Uranium Mining in Virginia
Keep the ban
In the late 1970s, an exceptionally large deposit of uranium was discovered in rolling agricultural land of Pittsylvania County. Other deposits were found elswhere in Virginia's Piedmont, including in Orange County.
A proposal to mine the deposits prompted the state to undertake a study of the impacts of uranium mining on the environment and public health. A statewide moratorium was declared in 1982 while the study was being done. A few years later, the uranium market faltered and the mining proposal was dropped, but the moratorium remains to this day.
Uranium prices are now climbing with renewed interest in nuclear power. In the fall of 2007, a Virginia based company revealed plans to revive the effort to develop the Pittsylvania County deposit. Known as the Coles Hill deposit, it is thought to be the largest, untapped reserve in the U.S.
SELC is at the forefront of a citizen effort to ensure the ban stays in place unless unless the appropriate state and federal agencies can ensure that the natural resources and public health of the Commonwealth will be fully and forever protected.
Toward that end, we played a key role in defeating a measure in the 2007 General Assembly that would have fast-tracked a study and potential regulations for mining uranium - paving the way to lifting the ban as soon as 2011.
