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Uranium Mining in Virginia - Legal Backgrounder
Uranium Mining - A Risky Experiment
Uranium Mining in Virginia - Fact Sheet
For nearly 30 years, Virginia has banned uranium mining. of uranium, the milling of yellowcake, and the disposal of radioactive waste in-state. The uranium industry is now pushing to lift the ban so it can begin exploiting uranium deposits in Virginia, focusing on a site known as Coles Hill, in Pittsylvania County. Toxic and radioactive contamination from uranium mining, milling and waste disposal has been linked to increases in leukemia, kidney disease, and other severe health problems.
The Coles Hill project alone would generate up to 29 million tons of mill tailings waste, plus associated waste water and chemicals in the tailings.
Virginia's wet weather makes uranium production a risky experiment. Uranium mining in the United States has primarily occurred in dry, sparsely populated regions of the arid Southwest. Severe weather events - like Tropical Storm Gaston, which dumped 14 inches of rain on Richmond - could overwhelm uranium operations.
Drinking water for Virginia and North Carolina would be at risk. A report by Virginia Beach, downstream of the Coles Hill site, warns that hurricanes "have generated extreme flooding east of the Blue Ridge Mountains along a corridor that cuts a path through the uranium ore deposits." The Virginia Beach City Council has voted in support of keeping the ban.
A new study highlights the risk. A February 2011 Virginia Beach study finds that in the event of a catastrophic failure of a uranium tailings containment structure at the Coles Hill site, radioactivity concentrations in the Roanoke River and Kerr Lake systems could exceed the Safe Water Drinking Act levels for an extended period of time.
Our agricultural economy would be damaged. The legacy of radioactive uranium mill tailings waste in the Dan River and Roanoke River basins, affecting Virginia and North Carolina, would taint our agricultural heritage for generations
The health of our children would be at risk. In addition to the children whose drinking water is sourced downstream of the site, 15 schools are within just 20 miles of the proposed mine and mill site in Pittsylvania County.
State agencies lack the funding to properly regulate the uranium industry. Virginia spends less than 1% of its annual, General Fund budget on environmental programs. Relying solely on permit fees from one industry to fund its own regulators would create a severe conflict of interest.
Uranium has been found statewide. The uranium industry held leases throughout the state in the 1980s. If the ban is lifted, it would be lifted statewide, and numerous communities could be at risk.
Four studies are ongoing.
- The National Academy of Sciences is collecting and reviewing existing reports and data on uranium mining and milling to assist Virginia in determining whether it can be done safely in Virginia.
- The uranium industry is supporting a study on socio-economic impacts by Chmura Economics & Analytics, a firm with ties to the coal mining industry.
- A study on water quality impacts of potential uranium production at Coles Hill is underway from the City of Virginia Beach.
- The Danville Regional Foundation, which is committed to developing a thriving Danville region, is investing up to $530,000 in a study by RTI International, a globally renowned research institution.
It is essential that Virginia wait until all of these studies have been completed and the public has had the opportunity to review them.
The studies are due out in December 2011, yet the industry is pushing to lift the ban as early as the 2012 General Assembly, before legislators or the public have had adequate time to review the information. Tell your state legislators that no legislation should even be considered until all the evidence is in. And go to KeepTheBan.org to sign a petition to keep the ban.