Virginia Beach officials want uranium mine ban extended

VIRGINIA BEACH

Concerned that a proposed uranium mining operation could taint the city's water supply, Virginia Beach officials want the state to maintain an existing moratorium on that activity for at least another year.

In a letter this week, the city's water task force asked Mayor Will Sessoms and the City Council to urge the General Assembly to keep Virginia's long-standing mining ban in place until at least 2013 and to delay related regulatory action.

City officials are already on record opposing mining until they're satisfied it won't threaten Lake Gaston, a key drinking water source.

Some studies have said flooding near the mine could wash radioactive contaminants into tributaries that feed Lake Gaston, though a pro-mining analysis concluded that is highly unlikely.

Forces for and against lifting the nearly three decade-old ban are bracing for a battle on the subject as early at the 2012 state legislative session. A National Academy of Sciences study on mining should be publicly released by then.

Virginia Uranium, the company that wants to extract ore from a Pittsylvania County uranium deposit, has actively lobbied officials as it pursues permission to mine, sending some to foreign countries to observe mines there.