To the editor:
In the letter, "Editorial on mining twists study" (Jan. 8, page A8), was the statement "the study does show Virginians step by step what path we must go down in order to safely mine this energy-producing mineral, create high-paying jobs for decades in our economically depressed area, produce clean energy and reduce our dependence on foreign energy sources."
From the National Academy of Sciences study: "If the Commonwealth of Virginia rescinds the existing moratorium on uranium mining, there are steep hurdles to be surmounted before mining and/or processing could be established within a regulatory environment that is appropriately protective of the health and safety of workers, the public, and the environment."
To combat the idea that only ignorant, stupid Pittsylvania County residents like me oppose uranium mining, I quote the following from a Jan. 6, 2012, editorial in The Roanoke Times: "Especially in the current political atmosphere in which regulations are judged mostly by their fiscal impact on business as opposed to how they protect the public, it would be folly to trust that a rigorous enough regulatory scheme would be developed — and enforced — to protect the citizens of Virginia from the catastrophic risks this mining would entail."
Does anyone, based on its past experience in regulatory legislation and enforcement really expect the state of Virginia to protect the public from the risks of uranium mining?
Besides, with 5.8 magnitude earthquakes here, who wants a Japanese-type incident as adapted by local geography and weather? I prefer wood stoves to the risks of uranium-fueled electricity (which ain’t clean, by the way).
HILDRED C. SHELTON Danville
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