The House Commerce and Labor Committee aren't scheduled to meet until Tuesday.
Now that VUI is asking the governor to circumvent the General Assembly again by asking him to use state agencies to create the regulations.
Patrick Wales is saying that would help to answer any unanswered questions before the legislators vote.
Call the governor and tell him to STOP wasting our tax dollars on an industry that isn't even viable in Southside, Virginia.
The Pittsylvania Co. Board of Supervisors has voted to Keep The Ban. Honor the will of the people and Keep The Ban.
Gov. McDonnell
Office:
(804) 786-2211
Fax: (804) 371-6351
TTY/TDD (For the deaf or hard-of-hearing):
1-800-828-1120, or 711
http://www.governor.virginia.
Here is the list of the House Labor and Commerce members. If anyone knows which ones have taken a position and which ones are undecided then please report it to Freeda Cathcart stonecart1@gmail.com or call 540-598-7231.
Kilgore, Terry GWare, R. Lee, Jr.
Purkey, Harry R.
Byron, Kathy J.
Ware, R. Lee, Jr.
Hugo, Timothy D.
Rust, Thomas Davis
Marshall, Daniel W., III
Cline, Benjamin L.
Miller, Jackson H.
Merricks, Donald W.
Loupassi, G. M. (Manoli)
Cosgrove, John A.
Bell, Robert B.
Comstock, Barbara J.
Habeeb, Gregory D.
Johnson, Joseph P., Jr.
Joannou, Johnny S.
McClellan, Jennifer L.
Ward, Jeion A.
Lewis, Lynwood W., Jr.
Tyler, Roslyn C.
Spruill, Lionell, Sr.
Great work team! For those of you on facebook you might want to join the facebook group Mothers United Against Uranium Mining
Thank you,
Freeda Cathcart
Founder Mothers United Against Uranium Mining
540-598-7231
Hopefully you've seen some of the press coverage about our victory on uranium yesterday.
Conservationists, farmers, businesses, civic organizations, municipalities and others lined up in opposition to uranium mining. Elected leaders on both sides of the aisle spoke out against the threats that uranium would pose to our environment, our public health and our economy.
And yesterday, one of the bills that would allow uranium mining (Senate Bill 1353) was pulled from the Committee because it lacked the support to pass. You can read more about it here.
Please take a moment to celebrate this victory. You made this happen! Thank you for following the issue, for calling your state Senator and Delegate, and for all the support you've given over the years.
We will be keeping a watchful eye on any remaining legislation or budget language to make sure Virginia's uranium mining ban stays in place.
Again, thank you for all that you've done to preserve Virginia's natural landscape.
Sincerely,
Jeffrey Painter
Executive Director
Virginia governor now focal point in debate, target of calls over uranium mining
By Associated Press,RICHMOND, Va. — Gov. Bob McDonnell has become the sole focus of the tug-of-war over uranium mining in Virginia now that the sponsor of a House bill that would establish mining regulations agreed to drop his legislation.
Delegate Jackson Miller said he’s asked the chairman of the House Commerce and Labor Committee, Delegate Terry Kilgore, to not bring forward his legislation, meaning it will likely sit in committee past crossover day on Tuesday. Legislation that has a chance of passing must move from one chamber to the other by that day.
“He said if that’s my wish, he’s happy to do that,” Miller, R-Manassas, said Friday.
Sen. John Watkins, a Powhatan Republican, is the leading advocate of uranium mining in the General Assembly. He withdrew his version of the legislation on Thursday with it facing almost certain defeat in committee and on the floor of the Senate. Watkins then asked McDonnell to direct state agencies to draw up regulations for the mining
The actions by Watkins and Miller shift what was expected to be a bruising battle in the General Assembly to squarely on McDonnell’s shoulders. A spokesman said Friday the governor’s position remained unchanged: he’s still reviewing the issue.
Anti-mining activists who had been targeting key legislators with emails and telephone calls are now turning their lobbying effort to McDonnell. His office received dozens of calls by noon Friday, spokesman J. Tucker Martin said.
McDonnell’s indecision has been curious for a Republican governor who has promoted U.S. energy independence and who has advocated an “all of the above” approach to achieve that — from coal to offshore oil and winds.
Cale Jaffe, director of the Virginia office of the Southern Environmental Law Center, briefed McDonnell in December and was “impressed by his willingness to dig into the details of the issue” and his thoughtful questions.
“At this point, the studies have been done, and those studies — particularly the peer-review National Academy of Sciences Study — have validated a lot of our core concerns,” Jaffe wrote in an email. “The science has shed a lot of light on this issue.”
“The legislation presented this year was lengthy and complex, but even so, did not address every detail that would ultimately be included in fully promulgated regulations,” Patrick Wales, project manager for Virginia Uranium Inc., said in a statement.
The matter will still have to return to the General Assembly for approval, but not this year.
Watkins, who expressed similar sentiments in spiking his bill, has questioned McDonnell’s silence on the issue. Miller said he has discussed the matter with the governor.
“He tells me he’s evaluating it,” he said. “I take him at his word. He doesn’t really like to say much more than that.”
Miller denied that the appeal to the governor is a backdoor effort to move uranium mining forward, as opponents have said. “They do stuff like this all the time — Republican governors, Democratic governors.”
Virginia Uranium is seeking an end to a state prohibition on uranium mining that dates back three decades. It requires that regulations be in place. The company wants to mine a 119-million-pound deposit of the ore in Pittsylvania County that it says will bring hundreds of jobs to a region that sorely needs them.
Opponents argue that the environmental and public health risks outweigh the economic advantages.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-governor-now-focal-point-in-debate-target-of-calls-over-uranium-mining/2013/02/01/37e3e63e-6ca6-11e2-8f4f-2abd96162ba8_print.html
Similar stories:
- Uranium mining proposal abandoned in Virginia
- Uranium mining proposal abandoned in Virginia
- Opponents: Va. uranium bill doomed in committee
- Va. uranium mining legislation spiked by sponsor
- Uranium backers gave gifts, donations to lawmakers
By Jim Malewitz, Staff Writer
An effort in the Virginia legislature to lift the state’s 31-year-old moratorium on uranium mining has failed, dealing a blow to supporters of a plan to tap the country’s largest known uranium deposit. But the debate is far from over.
Senator John Watkins Thursday (January 31), withdrew legislation that would have allowed the state to write regulations for mining and milling uranium — the Republican’s attempt to clear the way for the development of a 119-million-pound deposit in rural Southside Virginia large enough to power every U.S. nuclear reactor for more than two years.
Supporters say the development, which would be the only mine east of the Mississippi River, would add high-paying jobs to the economically distressed region long dependent on tobacco and textiles. Opponents argue the environmental and health risks are too great, particularly in a state that has no experience regulating mining, and where a moist climate with frequent storms would complicate efforts to keep radioactive waste from the process out of local water supplies.
Watkins, who spiked the bill after realizing he lacked support in committee, said it was “frustrating,” he could not convince lawmakers that mining would be safe, following two years of close study.
“There is a lack understanding regarding the world marketplace,” he said in an emotional four-page statement. “The failure to lift this ban is a definite stigma and blot on our reputation as a pro-business, pro-energy, pro-property rights state.”
Critics of the proposal, including health and environmental advocates, as well as farmers and some business groups, cheered Watkins’ move, expressing relief.
“The long-term risks are real,” said Cale Jaffe, director of Charlottesville office of the Southern Environmental Law Center. “Today’s action sends a clear message that legislators have heard us.”
But those on both sides of the issue acknowledge the debate will continue in the coming years. Virginia Uranium, the company that has spent millions of dollars in its effort to develop the site, has said it has no plans to give in.
“We’re going to be vigilant,” Andrew Lester, executive director of the anti-mining Roanoke River Basin Association, told Stateline.
In fact, more wrangling could be on tap this year, though outside of the legislature. Watkins has asked Governor Bob McDonnell to allow agencies to construct draft regulations ahead of the next vote on the moratorium — an effort to answer critics’ questions and to speed up a years-long development process.
Watkins says the moratorium’s wording leaves open the possibility. Governor Bob McDonnell, who has not stated his position on the moratorium, told the Associated Press he is reviewing the request.
http://www.pewstates.org/projects/stateline/headlines/virginia-uranium-legislation-fails-but-fight-not-over-85899447507
Uranium-mining proposal suffers major defeat
Posted: Friday, February 1, 2013 12:00 am | Updated: 11:21 pm, Thu Jan 31, 2013.
Senator John Watkins Thursday (January 31), withdrew legislation that would have allowed the state to write regulations for mining and milling uranium — the Republican’s attempt to clear the way for the development of a 119-million-pound deposit in rural Southside Virginia large enough to power every U.S. nuclear reactor for more than two years.
Supporters say the development, which would be the only mine east of the Mississippi River, would add high-paying jobs to the economically distressed region long dependent on tobacco and textiles. Opponents argue the environmental and health risks are too great, particularly in a state that has no experience regulating mining, and where a moist climate with frequent storms would complicate efforts to keep radioactive waste from the process out of local water supplies.
Watkins, who spiked the bill after realizing he lacked support in committee, said it was “frustrating,” he could not convince lawmakers that mining would be safe, following two years of close study.
“There is a lack understanding regarding the world marketplace,” he said in an emotional four-page statement. “The failure to lift this ban is a definite stigma and blot on our reputation as a pro-business, pro-energy, pro-property rights state.”
Critics of the proposal, including health and environmental advocates, as well as farmers and some business groups, cheered Watkins’ move, expressing relief.
“The long-term risks are real,” said Cale Jaffe, director of Charlottesville office of the Southern Environmental Law Center. “Today’s action sends a clear message that legislators have heard us.”
But those on both sides of the issue acknowledge the debate will continue in the coming years. Virginia Uranium, the company that has spent millions of dollars in its effort to develop the site, has said it has no plans to give in.
“We’re going to be vigilant,” Andrew Lester, executive director of the anti-mining Roanoke River Basin Association, told Stateline.
In fact, more wrangling could be on tap this year, though outside of the legislature. Watkins has asked Governor Bob McDonnell to allow agencies to construct draft regulations ahead of the next vote on the moratorium — an effort to answer critics’ questions and to speed up a years-long development process.
Watkins says the moratorium’s wording leaves open the possibility. Governor Bob McDonnell, who has not stated his position on the moratorium, told the Associated Press he is reviewing the request.
http://www.pewstates.org/projects/stateline/headlines/virginia-uranium-legislation-fails-but-fight-not-over-85899447507
Uranium-mining proposal suffers major defeat
Posted: Friday, February 1, 2013 12:00 am | Updated: 11:21 pm, Thu Jan 31, 2013.
A proposal to end Virginia’s 31-year ban on uranium mining suffered a major defeat Thursday before a state Senate panel.
Lacking the votes to win, Sen. John Watkins, R-Powhatan, withdrew his bill in the Agriculture Committee. That killed the measure for the 2013 session without a vote on its merits.
“They might try it again, but I don’t expect they will be successful for many years,” said Sen. A. Donald McEachin, D-Henrico.
“This decision effectively ends further Senate consideration of uranium issues during this session,” said a statement from six Republican legislators from Southside Virginia who oppose lifting the ban. A company wants to mine uranium in Pittsylvania County in Southside.
Some mining supporters, however, indicated the fight wasn’t over.
In a lengthy statement, Watkins tossed the ball to Gov. Bob McDonnell, who has taken no position on uranium mining. Watkins suggested McDonnell should direct state agencies to craft uranium-mining regulations, to show the safeguards that would be in place.
Typically, however, state agencies don’t make regulations until the legislature has passed a law authorizing them to do so.
If McDonnell feels he lacks the legal authority to create mining rules, “he certainly has the means to put that issue expeditiously before this legislature,” Watkins said.
McDonnell had no immediate response. Spokesman J. Tucker Martin said, “We have just received Senator Watkins’ statement and are currently reviewing it.”
The bill that Watkins withdrew would have required the state to craft regulations to oversee uranium mining. Both sides have said General Assembly approval would in effect lift the mining ban.
Virginia Uranium Inc. wants to mine and mill the radioactive metal from what it says is a roughly $7 billion, 119 million-pound deposit in Pittsylvania.
On the Senate Agriculture Committee, mining opponents said nine to 12 members of the 15-member panel opposed Watkins’ measure.
A companion bill remains in the House, but its prospects appear dim even if it were to make it to the Senate.
Opponents fear, among other things, that radioactive waste could pollute waters, including a drinking water source for much of South Hampton Roads.
Virginia Uranium has lobbied hard, contributing more than $200,000 to campaigns from 2008 through 2012, according to the Virginia Public Access Project, a nonpartisan tracker of money in state politics. Mining’s supporters included the Virginia Manufacturing Association and a Southside group of residents and businesses.
But a diverse array of groups opposed lifting the mining ban, including environmental organizations, the Virginia Farm Bureau, the Virginia chapter of the NAACP and, most recently, the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors.
rspringston@timesdispatch.com
http://www.timesdispatch.com/news/state-regional/virginia-politics/general-assembly/uranium-mining-proposal-suffers-major-defeat/article_5a5afaf6-92ce-536d-87f6-69f6c42ac790.html
Despite Legislative Stall, Virginia Mining Debate Grinds On
, Deborah Ferruccio and fellow regional activists have so far been able to block the company’s efforts to lift a ban on uranium mining in Virginia.
Arguing that uranium mining around the world has caused large-scale environmental damage, she and her supporters have shown that the practice releases toxic levels of radioactive waste into local water supplies and even spreads poisonous dust into the atmosphere.
“They know that it is impossible to contain the waste," Ferruccio says of the company officials. "They know that they can try to minimize the waste contamination that gets out, but, for instance, all liners leak. They’re going to put this in a lined [zone], what would be similar to a landfill.”
“It is our incumbent responsibility as a company to demonstrate that we will be able to mine and mill and safely store our tailings," says Wales, concurring that Virginia Uranium will take measures to protect the water supply during mining, and plans to store the tailings (radioactive waste) underground, encased in layers of clay and synthetic liners.
“In the end if they can’t satisfy our regulatory criteria and allow us to make sure that is it going to be protective of public health and safety, we will not issue a license," he said.
Naomi Hodge-Muse, who lives near the site of the uranium deposit, is not persuaded by either government requirements or the company’s assurances. She says ordinary people are being asked to assume all the risk so an elite few can reap the financial rewards.
“We’re going to sacrifice poor whites and poor blacks for the prosperity of, well, the nuclear industry, really,” she says.
For now, efforts to lift the uranium mining ban have stalled in the Virginia General Assembly, but both sides say the issue is still very much alive and they will continue to lobby lawmakers and build public support for future legislative battles.
http://www.voanews.com/content/virginia-uranium-mining/1595662.html
Lacking the votes to win, Sen. John Watkins, R-Powhatan, withdrew his bill in the Agriculture Committee. That killed the measure for the 2013 session without a vote on its merits.
Mining opponents claimed victory, saying any effort to lift the mining ban is probably dead this year — and maybe well beyond.
“This decision effectively ends further Senate consideration of uranium issues during this session,” said a statement from six Republican legislators from Southside Virginia who oppose lifting the ban. A company wants to mine uranium in Pittsylvania County in Southside.
Some mining supporters, however, indicated the fight wasn’t over.
In a lengthy statement, Watkins tossed the ball to Gov. Bob McDonnell, who has taken no position on uranium mining. Watkins suggested McDonnell should direct state agencies to craft uranium-mining regulations, to show the safeguards that would be in place.
Typically, however, state agencies don’t make regulations until the legislature has passed a law authorizing them to do so.
If McDonnell feels he lacks the legal authority to create mining rules, “he certainly has the means to put that issue expeditiously before this legislature,” Watkins said.
McDonnell had no immediate response. Spokesman J. Tucker Martin said, “We have just received Senator Watkins’ statement and are currently reviewing it.”
The bill that Watkins withdrew would have required the state to craft regulations to oversee uranium mining. Both sides have said General Assembly approval would in effect lift the mining ban.
Virginia Uranium Inc. wants to mine and mill the radioactive metal from what it says is a roughly $7 billion, 119 million-pound deposit in Pittsylvania.
On the Senate Agriculture Committee, mining opponents said nine to 12 members of the 15-member panel opposed Watkins’ measure.
A companion bill remains in the House, but its prospects appear dim even if it were to make it to the Senate.
Opponents fear, among other things, that radioactive waste could pollute waters, including a drinking water source for much of South Hampton Roads.
Virginia Uranium has lobbied hard, contributing more than $200,000 to campaigns from 2008 through 2012, according to the Virginia Public Access Project, a nonpartisan tracker of money in state politics. Mining’s supporters included the Virginia Manufacturing Association and a Southside group of residents and businesses.
But a diverse array of groups opposed lifting the mining ban, including environmental organizations, the Virginia Farm Bureau, the Virginia chapter of the NAACP and, most recently, the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors.
rspringston@timesdispatch.com
http://www.timesdispatch.com/news/state-regional/virginia-politics/general-assembly/uranium-mining-proposal-suffers-major-defeat/article_5a5afaf6-92ce-536d-87f6-69f6c42ac790.html
Despite Legislative Stall, Virginia Mining Debate Grinds On
February 01, 2013
CHATHAM, VIRGINIA — One of the largest uranium-ore deposits in the world, valued at about $7 billion, is located in an economically-depressed, rural area of the southern U.S. state of Virginia.
Deep underground at Coles Hill, a spread of mostly pasture and farmland, lies more than 53 million kilos [119 million pounds] of uranium ore, which a company called Virginia Uranium is seeking state approval to mine.
Deep underground at Coles Hill, a spread of mostly pasture and farmland, lies more than 53 million kilos [119 million pounds] of uranium ore, which a company called Virginia Uranium is seeking state approval to mine.
Arguing that uranium mining around the world has caused large-scale environmental damage, she and her supporters have shown that the practice releases toxic levels of radioactive waste into local water supplies and even spreads poisonous dust into the atmosphere.
“They know that it is impossible to contain the waste," Ferruccio says of the company officials. "They know that they can try to minimize the waste contamination that gets out, but, for instance, all liners leak. They’re going to put this in a lined [zone], what would be similar to a landfill.”
“It is our incumbent responsibility as a company to demonstrate that we will be able to mine and mill and safely store our tailings," says Wales, concurring that Virginia Uranium will take measures to protect the water supply during mining, and plans to store the tailings (radioactive waste) underground, encased in layers of clay and synthetic liners.
“In the end if they can’t satisfy our regulatory criteria and allow us to make sure that is it going to be protective of public health and safety, we will not issue a license," he said.
Naomi Hodge-Muse, who lives near the site of the uranium deposit, is not persuaded by either government requirements or the company’s assurances. She says ordinary people are being asked to assume all the risk so an elite few can reap the financial rewards.
“We’re going to sacrifice poor whites and poor blacks for the prosperity of, well, the nuclear industry, really,” she says.
For now, efforts to lift the uranium mining ban have stalled in the Virginia General Assembly, but both sides say the issue is still very much alive and they will continue to lobby lawmakers and build public support for future legislative battles.
http://www.voanews.com/content/virginia-uranium-mining/1595662.html
