Expert Calls for "Complete" Study

(From Danville Register and Bee 10/07/2007)

To the editor:
I missed reading, "Can phenomenon bring safe uraniummining?" (Sept. 17, page A1) when it was firstpublished. In a recent conversation about thepossibility of uranium mining in Pittsylvania County,a friend told me, "I think it's going to happen and Ithink it should happen." When I suggested that herefrain from deciding until we know more about thebenefits and risks involved, he said, "The study hasbeen done. It was reported in the paper two weeksago." That evening I read the Sept. 17 story andwondered how my friend could possibly have drawn thatconclusion.
If my friend made this mistake, it's likely that otherpeople have, too. I am writing to state myunderstanding of the article. The scientist whose workis the subject of the article asked that people givescientists the time to study the Coles Hill uranium inthe ground where its scientific value lies. This seemslike a good idea to me.
The story was based on an interview with A.K. Sinha, asenior geologist at Virginia Tech, who said, "We thinkwe can learn something from this site that can beapplied to existing contaminated sites and nuclearwaste repositories. . Why didn't the uraniumphysically migrate into the water system, the riversand the ponds? We found it does not. . I think it'sworth a lot more investigation to discover more.
"At this point, no one - not Sinha or anyone else -knows how chemical reactions in the Coles Hill areaprevent uranium from migrating into the water system.The way to learn more about this is to study the siteas it is, without removing the uranium and disturbingthe process. As was reported, "if scientists canunderstand what is happening at Coles Hill beforemining begins or the unique geological features aredestroyed, it is possible to create a technology orscientific process that could make uranium mining safefor the world." I would be more cautious and say itmight be possible to create such a process; it is nota sure thing that research would lead to safe uraniummining either here or elsewhere in the world.
What Sinha and his associates have found so far is a"research challenge," not a solution to theenvironmental and health problems posed by uraniummining. Sinha acknowledged that Pittsylvania Countyuranium has a significant market value; that's oldnews. He tried to inform us that Pittsylvania Countyuranium also has a very significant scientific value.
Any rush to mine uranium here for its market valuewould destroy its scientific value.In contrast, fully investigating the science of thishighly unusual deposit offers the possibility of newinformation that could be used to reduce theenvironmental and health costs of any future mining inPittsylvania County, as well as help in the cleanup ofexisting contaminated mining sites in other areas.

M. KATHARINE WHITEHEAD

ChathamEditor's note: A native of Pittsylvania County,Whitehead served as the information officer for theUranium Administrative Group, established by the 1983Virginia General Assembly to study the costs andbenefits of uranium mining in Pittsylvania County.