Delegate calls for meeting on uranium study

A study of uranium mining in Virginia is expected to be adopted during a Nov. 6 meeting of the Coal and Energy Commission in Richmond.

Delegate Terry Kilgore, R-Scott County, announced the meeting Tuesday.

“The parameters of the proposed study will include close examination of all important aspects of uranium development as they would be applied in Virginia,” according to a news release from Kilgore’s office.

Kilgore said America needs independent sources of energy as a matter of national security and economic prosperity.

“We know that Virginia has a significant, high-quality uranium deposit and as Virginians and Americans, we have a responsibility to study the feasibility of mining it safely,” Kilgore, who also is chairman of the Coal and Energy Commission, said in a written statement. “The Coal and Energy Commission conducted a similar study in the (’80s) and deals regularly with mining issues; it is the Commonwealth’s repository of mining expertise and the right entity to conduct this study.

“The Commission will work the affected locality and surrounding areas to develop parameters to the study.”

Uranium mining has been banned in Virginia since the early 1980s, but Virginia Uranium Inc. seeks to mine and mill a uranium deposit at Coles Hill about six miles northeast of Chatham. A proposed study to determine whether uranium can be mined safely in the commonwealth was tabled by a legislative committee in the General Assembly earlier this year.

Shireen Parsons, Virginia community organizer for the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, said the real issue is people’s consumption of everything, not energy.

“If we reduced our consumption of everything, energy would no longer be a problem,” Parsons said. “We need to be citizens rather than consumers.”

She said if people would drastically alter their lifestyle, including energy needs, uranium mining would not be a factor.

Parsons said the Coal and Energy Commission is going to give the study the widest leeway possible. She said the study, and the results, are a done deal.

“This is not an independent, unbiased group to do this study,” Parsons said.

She said opponents won’t accept a study because they would have to live with the results of the study, which she called irrelevant.

“The people didn’t consent to be uranium mined,” Parsons said.

Virginia Uranium welcomed the announcement from Kilgore and the Coal and Energy Commission.

“We are encouraged by Delegate Kilgore’s announcement that the Coal and Energy Commission plans to adopt procedures for a study of uranium mining in Virginia,” Virginia Uranium said in a written statement. “With the growing importance of energy independence for America, as well as the presence of Virginia’s world-class uranium deposit, the time is right to conduct an independent and thorough study of the issue.

“Virginia Uranium stands ready to provide any pertinent data to ensure a study of the highest quality.”

• Contact Bernard Baker at bbaker@registerbee.com or at (434) 791-7986.