More Details on Zoning Board Permit Approval

(From the Star-Tribune 01-09-08)


Zoning board OKs permitBy TIM DAVIS/Star-Tribune EditorWednesday, January 9, 2008 9:35 AM EST
The Pittsylvania County Board of Zoning Appeals rejected a recommendation from the Planning Commission Tuesday night and voted 4-2 to approve a special-use permit for Virginia Uranium Inc.Virginia Uranium began exploratory drilling in December to confirm what is believed to be the largest uranium deposit in the United States.
The Coles Hill deposit, discovered in the early 1980s, is on Coles Road between the Sheva and Sonans communities about six miles northeast of Chatham, and contains an estimated 110 million pounds of uranium worth an estimated $10 billion.Although Virginia has had a moratorium on uranium mining for 25 years, the state recently approved a permit for Virginia Uranium to drill 40 test holes for core samples.The company, and a subsidiary, Southside Cattle Company, which owns about 2,000 acres around the deposit, applied for a special-use permit for a temporary office and storage buildings.Neil Keesee, an attorney for Virginia Uranium, said the company needs a temporary office - a portable trailer 12 feet by 48 feet - to process and examine core samples.


Part of the sample is sent for testing at a lab, while the remainder is cataloged and stored on site, Keesee said.Virginia Uranium also sought permission for three 8-foot-by-40-foot storage trailers. According to Keesee, the airtight, watertight containers will hold core samples.After a two-hour meeting that included 90 minutes of public comment, the zoning board voted to approve the special-use permit with two conditions: a two-year time limit on the temporary buildings and security for the storage buildings provided by a 24-hour patrol seven days a week.Voting in favor of the permit were zoning board members Allan Easley, Carroll Yeaman, Helen Glass, and Gary Fitts."We're all extremely concerned about the mining of uranium, but that's not what the application is for," said Easley.Fitts agreed. "The stuff has been stored there for 25 years," she said, referring to Marline Uranium Corp.'s original core samples, which were donated to the Virginia Museum of Natural History but are still housed in a metal shed on Coles Road."They've been permitted by the state," Fitts added. "All they are asking for is a building."Ken Talbott, the zoning board's chairman, and Blair Reynolds voted no."It bothers me that they want to put this in R1," said Talbott. "They could have had it rezoned. In my mind, it tends to corrupt the whole zoning process."Virginia Uranium hopes to convince the General Assembly to study whether uranium can be mined and milled safely, and possibly lift the state's moratorium.Opponents want the moratorium to remain in place and turned the zoning issue into the opening skirmish of what promises to be a long, bitter fight.Some 250 people attended the Pittsylvania County Planning Commission's first public hearing on Virginia Uranium's zoning request Thursday night at the Educational and Cultural Center in Chatham. About the same number was on hand Tuesday night.By a show of hands, opponents clearly outnumbered supporters. Of the 25 people who spoke Tuesday night, 19 were against uranium; six spoke in favor.Speakers were limited to three minutes each at both public hearings."Our government has shown it is ignorant or apathetic when it comes to uranium," said Larry Miller of Sutherlin. "Please do not allow this Pandora's Box to be opened."Jesse Andrews pleaded with the planning commission not to allow "this potentially disastrous venture to move one more step forward."Approving the special-use permit would send the wrong signal, Andrews said."You will be sending a message to the legislators in Richmond that you don't care whether Virginia Uranium Inc. goes ahead with its plans to mine uranium in Pittsylvania County," he said.Andrews lives in Halifax County, which depends on the Banister River for its water supply and is downstream from the uranium deposit.He criticized the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors, which recently adopted a resolution calling for a "neutral" study of the risks and benefits of uranium mining."They resolved in effect not to have an opinion about uranium mining," Andrews said. "How convenient for them to pass their responsibilities on to someone else."Is that the message you want to send tonight - that we in Pittsylvania County and Halifax County don't care?"Andrews' wife, Terry, a registered nurse, agreed that the United States needs alternative forms of energy. "But," she said, "why not explore solar and wind rather than give the green light to something what will ultimately destroy the place I call home?"Henry County resident Barbara Wynn, a medical doctor who specializes in lung disease, warned that exploratory drilling for uranium releases radon, a potentially harmful gas."This is a health hazard," said Wynn. " Anybody living downwind is going to be affected. I suggest that you be very cautious."Jack Dunavant, chairman of Southside Concerned Citizens, said there is no way uranium can be mined safely."We are all under assault by a corporation that wants to ram uranium down our throats, grab the money, and run," said Dunavant, an engineer and member of Halifax Town Council. "Radiation is a killer. Radiation is forever. Protect people from this scourge."South Boston resident Bob Cage called it a "no-brainer. This thing is too dangerous," said Cage. "Why are you going to let that monster out of the ground?"Eloise Nenon of Chatham, a founding member of Southside Concerned Citizens, spoke on behalf of the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy."Virginia people need to be protected. Virginia communities need to be protected," Nenon said.Karen Maute of Danville said the county should have halted Virginia Uranium's exploratory drilling. She claimed the company is violating local waste ordinances."This company is dangerous," Maute said.George Stanhope, who lives on Strader Road in Chatham, urged the county to ask the state health department for radiation testing around the uranium deposit.Hunter Austin of Hurt questioned Virginia Uranium's accountability."It is incongruous to be that we have something called a limited liability corporation proposing to conduct a business with limitless liability," he said. "It's going to be dangerous to the health and welfare of everyone in this county."Not everyone was against the special-use permit.Retired Readers' Digest editor Henry Hurt said Virginia Uranium could be a good thing for the region. Hurt has invested his own money in the company."If we can put a man on the moon, I have to think we can tap this ore out of the ground safely," he said.Roy Crider, who lives next to the site, said he didn't have any concerns about the drilling.That was enough for Planning Commission chairman Morris Stowe."I listened to the gentleman who lives next door and he's not worried about it," Stowe said Thursday night. "They're drilling. The state's granted them a permit. We have no say in that. What they are doing is not going to stop."Stowe, who represents the Tunstall District and also serves on the Pittsylvania County School Board, said it's not the planning commission's responsibility to decide whether uranium should be mined.He said the special-use permit only deals with whether Virginia Uranium can have a temporary office and storage trailers."That's the only decision we can make," Stowe said. "Is it safer for the citizens to have the cores laying out exposed or put in something? Frankly, I'd feel better riding down the road if they were stored in a container."Banister District planning commission member Charles Miller Jr., who, like Stowe, also serves on the school board, took a broader view."Shall we open the door or shall we not?" said Miller. "If one person's health is negatively impacted, that's one too many."Miller made a motion to recommend that the Board of Zoning Appeals deny the special-use permit. It passed 4-3."There are some tremendous financial benefits, but at the same time there could be some serious health risks," he said.Other planning commission members who voted to recommend denial of the permit included Staunton River's Curtis Arthur, Callands-Gretna's Garry Martin and Westover's David Weatherford.Stowe was joined by Dan River's Bill Sterner and Chatham-Blairs' Richard Motley in voting against the motion.