The Alliance holds forum against uranium mining in the area
Traci White/Register & Bee
Gregg Vickery (left), chairman of The Alliance, addresses questions from the crowd Wednesday, along with Shireen Parsons, the Virginia Community Organizer for the Committee for Environmental Legal Defense Fund, following an anti-uranium mining presentation on how a community can practice self governance at Averett University.
About 40 people got a wake-up call Wednesday night urging them to seize their right to self-government and make their representatives put a stop to corporate assaults on their communities.
The Alliance, a local rights group opposing uranium mining in Pittsylvania County, and the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund gave that presentation at Averett University’s student center on the devastation they say uranium mining and milling would inflict on Pittsylvania County. They also strongly encouraged attendees to act now and make sure their elected officials protect their health and safety from environmentally damaging activities.
The event included a mixture of Averett students and local residents.
Gregg Vickrey, a founder and chairman of The Alliance, outlined the history of uranium mining speculation in Pittsylvania County, starting when Marline Uranium wanted to mine and mill uranium deposits in Pittsylvania and Orange counties in the early 1980s but abandoned the idea when the price of uranium dropped from $40 a pound to $9.
In 2007, the price climbed to $135 a pound.
Today, Virginia Uranium Inc. seeks to mine and mill a 119-million pound uranium deposit at Coles Hill, about six miles northeast of Chatham. Virginia has a moratorium on uranium mining. The Virginia Coal & Energy Commission is overseeing a study to determine whether mining and milling can be done safely in the commonwealth.
Patrick Wales, geologist and spokesman for VUI, said during a telephone interview Wednesday night that the company doesn’t want to get involved in a debate with a group that’s talking about overthrowing the county government, a reference to a petition by the two groups.
Vickrey said during his presentation that a mine at Coles Hill would be about 55 blocks wide, cover 110 acres, and be a block and a half deep. Vickrey also showed photos taken on a road near Coles Hill after heavy rains that showed water along the road and the side of the road. He questioned how rainwater would be contained and said it would seep through tailing piles and contaminate water sources.
Shireen Parsons, Virginia community organizer with the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, said during her presentation that uranium mining in the county is a “corporate assault.” She said uranium mining has never been done safely anywhere. Once mining takes place, everything within a 30-mile radius of Coles Hill would be contaminated, or a “dead zone,” Parsons said.
If VUI’s plans at Coles Hill are realized, a few fortunate property owners will be bought out and other families will have to walk away from their homes, with those left behind forced to deal with the health hazards of uranium mining, Parsons said. Residents must insist that their local representatives pass ordinances, such as a chemical-trespass ordinance, to protect their community from corporate assaults that would damage the air, water, land and the public health, she said.
“You cannot trust the government to save you,” Parsons said. “You have to save yourselves.”
Southside Virginia, in government and corporate language, is a sacrifice zone, Parsons said. The area has low income and education levels and a high minority population. Corporations are allowed to come to such places and engage in practices they can’t do in other areas, she claimed.
“You’re blessed with this beautiful place, but it’s a sacrifice zone,” Parsons said.
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Reader Reactions
Am I the only person who is offended by this Shireen character standing on the Averett campus and sqwawking that the reason mining companies are here is because we are all so stupid and uneducated that we are a “sacrifice zone?“ I thought the mining company is here because this is where the uranium is. Duh???
For CU in Danville - When you start your post by saying “Not to insult anyone’s intelligence here, but…“ we know that that is precisely what you intend to do. And, boy you didn’t disappoint!
Just for openers, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but those mill jobs and farming jobs you refer to—they’re gone. They’re not coming back. Get over it and get real. Even suggesting a nostagic return to yesteryear is insulting when you know it’s just not going to happen.
You are suggesting, apparently with a straight face, that God doesn’t want us to mine mineral deposits. Can you say the same about mining Gold and Silver which were common currencies for thousands of years? How about iron ore, the backbone of our industrial development? Oh, and lest we forget that oil has changed the way we commute as well as live our daily lives. Did God not intend for us to make use of these items he provided us?
As to cancer, heart disease, and diabetes, did it occur to you that increased instances of those diseases have to do more with diet, exercise, and advances in medical screening than they do with whether or not we mine uranium?
You say we should work by the sweat of the brow, love one another, and to treat our neighbor as ourselves. You say this is God’s plan for us. Well how very sweet of you! Guess what? I believe in God to. Am I less a Christian because I think we should always try to add jobs to our economy if it can be done safely? Also, what about those who don’t believe in God? Are you seriously suggesting that they follow your preaching and support your position out of some divine reverance?
The only issue that matters here is can this uranium be mined safely. I don’t know—and neither do you. But, if it can, I don’t think we should just throw those potential jobs away because of the histrionics of a few people who feel any mining is an assualt on the environment.
One other thing. If you have something to contribute to this discussion, either pro- or con-, by all means, this blog is for you. This is a hot topic and the vast majority of bloggers here are respectful of others’ opinions. But if you want to preach your own religious beliefs, this is hardly the place for it. Start your own blog or go to church.
Frisky Fun got it right, but she misses a couple of points…
It is absurd for your newspaper to cover the squabbles among people like this, but I guess I share the guilt since I cannot resist pointing out the obvious fraud going on.
If you read your whole story, you will find that obviously the SCC has duped its more dimwitted members who stomped off their playground to start another club. This Shireen Parsons, the woman frequently identified as NOT being a communist, was greeted by the SCC with jubilation way back when she drifted into the area. Your paper covered the activities as if they were part of a royal chess game. Jack Dunavant brayed the news that his town of Halifax had adopted one of Shireen’s “chemical-trespass ordinances.“
But soon, as often happens with children of their age, they all began to fall out, fussing furiously about who should get credit for what. Shireen and her local SCC groupies—the Vickreys, the Lovelaces, the Grosses, etc.—all promoted having a similar ordinance passed in Pittsylvania County and its towns.
Without a single stable citizen to support them around here, the SCC folks soon saw that it was hopeless to pursue the over-throw-the-govt agenda. And here’s where it gets funny:
Your story faithfully reports how this SCC (What does that stand for, by the way?) has now betrayed the very people it sent out to do battle. When it became clear that Vickrey and Shireen were infuriating people with their anti-government rants, the SCC’rs dropped them on the spot and now pretend they would not dream of being a part of something so radical. (OH, NO!!! NOT ME!“ was the thrust of comments from Eloise Nenon, the patron saint of loud-mouthed nonsense around here.)
Your newspaper is the only outfit in the area that takes them seriously. I agree their antics are entertaining, but don’t get any bright cost-cutting idea of letting them replace your comic section. They aren’t THAT good!
just glad this story didn’t make the front of the paper. the fight between two anti groups make the front pages. how great is that? two sets of losers fighting each other makes the front page news? what are the fighting for? to stop new jobs! if they are right there will be jobs cleaning the mess and if they are wrong there will be jobs mining. the people are leaving now without jobs. thanks for protecting the squirels and buzards and getting rid of the people.
I don’t get it; otherwise intelligent people calling anyone who dares to protest an unhealthy use of land nuts? Do you mean to suggest to me that to lift ones’ head from the sand long enough to evade blindness is somehow misguided? Woolygirl you are aptly named!
footballfan,
Tell me what you know about uranium mining, have you dug it?
People who call people names have personal problems!!
wait! is “the alliance” anything like the “justice league” ? If so, I want to join.
The only “sacrifice zone” appears to be the one between their ears. Soon Parsons won’t have to worry about any “evil corporations” in Danville as they are all leaving town. It is hard to imagine that anyone takes either Vickrey or Parsons seriously. Do either one of them have a steady day job?
Woolygirl:
Normally I wouldn’t bring it up, but under the circumstances it seems appropriate.
You said “If we had good leadership here, we wouldn’t have continuing embarrassments like the this and the humiliating deal…“.
What is “the this”? Apparently CU isn’t the only uneducated one here.
Throwing rocks, glass houses, yada yada yada.
“Woolygirl” making fun of a typo! Talk about brain-power… Obviously, when it comes to discussing the potential devastation of our local economy by a few greedy speculators who want to pile miles of radioactive waste (“tailings”) within a few thousand feet of Chatham Hall Girls School, she would rather “strain out a gnat while she swallows an elephant!” How pathetic….
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