of Virginia business leaders; 20 percent of businesses being surveyed will be from Danville and Pittsylvania County, with the remaining 80 percent coming from the rest of the state.
Organizations have said the absence of that report has stymied them from taking a position.
Moran said that while the board would have liked to have seen that final study, board members felt their own research was enough to form a position statement — and that the state’s findings wouldn’t alter their own.
Danville Mayor Sherman Saunders said he is “not surprised” by the chamber’s position.
“I’m not hearing a lot of people in favor of it,” he said, referring to the project.
Saunders noted that the chamber’s position seems to reflect what he’s hearing from people with whom he speaks. He said the area needs jobs, but the health of the community comes first.
“I’m hearing volumes of concern over the health factor,” he said.
Tim Barber, chairman of the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors, said the chamber’s position is akin to its own.
“That’s basically what we said,” Barber said. “We took the same stand.”
He said the potential mine and mill’s effect on business is a concern, and pointed to the National Academy of Sciences report’s evaluation that “steep hurdles” stand between the state and a safe uranium mining and milling industry.
“That hasn’t been overcome,” he said.
The topic of stigma was raised last week at AP Day at the Capitol in Richmond, an annual event to brief journalists on the issues before the General Assembly. The event included a panel on uranium mining.
Patrick Wales, a geologist and spokesman for Virginia Uranium, said Chmura and George Mason University have covered the stigma issue and “did not find any.”
“You’d think if all these horrible things were true, you’d find some impact of that on the economy,” he said.
Wales said the area needs the mine at Coles Hill to provide more jobs, citing the area’s decline in agriculture and manufacturing.
“If we have no agriculture or manufacturing and we’re against new industry, what do we have left?” he said.
Delegate Don Merricks, R-Pittsylvania, served on the same panel. He said his constituents say they have already experienced the stigma in the form of a stagnant real estate market and difficulty in attracting workers. He doesn’t want to see uranium become the area’s dominant industry, in the way coal has been for Southwest Virginia.
“I think it’s going to be hard to overcome that when you want to attract other industries,” he said.
Cale Jaffe, senior attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center, said the debate boils down to different perspectives about the future and “competing visions for economic development.” He said Virginia should not hedge its bets on mining jobs that will take years to come as everyone slogs through the regulatory process.
“We should move forward on the opportunities we’ve got right now,” he said.
BBC: “One of the most contaminated places on Earth” — Silence is deafening 10 miles from Fukushima plant — Nuclear power’s lie has been so tragically exposed
http://enenews.com/
http://enenews.com/
