Coles' Uranium Rights End Where the Public's Begin

(From the Star-Tribune 12/274/2007)

County should pass resolution to keep moratorium


In response to the Register and Bee editorial on Dec. 10, titled "The First Shot," I attended the meeting of Southside Concerned Citizens in October, where Walter Coles outlined the type of uranium mining and concluded by saying that the proposed mine at Coles Hill would in fact be an open pit mine.
Strip mining and in-situ leach mining were ruled out as possibilities in Coles' presentation.
When asked what an open pit mine would look like, Coles states that it would be a hole in the ground of about 100 acres in size and several hundred feet deep. Imagine that, an open pit as large as many farms, from which the radioactive ore would be taken and processed on the site.
The "tailings," or solid waste from that processing would be piled up until the mining was complete, about 30 years, according to Coles.
The liquid waste would be stored in holding ponds.
The tailings would then be put back into the pit and covered up.
Keep in mind that both the tailings and the liquid wastes from uranium processing contain large amounts of radioactivity.
These mountains of waste (thousands of tons) would be open to the weather for as long as the mine was in operation.
When Coles was asked directly what could be done to keep the radioactivity from those tailings from leaching into the groundwater or blowing into the air during those 30 years, his answer was that he did not know.
To my thinking, that answer puts an end to the speculation about whether or not uranium can be mined and processed safely at Coles Hill. It cannot.
Walter Coles is asking us to risk our health and safety and that of generations to come on faith.
And the fact is that there is no new technology in place that can assure any amount of safety.
Walter Coles' rights end where everyone else's begin.
Just as a smoker cannot control where the smoke from his cigarette goes, Mr. Coles has admitted that he has no idea how to contain the poisonous residue from his uranium ore.
That one fact should be enough information for the elected officials of Pittsylvania County to follow the lead of Orange and pass a resolution to continue the state's ban on uranium mining.
But at a recent meeting held at Dan River High School to discuss Pittsylvania County's new 30-year Comprehensive Plan, I was told my a member of the Zoning Board that they had "not considered uranium mining as an issue" in drawing up the plan. Why not? If that attitude is typical of Pittsylvania County officials, we are in real trouble.
Citizens of Pittsylvania County will have two opportunities to speak out against uranium mining on Jan. 3 and Jan. 8.
Don't be afraid to speak out against this flawed idea. Otherwise we will have no one else to blame when we find ourselves living in a radioactive waste dump.

Jesse Andrews

Halifax