Roanoke River Basin Association: Uranium mining battle won, war far from over

Roanoke River Basin Association:  Uranium mining battle won, war far from over


Posted: Tuesday, March 26, 2013 12:00 pm 
      
WELDON — While residents along the Roanoke River may have won the battle in the fight against lifting the ban on uranium mining in Virginia, Roanoke River Basin Association leaders gathered this week to spread the news the war is still going.

Association Vice President Gene Addesso told a group of Halifax County leaders Monday at a stakeholders meeting that Virginia Uranium Inc. spent more than $1 million last year trying to convince Virginia legislators to lift the ban, adding they have 19 lobbyists and the company has retained a number of prestigious law firms in Richmond, Va., to continue efforts.

Addesso said the possibility of uranium mining on the Roanoke River is arguably the greatest threat to the Basin in its history.
 

“Virginia Uranium Inc. has vowed publicly they are not going to walk away from a $7 billion project,” Addesso said. “VUI is well funded and has a large team of lobbyists, public relations consultants and technical advisers on their payroll.”
 

Virginia has had a moratorium on uranium mining since 1982.

Mining interests want the state’s General Assembly to lift the ban so they can tap a 119-million-pound deposit in Pittsylvania County along the North Carolina line. Full-fledged uranium mining has never occurred east of the Mississippi.
 

Virginia Uranium Inc. has said uranium mining and milling — the separation of rock from the ore — can be conducted safely.
 

The RRBA, along with Virginia and North Carolina coalitions and the city of Virginia Beach, Va., area businesses and municipalities from the headwaters of the Roanoke River to the Albemarle Sound banded together to let Virginia legislators know people along the Roanoke River wanted to keep the ban.
 

In recent months, a bill to lift the ban was withdrawn due to lack of votes.
 

“The battle has not stopped,” Addesso said. “It’s just gone underground.”
 

Roanoke River Basin Association Executive Director Andrew Lester said uranium mining is a threat to the regional water supply and air quality.
 

He said people living within a 50-mile radius of the mining are more likely to have cancer problems.

“It’s like radioactive kudzu,” he said. “You kill it and it keeps coming back.”
 

Halifax County Commissioner Vernon Bryant said he found Monday’s meeting very informative, adding it is important to keep an eye on what is happening because two states and several counties will be impacted.
 

“If the ban is lifted, it’s something we have to deal with,” he said. “We need to stay focused on this issue.”
 

Weldon Mayor Julia Meacham said it got her attention when panel members talked Monday about the possible negative impact on the striper fishery. Weldon is the Rockfish Capital of the World — the place where rockfish travel each year to spawn.
 

She said she appreciates the group and their diligence to prevent uranium mining at Coles Hill. “It’s a scary situation,” she said.
 

Addesso is requesting potentially impacted cities and counties to support RRBA’s efforts to prevent lifting the ban. For more information visit www.rrba.org.
 

One of the more contentious issues involves the milling of the ore, which involves the separation of radioactive-laced rock stored in containment units for generations. of uranium-laced waste entering public water supplies and farm fields, opponents are not convinced the waste called tailings would be secure during an intense storm.

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