Another try to ban uranium mining at mega park fails
RINGGOLD — Another attempt to ban uranium mining and milling at the Berry Hill Road industrial mega park failed Monday.
A resolution, proposed to the Danville-Pittsylvania County Regional Industrial Facility Authority board by Pittsylvania County resident Deborah Dix, would have banned uranium mining and milling in the mega park.
RIFA board member Hank Davis, chairman of the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors, made a motion to pass the resolution during the RIFA board’s monthly meeting Monday, but the proposal died when no one seconded the motion. Dix’s proposal would’ve only banned uranium mining and milling in the park proper.
Dix said the RIFA board’s inaction sends a clear message about where it stands on uranium mining.
“To me, it’s sort of obvious they do plan on mining and milling uranium there,” Dix said after the vote.
But RIFA board member and Danville City Councilman David Luther said he knew nothing about the resolution before it was added to the RIFA board agenda at the beginning of Monday’s meeting.
“It wasn’t on the agenda,” Luther said of why he didn’t second the Davis’ motion. “It came as a surprise to me.”
Luther said Danville City Council will discuss the resolution.
RIFA Vice Chairman and Danville Mayor Sherman Saunders said he refrains from taking a position on an issue the city has not endorsed.
The 3,700-acre industrial mega park is a joint project between Pittsylvania County and Danville. Officials hope to attract a large manufacturer to the site. The installation of roads, utilities, erosion control, grading and making the site into an industry-ready park will cost $222 million.
Virginia Uranium Inc. hopes to mine and mill a 119-million pound uranium ore deposit at Coles Hill about six miles northeast of Chatham.
Karen Maute, an opponent of uranium mining and milling, had asked the Board of Supervisors in November to pass a resolution prohibiting uranium mining within a 25-mile radius of the proposed mega park site. She also wanted the Board of Supervisors, Danville City Council and the RIFA board to sign the resolution. The Board of Supervisors voted 4-3 to table the idea during its meeting in December.
Maute had proposed the resolution because the mega park site is located on suspected uranium deposits. Marline Corp. had plans to mine and mill uranium in Pittsylvania County in the early 1980s, and RIFA owns some of that old Marline land.
Dan River Supervisor James Snead, who had proposed tabling the idea, said after the December meeting that the resolution should come through the RIFA board since it owns the park.
Maute, who was at the meeting Monday, said the RIFA board killed the motion partly to intimidate citizens who had attended the meeting.
“The lack of discussion was deafening,” Maute said. “Why not discuss the merits of this resolution?”
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Reader Reactions
Let me state that I don’t consider myself to be a ‘tree hugger’ type of environmentalist. I personally don’t believe in Global Warming or whatever they call it these days.
As for a place on the NC Inner Banks sinking 4 ft, that’s not at all uncommon since both Dr. John Christy and Dr. William Schlesinger both agree (though they sit on opposite sides of the Global Warming fence) that where there is pumping, the land is sinking. There are a lot of PO’d people on NC coast who will show you their property lines, sitting out in the water.
And what exactly is wrong w/ someone from NC trying to make a living by putting others back to work w/ ideas that make good economic sense? Am I correct by stating that it is a Canadian outfit partnering up w/ a few folks in VA to bring U mining to fruition? Do I detect a double standard here since the pumping/mining company is from another country?
As for my bias, well then what can I say, especially since I just found out today one of my good friends is dying from cancer and my realtor’s brother just died last night from cancer and her husband has just been diagnosed w/ cancer. It’s from toxic water.
It’s just a sad fact that cancer is now like violence…our society has become desensitized and numb, just accepting this as a way of life these days. A lot of our problems result from taking the easy way out w/ a quick fix no matter what the long term effects.
Dale Swiggett
Waterfront Sportsman
Yup, you nailed it, the seven things you are known for. Your distort facts (or make them up), confuse facts with fiction, and run around screaming of the sky falling in. Sorry if that discribes you very well. No I do not have any financial gain except to keep the economy growing. However if they sell stock I would certainly be interested. It would be a good investment. Another good investment would be a home in the middle of nowhere where all the anti people could be placed and argue among themselves…......
watchman and rockit must be part of VUI because they are calling everyone who disagrees with them
1 - senseless and paranoid
2 - making up a doomsday scenario
3 - chicken little
4 - liar
5 - incredibly ridiculous
6 - ridiculous comment
7 - Nut cases
hhhmmmmm….makes one think that they will both GAIN heavily if the uranium mine is open….they are fighting for this issue like they have EVERYTHING to GAIN ($$$$)
Hahahahahaha - an island sunk 4 feet in less than ten years? Come on dude, you can do better than that. Did you get that nonsense from the same UN report which reported most of the Netherlands are now under sea level, ONLY to have retract that report as being completely false?
You environmental people are incredible in your wild accusations and in some cases hallucinations. Just like the e-mails from those environmental wacko scientists in Britain who tried to silence the data from other scientist who disagreed with their “doomsday” scenarios.
With the complete destruction of credibility in the environmental movement around the world, one has to wonder, just how much credence should we allow an individual who, (1) admits he’s biased, (2) has a direct financial interest in everything he proposes, and (3) doesn’t even live in this area.
Things that make you go MMMmmmmm.
Samsacres - This is one of those cases of “if the shoe fits…“
If your only reason for opposing this mining operation is an unwarranted and unjustifiable FEAR of the unknown, without rational consideration of ALL the factors involved in such decision, then your FEAR is senseless and leads one to believe you hold a PARANOID FEAR of this mining eventhough you yourself can’t say with any certainty whether this specific mine, in this specific location can be operated safely. So again, if the shoe fits….
If you are opposing this mine solely because of the threat of nuclear armageddon, contamination of local ground and streams, and increased cancer rates, then your opposition is based on a, how did you say it, “doomsday scenario” which, until the appropriate safety studies have been completed, carry no basis in fact. And that’s a fact!
While I personally have not used the terms “chicken little” and on this topic, I don’t believe I’ve called anyone a “liar”, again, if the shoe fits.
Many comments made by those who so adamantly oppose this economic development are in fact “ridiculous” and some are “incredibly ridiculous”. Decisions such as whether or not to mine this deposit should be made after careful review of the type of operation required to extract this resource coupled with a scientific study to determine whether such extraction can be done safely. I believe that is the most appropriate way to proceed in this matter. However, just a couple of months ago, when the discussion was not about mining but about conducting a safety study to determine if the mining could be done safely, many of these anti-mining folks went nuts (thus the term nut cases). It wasn’t that they didn’t want the mining to proceed, everybody knew that already. The nutty thing was that they didn’t even want the safety studies to proceed. They were (and are) so wedded to their “incredibly ridiculous” “paranoia” and unfounded fear of “doomsday scenarios” that they started making “ridiculous comments” which could lead a rational person to only one conclusion——that these folks are a bunch of “nut cases” who just don’t get it.
And, it certainly doesn’t help when you-know-who cuts and pastes two or three pages of irrelevant material posted by anti-nuclear organizations or individuals in an insane (oops, here’s that nut case thing again)attempt to “prove” his political position is correct. I mean, come on, just what position would you expect these life-long tree huggers to take?
By the way samsacres, have you noticed that there’s been some name calling on the other side of this issue, or is it just name calling when mine proponents do it?
Yes, I have a somewhat biased position simply because I’ve talked w/ the ladies in Edenton, NC belonging to the Women’s Club who told members of the Environmental Investigation Coalition that they all suffer from cancer, tired of seeing their dogs and cats die prematurely. I’ve met w/ a few people in Hyde County where there’s an extremely high incidence of cancer. I’ve talked w/ people who say that Goose Creek Island has SUNK 4 ft in less than 10 yrs (this is due to subsidence from overpumping the Aquifer). One of my researchers and friends is dying from bio-solids (sludge) exposure because a handful of power brokes in my state allows surrounding states import their sludge to be spread here in NC. I’ve talked to low income people in Pamlico County who paid $12,500 to hook up to sewer line when indeed there is no sewer capacity and it’s been oversold by as much as 500%. Developmental Ponzi schemes bleeds into environmental injustices here and elsewhere in the US.
And yes, I came to Danville this summer w/ these great econ devlpmt ideas but ran up against opposition due to my stance against U mining. One project is at Smith Mtn Lake (a green Waterfront Sportsman Inn/Lodge that would be a satellite location for our Environmental Politics & Ethics School catering to groups like the Green Plumbers of US who want to have a conference) and is in jeopardy due to VA U. Members of our group want to take the old Amerlink mill that Carroll County has been stuck w/ and convert it to producing geothermal housing, Disaster Recovery Housing, and retrofitting existing vehicles to be electric hybrids. But certain people in VA, as well as here in my home state, just don’t want good, logical, common sense ideas. One has to ask ‘Why not?!‘
So, tell you what…anyone out there who is interested in job alternatives and good ideas to put people back to work w/out screwing up the environment can just give me a call. I’m not an anonymous poster on any boards. I’m an entrepreneur w/ ideas that will put people back to work. And if anyone is curious as to why I fight developmental and environmental corruption, I’ll be glad to email you my ezine newsletter.
Dale Swiggett
Waterfront Sportsman & the EIC
336.340.6299
watchman and rockit must be part of VUI because they are calling everyone who disagrees with them
1 - senseless and paranoid
2 - making up a doomsday scenario
3 - chicken little
4 - liar
5 - incredibly ridiculous
6 - ridiculous comment
7 - Nut cases
hhhmmmmm….makes one think that they will both GAIN heavily if the uranium mine is open….they are fighting for this issue like they have EVERYTHING to GAIN ($$$$)
Hey ‘watchman’....I’ll be the first one to welcome you to one of our wonderful Cancer Clinics/Hospitals if you have to come here for treatment.
As for being ‘chicken little,‘ feel free to talk to the corrupt NC politicians who didn’t take me or my group seriousy. I’m the developer who they screwed w/ and now realize they created their very own Frankenstein.
And believe me, there are more North Carolinians who are very concerned as to what you folks are doing across the state line (& here in NC since the U deposits don’t stop at the state line). There’s talk of an old DoE plan being resurrected where either Asheville or Rolesville here in NC will be the destination for toxic U waste since Yuca Mtn is off the table after millions of taxpayer $$ have been poured into the site.
Dale Swiggett
The reason those areas don’t have water is because they over developed and now want to steal from other areas. Virginia Beach is the biggest culprit. Now they’re all so concerned about the environment but did not care if they drained central Virginia dry. Such hypocrites…......
Mr. Swiggett you said that “...shortsighted politicians in bed w/big developers and other big businesses and saddled us w/environmental problems…“ Now, be honest. You are not suggesting you arrive here with an unbiased opinion, are you?
I would be very glad to see our local folks here become employed in geothermal housing and retrofitting existing trucks as hybrids, etc., etc. etc. Just one question for you sir. Where are those jobs? Oh wait now, don’t tell me they are in Michigan, or California, or even North Carolina. I want you, right here and now, to tell us where those jobs are in Pittsylvania County. If the choice was between those jobs you described versus mining jobs, I would be inclined to say let’s hold off on the mining for right now. But that’s not the choice and you know it. There’s nobody out there banging down our county’s doors to bring those type of “green” jobs to this area. The choice here with respect to this mining is either the new mining jobs or no new jobs. That’s reality. You don’t have to like it, but it is what it is. And if this mining can be done safely, get on with it.
As to the water supply in Virginia Beach or Delaware or where ever, there is a simple solution. It’s called desalinization plants. If you don’t know how to do that, all you have to do is pick up the phone and talk to the middle eastern countries like Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. They been getting their fresh water supply for years through that process. Virginia Beach can do the same.
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