Posted: Thursday, January 24, 2013 1:08 pm
Two months ago, delegates from 88 county Farm Bureaus statewide-farmers and owners of farm-land-determined by a vote that the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation would continue to support the moratorium.
While individual members and county Farm Bureaus have varying positions on the issue, the consensus they reached was that production agriculture should be pro-tected from any adverse effects uranium mining might have.
In general, Farm Bureau supports the safe and respon-sible exploration and extrac-tion of natural resources when steps are taken to protect personal property rights, environmentally sensitive areas and groundwater sup-plies.
Farmers' livelihoods are tied to their land and the products it can produce. For that reason, Farm Bureau has actively followed the study of uranium mining's potential effects.
The organization raised numerous questions last year during the Uranium Working Group review process, and our members believe there are significant issues that still need to be addressed before the moratorium is lifted.
They've voiced concerns about mining's potential im-pact on wells and water qual-ity and quantity; on property and livestock values and the ability to keep or sell either; and on the monitoring of land near mine sites and of foods produced there.
They've also had concerns about the storage of uranium tailings.
Any business decision about resources warrants careful deliberation. A deci-sion that will affect many different businesses and many families and their community merits more careful deliberation still.
At the end of the day, Vir-ginia's farmers simply want to live and work on their farms and raise marketable products.
And we believe a conver-sation about how uranium mining stands to affect the state's farm communities is appropriate. Farm Bureau intends to take an active role in that conversation.
The uranium under the commonwealth, while valu-able, isn't going anywhere. In the meantime, we hope state legislators and others will remember that our other natu-ral resources-and our com-munities-are valuable as well.
Wayne F. Pryor, a Goochland County beef and grain producer, is president of Virginia Farm Bureau
http://www.wpcva.com/opinion/article_17227b50-6651-11e2-89fe-001a4bcf887a.html
