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Uranium mining for Virginia – a done deal? or will reason and science prevail?

“All of the public meetings held to date on uranium mining in Virginia that I’m aware of have had speakers that represented regulatory agencies”

there are plenty of reasons for cynical observers to believe that uranium mining in Pittsylvania is pretty much a done deal.

These guys will walk away in 30 or 35 years with a lot of money, and taxpayers of the United States will be responsible in perpetuity, after the mine is closed, for the integrity of the radioactive tailings disposal situation, which is located on the Roanoke River watershed,” 

Metro columnist Dan Casey: Uranium session slated at Virginia Western Community College Roanoke.com By Dan Casey, 15 July 12, “…. the uranium mining issue is about to arise again here in Roanoke in a couple of weeks. Rupert Cutler, a former city councilman, federal cabinet undersecretary and ardent conservationist, has organized a symposium here in town on the subject.

The daylong event is July 27 at Virginia Western Community College and is open to the public (registration is $25). If you’re in town then, you should consider attending.

There are two basic questions. One is, can uranium mining and milling be done safely in the Roanoke River watershed, which empties into North Carolina’s Lake Gaston (and ultimately Albemarle and Pamlico sounds), and serves as a key water supply for Virginia Beach and five
military bases?

The other depends on the answer to that first question. Should the Virginia General Assembly lift its 30-year-old moratorium on uranium mining? That’s going to be a huge issue in the 2013 legislative session. Enormous political pressure has been brought on the state
legislature to do just that.
Cutler, who opposes uranium mining here, has lined up experts from Virginia Tech, Virginia Commonwealth University, Hollins University, Carilion and elsewhere. Some support the project and others have grave doubts about it.

“All of the public meetings held to date on uranium mining in Virginia that I’m aware of have had speakers that represented regulatory agencies, who without exception say, ‘trust us; we will use best
practices to avoid the kind of pollution associated with uranium mines
and mills elsewhere,'” Cutler said.

“The speakers at our forum are quite different. They are scientists,
doctors and other experts on the subject matter,” Cutler said. “This
is not a rally to demonstrate for or against uranium mining, but
rather an opportunity to learn the facts as scientists from several
disciplines know them.”

It would be nice to think their efforts could make a real difference
regarding the answer to the second question. But there are plenty of reasons for cynical observers to believe that uranium mining in Pittsylvania is pretty much a done deal.

The chief one is money. Uranium ore in the 3,500 or so acres of Coles
Hill, about 6 miles outside of Chatham, is worth up to $10 billion.
Efforts by Canadian-based Marline Uranium Corp. to develop that in the
early 1980s resulted in the General Assembly’s moratorium. But this
time around, at least 31 Virginians have been cut into the
uranium-mining money pie.

They’ve organized themselves as Virginia Uranium Inc., a Virginia
corporation, and proudly boast about the company’s 78 percent
Virginian ownership. They’ve blitzed the General Assembly with
blue-chip Richmond lobbyists — 19 in the most recent General Assembly
session.

They’ve feted state lawmakers on first-class international flights to
other uranium mining operations, and have estimated the Coles Hill
project could produce 1,000 direct and indirect high-paying jobs in
Virginia’s economically depressed Southside region.

And they have confidently predicted that they can be safe stewards for
the thousands of tons of radioactive and chemical waste that will be
left over for thousands of years after the uranium is tapped out.

In short, they have heavily played the issue as Virginians, by
Virginians and for Virginians.

But behind Virginia Uranium Inc. lies a much larger and complex
corporate structure involving at least three other companies: Virginia
Energy Resources, Virginia Uranium Ltd. and Virginia Uranium Holdings.

Despite the Old Dominion ring to those names, all three are based in
Canada. Also involved is a Toronto-based mining hedge fund called
Sprott Resource Corp.

Just this past Thursday, the complicated corporate web was
reorganized. Now 100 percent of the Coles Hill project is owned by
Virginia Uranium Ltd., and Virginia investors own 52.5 percent of
VUL…..
A cynic might view it as a setup that allows the Virginians to fully
exploit their Old Dominion roots and political influence to get the
moratorium lifted, while paving a path for them to cash out with a
pile of money if and when the moratorium is repealed.

If that happens, and an environmental disaster results, who’s going to
be responsible for the cleanup? The corporate structure leaves that
unclear. But Cutler is suspicious.

“These guys will walk away in 30 or 35 years with a lot of money, and taxpayers of the United States will be responsible in perpetuity, after the mine is closed, for the integrity of the radioactive tailings disposal situation, which is located on the Roanoke River watershed,” Cutler said.

“The public will be left holding the bag, just like they have been at
uranium-mine sites in Arizona, Utah, Saskatchewan and other places.”

Cutler and other opponents of the project are hoping that science and reason can overcome the lure of all the money that’s in the ground.
http://www.roanoke.com/columnists/casey/wb/311603

July 16, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA