No matter if you don’t live in Pittsylvania County or the Fifth District in Virginia, as this meeting is important and it affects many individuals outside this area. This is a public comment meeting on the proposed uranium mine at Coles Hill in Pittsylvania County. Virginia Uranium plans an open pit mining operation that could affect local water, air and quality of life.
If you cannot attend this meeting, please call or email the members of the Uranium Sub-Committee and your local representatives with your concerns and questions. The committee will be voting on the matter noted below this coming Thursday, 21 May 2009 at 2:30 p.m. at the General Assembly Building in Richmond. If the over-25-year-old moratorium against uranium mining in Virginia is lifted, this resurrection of mining possibilities will open the entire state to uranium mining.
Uranium has never been mined east of the Mississippi, as weather and environmental conditions are far different than those in the west, where uranium usually is mined.
Statement of Task
Uranium mining in the Commonwealth of Virginia has been prohibited since 1982 by a state moratorium, although approval for restricted uranium exploration in the state was granted in 2007. A National Research Council study will examine the scientific, technical, environmental, human health and safety, and regulatory aspects of uranium mining, milling, and processing as they relate to the Commonwealth of Virginia. In particular, the study will:
- Review global and national uranium market trends.
- Identify and briefly describe the main types of uranium deposits worldwide including, for example, geologic characteristics, mining operations, and best practices.
- Review the geologic, environmental, geographic, climatic, and cultural settings and exploration status of uranium resources in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
- Review the primary technical options and best practices approaches for uranium mining, milling, processing, and reclamation that might be applicable within the Commonwealth of Virginia , including discussion of improvements made since 1980 in the design, construction, and monitoring of tailings impoundments (“cells”)
- Review the state and federal regulatory framework for uranium mining, milling, processing, and reclamation.
- Review federal requirements for secure handling of uranium materials, including personnel, transportation, site security, and material control and accountability.
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Assess the potential short- and long-term occupational and public health and safety considerations from uranium mining, milling, processing, and reclamation, including the potential human health effects from exposure to “daughter” products of radioactive decay of uranium.
- Identify the issues that may need to be considered regarding the quality and quantity of groundwater and surface water, and the quality of soil and air from uranium mining, milling, processing, and reclamation. As relevant, water and waste management and severe weather effects or other stochastic events may also be considered.
- Assess the potential ecosystem issues for uranium mining, milling, processing, and reclamation.
- Identify baseline data and approaches necessary to monitor environmental and human impacts associated with uranium mining, milling, processing, and reclamation.
- Briefly characterize a potential public education and outreach program in the Commonwealth of Virginia for a uranium mining operation (for example, health and safety issues, inspection and enforcement, community right-to-know, emergency planning).
By addressing these questions, the study will provide independent, expert advice that can be used to inform decisions about the future of uranium mining in the Commonwealth of Virginia; however, the study will not make recommendations about whether or not uranium mining should be permitted nor will the study include site-specific assessments.
Contacts
URANIUM SUB-COMMITTEE of the Virginia Coal and Energy Commission
Chairman: Delegate R. Lee Ware (804)598-6696
Senator Phillip Puckett (276)979-8181
Senator Frank Wagner (757)671-2250
Senator John Watkins (804)379-2063
Delegate Watkins Abbitt, Jr. (434)352-2880
Delegate Kristen Amundson (703)619-0444
delkamundson@house.state.va.us
Delegate Charles Carrico (276)773-9600
Delegate W. R . “Bill” Janis (804)726-5856
Delegate Terry Kilgore (276)386-7011
Delegate Clarence Phillips (276)762-9758
delbphillips@house.state.va.us
Citizen Harry D. Childress former head of the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy
Dr. Michael Karmis, Liaison (540) 231-7057 or (540)231-5273
