Comments: There are several positive articles in today's news. However, do not take them as a signal that this is over...far from it. Keep up the calls, emails, visits and letters to the editor. It may be we have to have a repeat performance next year. Think of all the knowledge and experience we've gained regarding this issue in the past several years. We'll be ready.
From VCN
For the last 30 years, we have been protected by Virginia’s ban on uranium mining. This ban has kept dangerous chemicals and radioactive waste out of our communities and our environment.
Members of the Virginia Senate will vote this week to keep or dismantle this important safeguard.
Please take one minute RIGHT NOW to call your state Senator and urge him or her to protect Virginia's 30-year ban on uranium mining by opposing Senate Bill 1353. Find your state Senator's contact information here and call him or her right away.
The vote that is happening on Thursday will be in the Senate Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources Committee. And the vote will be very very close! If the bill makes it to a floor vote, your Senator's vote could be the one that keeps the ban...and your phone call today could be the one that makes all the difference! Call and urge your Senator to vote NO on Senate Bill 1353 right now.
After you make your call, please consider attending the Committee hearing. The safety of our public health and environment are counting on your voice. Be heard on Thursday! Here are the details:
Thursday, January 31
Approximate Start Time: 12:30 pm
Senate Room B of the General Assembly Building
9th and Broad Streets, enter from Capitol Square
Richmond, VA 23219
For more information on uranium mining and the threats to our health, environment and economy, visit our Keep The Ban website. If you need additional information about attending the hearing, please call our office at (804) 225-1902.
Thanks so much for all your support and action. Now is the time speak up! Call your Senator today!
Sincerely,
Jeffrey Painter
Executive Director
http://hamptonroads.com/2013/
28 January 2013 | 9:35 PM
Uranium prospects in General Assembly
Proposals to lift a long term ban on uranium mining remain alive in the General Assembly, though they're closer to being buried than being dug up.
With a key legislative deadline looming, uranium interests are hoping for late breaking action on bills in the House of Delegates and Senate, even as circumstances beyond their control seem to conspire against them.
In the Senate, the main mining bill is pending in the Senate Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources Committee, a panel with 8 Republicans, 7 Democrats, and what's shaping up as a majority of members who oppose lifting the ban.
Meanwhile, companion legislation in the House sponsored by Del. Jackson Miller, R-Manassas, is in a "holding pattern" at his request until the situation in the Senate becomes clear.
Virginia Uranium Inc., a company that controls an expansive Pittsylvania County parcel with rich deposits of the radioactive rock used in nuclear power plants when processed, is leading the charge to mine,
Mining foes include environmentalists who fear potential public health hazards from mining waste, known as tailings, and South Hampton Roads localities worried about contamination of local drinking water supplies.
On the committee, 8 senators support keeping the ban: Sen. Adam Ebbin, D-Alexandria; Sen. Dave Marsden, D-Fairfax County; Sen. Donald McEachin, D-Henrico County; Sen. Ralph Northam, D-Norfolk; Sen. J. Chapman "Chap" Petersen, D-Fairfax City; Sen. Phillip Puckett, D-Russell County; Sen. Frank Ruff, R-Clarksville; and Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin County.
Augusta County Sen. Emmett Hanger, a Republican who chairs the committee, Monday suggested he's leaning against the bill, saying he'd need "encouragement" from people in the affected region to convince him to support it.
Others on the committee include Sen. Dick Black, R-Loudoun County; Sen. Harry Blevins, R-Chesapeake; Sen. John Miller, D-Newport News; Sen. Richard Stuart, R-Montross; Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Harrisonburg; and Watkins, R-Powhatan County.
Despite those factors, uranium legislation still has a chance.
Here's why.
Aside from the primary bills, both Miller and Watkins have bills to tax uranium which could be amended at some point between now and next Tuesday to mirror the Senate uranium bill stuck in Agriculture.
Watkins' severance tax legislation is in the Finance Committee where Republicans have a 10-5 advantage and at least one Democratic member, Sen. Richard Saslaw of Fairfax County, supports mining legislation.
Amending that legislation on the Senate floor, if a uranium bill gets that far, would be tougher because Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, who favors keeping the ban, would have some say in the matter.
He said Monday his initial impression is that attempting such an amendment on the floor "sounds like a stretch, but stranger things have happened up here."
-- Julian Walker
Uranium mining ban appears hard to dislodge
More than half of the 15 members of the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee oppose lifting the banhttp://www.roanoke.com/
By Michael Sluss
RICHMOND -- Supporters of uranium mining appear to have an uphill fight persuading a key Senate committee to support legislation that would lift Virginia's 31-year-old moratorium on uranium mining and establish a regulatory program for the industry.
At least eight of the 15 members of the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee oppose lifting the moratorium or are leaning in that direction, according to interviews that The Roanoke Times conducted Friday and Monday.
Four members said they are undecided and one declined to say how he will vote when the committee hears the bill, likely on Thursday.
Only two members of the committee -- including the bill's sponsor, Sen. John Watkins, R-Powhatan -- have publicly declared support for lifting the ban.
The Senate committee hearing will be the first major legislative test for supporters of a proposed uranium mining and milling operation in Pittsylvania County. Virginia Uranium Inc. hopes to tap one of the world's largest known uranium deposits in the Coles Hill community near Chatham. The uranium mining debate is one of the most contentious and closely watched issues of this General Assembly session.
Supporters of legislation (Senate Bill 1353) to lift the moratorium argue that the proposed mining operation would have significant economic benefits for a region of the state that has struggled with high unemployment rates.
Opponents have argued that a uranium mining and milling operation would pose risks to the environment and public health and create a stigma that would hurt economic development efforts in the region. Concern about potential contamination of Lake Gaston has fueled opposition in Hampton Roads, which relies on the lake for much of its drinking water supply.
The Senate committee's chairman, Sen. Emmett Hanger, R-Augusta County, said he is leaning against lifting the moratorium, largely because of opposition of legislators who represent the region.
Two outspoken opponents of lifting the moratorium - Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin County, and Sen. Frank Ruff, R-Mecklenburg County, sit on the committee. Also, the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors has passed a resolution opposing uranium mining.
Environmental groups opposed to uranium mining rallied on Capitol Square on Monday and lobbied legislators on the issue.
Sen. Harry Blevins, R-Chesapeake, a member of the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, said he has heard "real strong voices on both sides," but wants to hear more before making up his mind.
"I don't like to make a decision on something until I've heard from both sides," Blevins said.
Democratic committee members Adam Ebbin of Arlington, David Marsden of Fairfax County, Donald McEachin of Richmond, Ralph Northam of Norfolk and Chap Petersen of Fairfax said they oppose lifting the moratorium.
Democrat John Miller of Newport News said he remains undecided. Democrat Phillip Puckett of Russell County said he has made up his mind, but declined to say how he would vote.
Three Republican committee members -- Blevins, Mark Obenshain of Harrisonburg and Richard Stuart of Westmoreland County -- said they remain undecided. Watkins and Sen. Dick Black, R-Loudoun County, support lifting the ban.
"I'm sensitive to the concerns people have," Black said Monday.
But, he added, "If this country doesn't start producing real things, I think the country is going to continue to have economic problems. I think energy is the key to restoring economic vitality."
Stanley said last week that he will fight any effort to have the bill sent to the Commerce and Labor Committee.
"It's a mining bill," said Stanley, crisply explaining why he believes the bill belongs in the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Plans to lift Va. uranium ban stalled
By Errin Haines, Jan 28, 2013 08:17 PM EST
The Washington Post Published: January 28
RICHMOND — A pair of proposals that would lift the moratorium on uranium mining permits have stalled in the General Assembly, jeopardizing the prospect for a vote on the matter this session.
“This may be one of those things that may take many years to get passed,” Miller said. “We’ll see what happens in the Senate.”
In the Senate, the bill was assigned to the Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources. Sen John C. Watkins (R-Powhatan), the bill’s sponsor, said he was “confused” by the assignment.
When asked about the legislation’s chances for survival in the remainder of the 45-day session, Watkins responded, “I’m not sure.” The bill could be on the agenda Thursday — giving lawmakers less than a week to take a vote in their respective chambers.
Meanwhile, dozens of people opposed to lifting the ban came to the Capitol on Monday to lobby legislators.
Critics are worried that uranium mining poses significant environmental and health risks to the surrounding community and could stigmatize the area against residential and commercial development.
http://www.wsoctv.com/news/
**************************************************************************
Southside Group Holds Anti-Uranium Mining Rally in Richmond
WSET.com - ABC13
Richmond, VA - A rally is underway in Richmond today, led by a group on the Southside that's against uranium mining in Virginia.
Protesters were lining up on both sides of a walkway in front of the General Assembly Monday.
Uranium mining opponents line streets of Richmond prior to Monday's legislative session
WDBJ7 Senior ReporterWDBJ7
A few hundred people gathered in Capitol Square before the day's legislative session. They lined the walkway between the General Assembly Building and the State Capitol, encouraging
http://www.wset.com/story/20752662/southside-group-holds-anti-uranium-mining-rally-in-richmond
http://www.wdbj7.com/news/wdbj7-uranium-mining-opponents-line-streets-of-richmond-prior-to-mondays-legislative-session-20130128,0,5781971.story
Some in NC concerned about possibility of uranium mining in Va.
By Jason Stoogenke
CHARLOTTE, N.C. —
“This may be one of those things that may take many years to get passed,” Miller said. “We’ll see what happens in the Senate.”
In the Senate, the bill was assigned to the Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources. Sen John C. Watkins (R-Powhatan), the bill’s sponsor, said he was “confused” by the assignment.
When asked about the legislation’s chances for survival in the remainder of the 45-day session, Watkins responded, “I’m not sure.” The bill could be on the agenda Thursday — giving lawmakers less than a week to take a vote in their respective chambers.
Meanwhile, dozens of people opposed to lifting the ban came to the Capitol on Monday to lobby legislators.
Critics are worried that uranium mining poses significant environmental and health risks to the surrounding community and could stigmatize the area against residential and commercial development.
http://www.wsoctv.com/news/
**************************************************************************
Southside Group Holds Anti-Uranium Mining Rally in Richmond
WSET.com - ABC13
Richmond, VA - A rally is underway in Richmond today, led by a group on the Southside that's against uranium mining in Virginia.
Protesters were lining up on both sides of a walkway in front of the General Assembly Monday.
Uranium mining opponents line streets of Richmond prior to Monday's legislative session
WDBJ7 Senior ReporterWDBJ7
1:14 p.m. EST, January 28, 2013
RICHMOND, Va.—
Opponents of uranium mining are hoping to keep up the pressure on state lawmakers, and on Monday they returned to Richmond to make their case. A few hundred people gathered in Capitol Square before the day's legislative session. They lined the walkway between the General Assembly Building and the State Capitol, encouraging
http://www.wdbj7.com/news/wdbj7-uranium-mining-opponents-line-streets-of-richmond-prior-to-mondays-legislative-session-20130128,0,5781971.story
Some in NC concerned about possibility of uranium mining in Va.
By Jason Stoogenke
CHARLOTTE, N.C. —
A fight in another state could have serious impacts here on your water.
Virginia lawmakers are thinking of allowing uranium mining for the first time in about 30 years. If they allow it, many expect crews to start on land in Pittsylvania County, which may have one of the largest deposits of the element in the country and touches North Carolina.
Advocates promise the process is safe. But others worry about contamination seeping into the water and traveling hundreds of miles.
"It's very stressful. We would move,” Leslie James said. “It's that kind of stressful."
Eyewitness News met her in Raleigh. She was off to Richmond to rally against the mining Monday.
North Carolinians should be concerned, if you read a study the National Academy of Sciences did about a year ago. It says Virginia would have to overcome "steep hurdles" to make sure mining is safe for the public
The Southern Environmental Law Center's Cale Jaffe put it this way: "It's management of that waste for a long term that threatens surface water, ground water, and, of course, drinking water. That's been the driving concern."
And it's been such a concern, Mecklenburg County state Rep. Ruth Samuelson teamed up with other lawmakers to send Virginia's governor a letter last month, saying their group has "significant concern" with the plans and urging Virginia to consider the "possible adverse impacts" to North Carolina.
When asked her level of concern as a Mecklenburg County resident, Samuelson said, "For Charlotte...none. For the people in the watershed that would be impacted, enough that we thought that we ought to write the letter."
Mining advocates argue the U.S. is too dependent on foreign uranium, maybe even more so than foreign oil. The U.S. imports about 90 percent of its uranium from other countries.
Virginia lawmakers are thinking of allowing uranium mining for the first time in about 30 years. If they allow it, many expect crews to start on land in Pittsylvania County, which may have one of the largest deposits of the element in the country and touches North Carolina.
Advocates promise the process is safe. But others worry about contamination seeping into the water and traveling hundreds of miles.
"It's very stressful. We would move,” Leslie James said. “It's that kind of stressful."
Eyewitness News met her in Raleigh. She was off to Richmond to rally against the mining Monday.
North Carolinians should be concerned, if you read a study the National Academy of Sciences did about a year ago. It says Virginia would have to overcome "steep hurdles" to make sure mining is safe for the public
The Southern Environmental Law Center's Cale Jaffe put it this way: "It's management of that waste for a long term that threatens surface water, ground water, and, of course, drinking water. That's been the driving concern."
And it's been such a concern, Mecklenburg County state Rep. Ruth Samuelson teamed up with other lawmakers to send Virginia's governor a letter last month, saying their group has "significant concern" with the plans and urging Virginia to consider the "possible adverse impacts" to North Carolina.
When asked her level of concern as a Mecklenburg County resident, Samuelson said, "For Charlotte...none. For the people in the watershed that would be impacted, enough that we thought that we ought to write the letter."
Mining advocates argue the U.S. is too dependent on foreign uranium, maybe even more so than foreign oil. The U.S. imports about 90 percent of its uranium from other countries.
1/28 a.m. u-news
By Lavinia (Bebo) Edmunds
The idea of uranium in Virginia seems as incomprehensible as dogwood trees in the Sahara desert. Even after reading the reports from various committees, the National Academy of Sciences report, hearing the contentious debates in the state legislature and seeing pictures of mines online, there is still an air of unreality about the enormous deposit of uranium found in Coles Hill, a settled farming community in the rolling hills of southern Virginia.
Now as the Virginia State Legislature debates whether to allow uranium mining at Coles Hill in southern Virginia, I decide to drive out and see for myself. I arrange to get a tour with Philip Lovelace, who farms 100 acres not far from Coles Hill.
On the 34-mile trip from Halifax, I drive through little villages, no more than a couple of houses each–Nathalie, Republican Grove, Cod, Climax . . .Small brick houses; tobacco barns that look from a distance like quaint log cabins; rolling fields, edged in pine: then the town of Gretna. ”It ain’t no big thing, but it’s growing,” reads the welcoming sign in town, the same sign I remember from years ago, driving through Gretna on my way to Hollins College in Roanoke.
Some legislators who have visited the area have remarked that there’s nothing around. But look closer and you will find the small farms set back from the road, nestled right by Coles Hill, like baby cubs to a Mama Bear. Dig deeper and you will find another civil war; brothers against brothers; neighbors against neighbors, armed with their different vision for their families and community. At the heart of this property, at least on the surface, is a vital, long-established farming community that goes back generations.
We drive through undulating fields that seem to grow more well-groomed and beautiful as we approach what Lovelace calls “ground zero.” There in the distance is Walter Cole’s abode, a stately brick home dating back to the 1700s, close to where the proposed mine and mill could be located.
Across one road is the 150-acre north deposit, deep in the earth. It’s only several hundred feet from this point to a creek. Down the road is the site of the south deposit—100 acres, where more uranium would be excavated, close by Dry Branch, a creek which overflowed just the other week.
Adding the waste cells to contain 28 million tons of waste, the operation has been projected to spread over an enormous swath of farmland.
A network of rushing creeks criss-crosses the land; a pond sits high on a hill. The water table is low, which makes this project especially risky. Contaminants could be carried through these creeks and underground wells down the Banister River, which supplies drinking water to the Hampton Roads and Virginia Beach area, not to mention the residents who live in the vicinity.
The NAS warned of “steep hurdles” to be surmounted and noted that it is “questionable” whether “in a hydrologically active environment such as Virginia” the methods of storing the mountains of radioactive waste “could be expected to prevent erosion and surface groundwater contamination for 1000 years.”
Most people around here, 98 percent of them who live close to the mine, are against it, by the count of farmer Bryron Motley, who lives on the other side of the mine site. The most official poll, conducted by Virginia Commonwealth University in the fall, showed 53 percent strongly against uranium mining in the Danville-Pittsylvania region, versus 29 percent for the project.
Reflecting this opposition, the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors Wednesday voted 5-1 to keep the moratorium on uranium mining in place.
It took the Board of Supervisors a while to come to this decision. The promise of jobs in a depressed economy is hard to pass up, while all the localities around and downstream—over 27 cities, towns and counties in Virginia, not counting 14 cities and counties in North Carolina in a growing list of opponents, www.commonhealth.com have passed strong resolutions against the location of the mill here months, ago as report after report tries to assess the impact of extracting uranium in this flood-prone location right at the Banister River.
Most people who are for uranium mining look to the jobs that are promised, or have some investment in Virginia Uranium, like the farmer I encountered in line at the Gretna McDonalds. “Been in the ground all this time. Ain’t no harm in it,” he said.
“We need the jobs in this broke-a#@# place.”
On the contrary, Lovelace points out, jobs could be lost if the uranium mine located here. In Pittsylvania County, there are four thriving large dairy farms; a baby food manufacturer; Nestle, the maker of cookie dough; and others whose products could be tainted by the possibility of contamination.
Then, often overlooked, is the loss of agriculture, which depends on clean water and air. According to a report by University of Virginia’s Terance J. Rephann, agribusiness in Pittsylvania County is a live, vital part of the economy, contributing $1.2 billion in 2011, considering total industry input for timber and agricultural industries.
Uranium mining is NOT compatible with farming or many other kinds of jobs.
Lovelace and his wife Deborah, along with many in the area surrounding the mine, have been devoting most of their waking hours to learning about the uranium mine, and as they learn more, they grow more adamant. Sometimes it seems like a losing battle, and worse, a nasty battle as some neighbors disagree.
Some neighbors have been afraid to voice their concerns, concludes Lovelace. “It’s Southern hospitality. They don’t want to hurt their neighbors. They’re promising a lot of kids a job. But when someone is depending on you, your health, you have to step up to the plate and speak out.”
The idea of uranium in Virginia seems as incomprehensible as dogwood trees in the Sahara desert. Even after reading the reports from various committees, the National Academy of Sciences report, hearing the contentious debates in the state legislature and seeing pictures of mines online, there is still an air of unreality about the enormous deposit of uranium found in Coles Hill, a settled farming community in the rolling hills of southern Virginia.
Now as the Virginia State Legislature debates whether to allow uranium mining at Coles Hill in southern Virginia, I decide to drive out and see for myself. I arrange to get a tour with Philip Lovelace, who farms 100 acres not far from Coles Hill.
On the 34-mile trip from Halifax, I drive through little villages, no more than a couple of houses each–Nathalie, Republican Grove, Cod, Climax . . .Small brick houses; tobacco barns that look from a distance like quaint log cabins; rolling fields, edged in pine: then the town of Gretna. ”It ain’t no big thing, but it’s growing,” reads the welcoming sign in town, the same sign I remember from years ago, driving through Gretna on my way to Hollins College in Roanoke.
Some legislators who have visited the area have remarked that there’s nothing around. But look closer and you will find the small farms set back from the road, nestled right by Coles Hill, like baby cubs to a Mama Bear. Dig deeper and you will find another civil war; brothers against brothers; neighbors against neighbors, armed with their different vision for their families and community. At the heart of this property, at least on the surface, is a vital, long-established farming community that goes back generations.
We drive through undulating fields that seem to grow more well-groomed and beautiful as we approach what Lovelace calls “ground zero.” There in the distance is Walter Cole’s abode, a stately brick home dating back to the 1700s, close to where the proposed mine and mill could be located.
Across one road is the 150-acre north deposit, deep in the earth. It’s only several hundred feet from this point to a creek. Down the road is the site of the south deposit—100 acres, where more uranium would be excavated, close by Dry Branch, a creek which overflowed just the other week.
Adding the waste cells to contain 28 million tons of waste, the operation has been projected to spread over an enormous swath of farmland.
A network of rushing creeks criss-crosses the land; a pond sits high on a hill. The water table is low, which makes this project especially risky. Contaminants could be carried through these creeks and underground wells down the Banister River, which supplies drinking water to the Hampton Roads and Virginia Beach area, not to mention the residents who live in the vicinity.
The NAS warned of “steep hurdles” to be surmounted and noted that it is “questionable” whether “in a hydrologically active environment such as Virginia” the methods of storing the mountains of radioactive waste “could be expected to prevent erosion and surface groundwater contamination for 1000 years.”
Most people around here, 98 percent of them who live close to the mine, are against it, by the count of farmer Bryron Motley, who lives on the other side of the mine site. The most official poll, conducted by Virginia Commonwealth University in the fall, showed 53 percent strongly against uranium mining in the Danville-Pittsylvania region, versus 29 percent for the project.
Reflecting this opposition, the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors Wednesday voted 5-1 to keep the moratorium on uranium mining in place.
It took the Board of Supervisors a while to come to this decision. The promise of jobs in a depressed economy is hard to pass up, while all the localities around and downstream—over 27 cities, towns and counties in Virginia, not counting 14 cities and counties in North Carolina in a growing list of opponents, www.commonhealth.com have passed strong resolutions against the location of the mill here months, ago as report after report tries to assess the impact of extracting uranium in this flood-prone location right at the Banister River.
Most people who are for uranium mining look to the jobs that are promised, or have some investment in Virginia Uranium, like the farmer I encountered in line at the Gretna McDonalds. “Been in the ground all this time. Ain’t no harm in it,” he said.
“We need the jobs in this broke-a#@# place.”
On the contrary, Lovelace points out, jobs could be lost if the uranium mine located here. In Pittsylvania County, there are four thriving large dairy farms; a baby food manufacturer; Nestle, the maker of cookie dough; and others whose products could be tainted by the possibility of contamination.
Then, often overlooked, is the loss of agriculture, which depends on clean water and air. According to a report by University of Virginia’s Terance J. Rephann, agribusiness in Pittsylvania County is a live, vital part of the economy, contributing $1.2 billion in 2011, considering total industry input for timber and agricultural industries.
Uranium mining is NOT compatible with farming or many other kinds of jobs.
Lovelace and his wife Deborah, along with many in the area surrounding the mine, have been devoting most of their waking hours to learning about the uranium mine, and as they learn more, they grow more adamant. Sometimes it seems like a losing battle, and worse, a nasty battle as some neighbors disagree.
Some neighbors have been afraid to voice their concerns, concludes Lovelace. “It’s Southern hospitality. They don’t want to hurt their neighbors. They’re promising a lot of kids a job. But when someone is depending on you, your health, you have to step up to the plate and speak out.”
