Uranium Mining - A Risky Experiment
Keep the Ban on Uranium Mining in Virginia
Long-awaited National Academy of Sciences report released
The National Academy of Sciences today released along-awaited report examining 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.
The lengthy report compiles research on uranium mining and waste disposal from around the country, but does not make any recommendations about whether Virginia should or should not allow uranium mining. It was commissioned by the Virginia Coal and Energy Commission and is part of an ongoing contract between the commission and NAS that includes a public outreach and public meeting period over the next five months.
To view and download a copy of the report, visit either the National Academy of Sciences web page on this issue, or the Virginia Coal and Energy Commission web page.
The report's release marks the beginning of an extensive public education process by the NAS, which includes public meetings as described in its contract with the state. SELC and the Keep the Ban Coalition call on the General Assembly to honor this public outreach period and to not take any action on the uranium mining issue in the 2012 session.
Case Summary
In 2007, Virginia Uranium, Inc., went public with plans to exploit a major uranium deposit in Pittsylvania County, in southern Virginia. The operation would entail extensive mining, a milling facility, and disposal of massive amounts of waste that would leave a toxic and radioactive legacy for centuries.
The deposit at the "Coles Hill" farm was discovered years ago, but a statewide ban on uranium mining enacted in 1982 still exists today. Now, the industry is pushing to lift the ban as soon as the 2012 General Assembly.
SELC is at the forefront of a statewide citizen effort, the Keep the Ban Coalition, to ensure the statewide ban stays in place.
Uranium Mining: A Dangerous Proposal
Uranium occurs naturally in the ground, but when exposed to air and water, radiation is released into the environment. There is no precedent for large-scale uranium mining in the East, where the population density and a wet climate increase the chance of radiation contaminating streams and groundwater and exposure to humans.
In the last century, the Commonwealth has been hit by at least 78 category-strenth hurricanes, including Hurricane Camille in 1969 which dumped 31 inches of rain on central Virginia. In 2011, at least 37 tornadoes were recorded in Virginia, including one in Halifax County about 20 miles from the Coles Hill site. And in August, 2011, an earthquake of 5.8 rocked Virginia; its epicenter was just 125 miles from Coles Hill.
Virginia has no regulations for uranium mining, and, with less than 1% of the state’s general fund revenues dedicated to environmental programs, is ill-prepared to sufficiently oversee the industry. The federal government has virtually no experience regulating uranium mining in a wet climate.
Health and Economic Risks Are High
The potential health impacts of exposure to uranium and mining chemicals are well-documented in global studies of people working in and living near mines, and include lung cancer, bone cancer, leukemia, birth defects, weakened immune systems, hormone disruption, and damage to DNA, the kidney and liver.
Virginia Beach, which gets its drinking water from Lake Gaston, downstream of the Coles Hill site, released a study concluding that a catastrophic failure of a uranium waste containment structure at the site could contaminate the city’s drinking water for as long as two years.
Establishment of a uranium industry in southern Virginia would strangle efforts to diversify the region’s economy and threaten existing businesses—including agriculture, tourism, and recreational fisheries.
One of America’s Most Endangered Rivers
The potential for uranium exists throughout the state; in the early 1980s, the industry leased hundreds of properties in Culpeper, Fauquier, Henry, Madison, Orange, Patrick, and Pittsylvania counties.
But the focus now is on the Coles Hill site Pittsylvania County, located in the heart of the Roanoke River watershed. In May 2011, American Rivers named the Roanoke one of the10 most endangered rivers due to the threat of uranium mining.
SELC continues to work with the Keep the Ban Coalition and others to educate Virginia citizens and lawmakers about the dangers of uranium mining and to press the state to keep the ban.