Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Uranium Watch, a Letter / Post Session Legislative Briefing: Via conference call

VIRGINIA COMMUNITIES PROTECTED FROM

URANIUM MINING

Please join us for our Post Session Legislative Briefing,
 
Via conference call: Tuesday, February 26
1:00 pm
Thanks to everyone across the Commonwealth who called their Senator to express concerns about mining for uranium! The patron of the dangerous Senate Bill 1353–which would have allowed uranium mining in Virginia–pulled his bill from the agenda of the Senate Agriculture Committee because the bill lacked enough support to pass. Read our full press statement here.

While this is a huge victory for public health, the environment and our economy, we will continue to keep a watchful eye on other bills and the budget to ensure the 31-year ban on uranium mining stays intact

The 2013 General Assembly Session is almost over—it is scheduled to adjourn this Saturday. Because of your support of the Virginia League of Conservation Voters, we'd like to provide you with the inside story of this year’s challenging legislative session. We've had a few VERY BIG victories that you should hear about, including our legislative win on uranium.

Please plan to join us and a few of our legislative champions for a post-session discussion.
Tuesday, February 26
1:00 – 2:00 pm
Via conference callRSVP to reserve your spot on the conference call: http://valcv.org/legislative-action/briefing/

We plan to discuss:

  • the Commonwealth's big victories on uranium and local land use control
  • the continuing saga of transportation policy
  • the protection of our land preservation programs
  • and much more...
Please join us next Tuesday. We look forward to talking with you!
Sincerely,
Jeffrey Painter
Executive Director

http://valcv.org/


Uranium Watch, a Letter

Sarah M. Fields wrote a letter to the Virginia General Assembly back in January of 2012. She is with Uranium Watch out of Moab, Utah. Her letter was written to give the legislators a fuller perspective regarding uranium mining and milling.
She addresses the many facets of the mining and milling process and why this is dangerous particularly in our extremely wet environment — with the potential for extreme weather events.

Read the whole letter.
  • Another factor in the life cycle of a uranium mine or mill is the possibility for the mill to be placed on standby for long periods of time, due to fluctuations in the price of uranium.

  • In Utah, the Shootaring Canyon Uranium Mill has been on standby for 30 years.

  • Energy Fuels recently announced that 3 of their permitted Utah uranium mines would be in non-operational status by the end of 2012,13 adding to 4 non-operational mines in Utah and several in Colorado.
  •  Some of the permitted Energy Fuels mines had been nonoperational for 10 to 20 years. During non-operation no reclamation work was done and hazardous conditions existed at the essentially unregulated mine sites.
http://ej-pp.org/uranium-watch-a-letter/