Comments: Lies continue by uranium bunch: The company immediately embraced Watkins' request to the governor and a spokesman said the approach would be thorough and transparent, drop it PW, nukes not wanted, not needed. it is a sinking ship! Gov Bob, stay out of it, the people have spoken, we have put up your working group last year......We demand to keep the Ban!
Uranium Mining Proposal Abandoned in Virginia
By STEVE SZKOTAK Associated Press
RICHMOND, Va. February 1, 2013 (AP)
Unable to deliver the votes in the General Assembly, Sen. John Watkins withdrew his legislation to establish state regulations for uranium mining in Southside Virginia,
Watkins instead asked fellow Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell to use his administrative powers to have state agencies draw up the rules. McDonnell has not taken a position on the divisive issue and his spokesman J. Tucker Martin said the governor was reviewing the request.
Meanwhile, opponents of uranium mining, many of whom had traveled to Richmond for a hearing on the legislation, cheered when Watkins announced his decision.
"This is a resounding — a resounding — victory," said Cale Jaffe of the Southern Environmental Law Center.
He credited broad opposition to the proposal, which was pitched by the mining company as a job creator in a hard-hit section of the state.
"This is not just environmentalists," Jaffe said. "This is small business owners in Southside, it's farmers, it's parents of small children, it's community leaders, it's physicians — all these disparate voices coming together."
The company immediately embraced Watkins' request to the governor and a spokesman said the approach would be thorough and transparent.
"Some policymakers have suggested that unanswered questions remain," said spokesman Patrick Wales. "Sen. Watkins' suggested course of action would ensure that they have the benefit of all possible information on this issue before casting a vote on lifting the moratorium."
The General Assembly would still have to vote to accept the regulations, probably in 2014.
Uranium mining was the subject of a raft of studies, including one by a National Academy of Sciences panel. It concluded the state would be challenged to create regulations to ensure safe mining and milling. None of the studies offered absolute assurances that mining and milling can be done risk-free.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/uranium-mining-proposal-abandoned-virginia-18370205
