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Nobody trusts anybody when it comes to uranium mining in Virginia, and probably with some reason.
Out in Pittsylvania County, Virginia Uranium believes it is sitting on billions of dollars worth of ore and is lobbying relentlessly in Richmond for a way to get it out of the ground.
That has made the simplest things immensely complicated.
When the company asked the county for a special-use permit to build a warehouse and office, the request became an object of intense interest, including in Hampton Roads, which drinks from reservoirs downstream of the proposed mine.
When there was movement in Richmond to limit citizen oversight of air and water protection, some considered it a way to clear the way for uranium mining. The proposal was largely dropped, after opposition built.
When Virginia Beach Sen. Frank Wagner - a proponent of nuclear energy - pushed to get the state to study uranium mining, it kicked off an absolute firestorm. Some worry that the legislation goes beyond a simple study; some think the legislature intends to make uranium mining inevitable.
That interpretation got additional impetus last week, when a budget amendment by Senate Majority Leader Richard Saslaw appeared to order the development of new rules and regulations on mining, which is currently banned in Virginia.
Since the 1980s, nobody has seriously looked at the safety of lifting Virginia's moratorium. That's precisely the point of Wagner's legislation. Unfortunately, the legislation is complicated, with moving parts, subjunctive phrasing, conditions piled on conditions. Couple that with Wagner's vocal support for nuclear energy, and you have a recipe for suspicion.
Add Saslaw's initiative, and environmentalists are right to worry that they're being taken for a ride. It is far too easy to see all this as a furtive rush to open Virginia to uranium mining.
Whether it is or not, Virginia should slow things down.
Even done well, mining is a dangerous, dirty, toxic business. This business, which happens to be radioactive, would be upstream from the water supply that quenches thirsts across Hampton Roads. That raises plenty of questions, all of which need to be answered before Virginia even considers turning one shovelful.
A decision this important and irreversible can and should come only after meticulous consideration and long deliberation. A study scrupulously confined to determining the safety of uranium mining is the first - and should be the only - step Virginia takes.
That study should be given all the time, money and expertise it needs to be as exhaustive and independent as any study can be. What that study concludes should determine whether the state even takes the next step at all.
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Excellent analysis of uranium legislation
Amen - Your analysis of what is happening (or the appearance of what is happening) in Richmond with regard to uranium mining seems right on the money. It does appear Senator Saslaw was trying to fast-track the regulation writing process -- without the state's mining staff even seeing a study. And it's easy to become suspicious when Virginia Uranium won't even publicly reveal how its geologists and consultants (with the benefit of having prior historical info on the site) have suggested how to most economically mine the radioactive ore, especially as this private company continues to prep for an IPO. So, imagine the worst -- A huge open pit mine within walking distance of creeks and homes. I also would imagine the risks to any endangered species in that vacinity may also increase with the possibility of large open pit mines, but that information remains an unknown. If Virginia opens the door to uranium mining, expect mainly foreign companies to apply for exploratory drilling permits in other areas of the Commonwealth (for instance, Virginia Uranium Ltd. was incorporated Aug. 31, 2007 under the laws of the Yukon Territory). Right now, the price is right for uranium.
Suspicion Clouds mining-ban study
Thank you for the excellent editorial on the proposed study to determine the course of uranium mining in Virginia.
People in Hampton are correct to be concerned for the quality of the water supply in their area because The Canadian Handbook of Health Impacts Assessment, Vol. 4, states "The possibility of heavy metals and radioactive ore leaching into the surface and ground water is a concern". That means contamination of the rivers providing water; and Canada should know because it presently is the largest supplier of uranium on the world market.
I oppose uranium mining and do so from the standpoint of my family having lived on the land in Pittsylvania County since 1763. I am not, and neither are the other people I known who are in opposition,what is meant by the use of the term environmentalist. My opposition is based on known toxic destructive results of uranium mining.