Gov. McDonnell: Keep uranium ban this year

A legislative debate on uranium mining in Virginia will have to wait for another year.

Gov. Bob McDonnell has asked the General Assembly to hold off on taking action to lift a longstanding uranium moratorium and ordered state agencies to prepare draft mining regulations to safeguard the environment.

McDonnell Thursday directed the departments of Mines, Minerals and Energy, Health and Environmental Quality to develop a regulatory roadmap to permit uranium mining, a move that lets off the hook lawmakers presently uneasy about voting on legislation to lift the moratorium.

"Before we make any decisions about whether or not to proceed down the path to development, we must be certain that uranium mining can be conducted safely and responsibly," McDonnell said in a statement about his decision. "Public safety must be the primary factor in the ultimate determination as to whether to proceed with uranium mining."

Until Thursday, McDonnell hadn't taken a public position on the issue in  the weeks since the Dec. 19 release of study by the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences about the prospects of uranium mining in Virginia.

The study did not make a recommendation on whether to lift the ban.

Instead, it said Virginia would need a new system of rigorous, transparent procedures for mining operations, environmental protection and proper long-term monitoring of radioactive mining waste before allowing mining and processing.

The governor's directive calls for the creation of a work group to conduct a site-specific analysis of the historic Coles Hill farm in Pittsylvania County.

Beneath that site lies an estimated 119 million pounds of the radioactive rock used as nuclear power plant fuel when processed.

Officials with the company seeking clearance to mine that site, Virginia Uranium Inc., claim extracting the radioactive ore will produce hundreds of jobs and yield millions in economic benefits for the state.

Company project manager Patrick Wales greeted McDonnell's decision as "an important step toward establishing a regulatory framework that will enable our company to build and operate the safest uranium mine in the world right here in Virginia."

Less pleased were environmentalists who oppose lifting a ban that's been in place since 1982.

"It is unprecedented to undercut the legislature and move forward with uranium regulations without the General Assembly having acted," said Lisa Guthrie, executive director of the Virginia League of Conservation Voters. "This is a decision that should be made by the people of Virginia and their elected legislators that represent them."

In addition to environmentalists' concerns about public health hazards from mining, some southside Virginia lawmakers worry about possible effects on the region’s economy, while leaders in Virginia Beach, Norfolk and Chesapeake fear mining waste could contaminate local water supplies.

McDonnell’s action comes one day after a group of lawmakers on a key state uranium mining subcommittee wrote the governor, suggesting that action be deferred this year and the drafting of regulations.

-- Julian Walker

Uranium Directive Jan 2012

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