We Can't Depend on our Governments to Protect Us

My name is Gayle Carden Hudert. I am a lifelong Virginian, a Halifax county native, and have been living in the wonderful town of Chatham for two years. Thank you for this opportunity to speak on an issue of greater importance than any other issue at hand, because the outcome of our actions - or our inaction - will determine the health and welfare of Virginians for generations to come. Uranium mining is a very real threat. No matter how well intentioned its proponents may be, the truth is that there is no method of extracting and milling uranium without the threat of radioactive contamination. The proof is spread all over the US western states, Australia, and Canada. Radioactive waste has decimated thousands of acres of land wherever uranium has been mined - and the regions devastated by its effects will never recover. Radioactivity is known to cause birth defects, kidney disease, and cancer by permeating the human body and destroying healthy cells. Even when doctors use it as a treatment for cancer, they warn their patients about the dangers of exposing their loved ones to the radioactivity they carry in their bodies. No sane person would willingly expose their child, or spouse, or friends to such a threat, but for one reason - money.

We can't be enticed by the empty promise of an economic boon. It won't be cost effective for the mining operation to train hundreds of local workers when there are experienced miners from the west and Canada waiting for jobs.
For as long lasting as the dangers are, mining is a short-lived feast. Outside workers will be brought in to earn the wages, and, once the uranium has been extracted, those workers will move on, leaving a health cost debt behind them. There will be no long-term benefits to our area - just the same "boom, bust, and fizzle" that follows all uranium mines.

The ones who stand to gain the most money from this venture would have you believe that the state and counties will get their share of the billions they expect to make, but how much is your health worth to you? How much would you have to be paid to complacently accept even an increased probability of watching a loved one suffer from cancer, or trying to think of the right words to say to your son or daughter - or granddaughter - facing parenthood of a child with birth defects? How will you explain to them, to yourself, that it might have been prevented - if you had only acted to stop it at the very inception of the threat?

Uranium mining creates enormous amounts of radioactive waste. Period. Radioactivity is a real health threat - made all the more insidious by the fact that it is a wolf wrapped in sheep's clothing. Profiteers will say it's all for our own good, but don't believe them. They have no way to protect us. We can't depend on the federal government to take care of us. The guys in Richmond will sacrifice us for the sake of commerce.

We have to face this threat now and do whatever we can to stop the radioactive contamination of our air, land, and water. If we do nothing, we will face the dire consequences - not only for as long as any of us will live - but throughout the lives of our children, and their children, and their children - for thousands of years to come. It would be inexcusable to take that chance with their future - whether for money or complacency. We all have to accept our responsibility as citizens and work together to put a stop to this mining threat now.

Gayle Carden Hudert
Chatham, VA