nuclear-news

Local, state lawmakers flying to Canada as part of lobbying push for uranium mining, Washington Post, 6 Sept 11, By Anita Kumar, About 15 local and state lawmakers are flying to Canada this month on all-expenses paid trips as part of an on-going lobbying effort by a company pushing lawmakers to lift a moratorium on uranium mining in the state.

Virginia Uranium invited state legislators and local elected officials from Southside Virginia to visit an active mine in Canada as it looks to mine what is thought to be the largest deposit of uranium in the United States, in south central Virginia.

Larry Campbell, a member of the Danville City Council, said he had planned to go on the two-day trip, but that he changed his mind when some of his constituents told him they thought he was being “bought off.”

Virginia Uranium already sent Sen. Frank W. Wagner (R-Virginia Beach) to Saskatchewan, Canada, this year. The trip is similar to the one about a dozen legislators took this summer to France that came under heavy criticism across the state.

Virginia Uranium hopes to persuade the General Assembly to repeal the nearly three-decade ban on mining at its regular session in January by convincing lawmakers that mining can be done safely. … http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/virginia-politics/post/2011/09/06/gIQAr37P7J_blog.html