|
| |
GRETNA - A group from Southside Concerned Citizens appeared at Gretna Town Council Monday night to inform council about concerns over the potential of uranium mining in Pittsylvania County.
Jack Dunavant of Halifax County was the spokesman and said the goal of the group is to educate and share what they have learned about uranium mining.
Dunavant said uranium mining was originally proposed in the early 1980s and "was successfully fought off" through a moratorium passed by the General Assembly and the fact that uranium sales dropped to $15 a pound.
Early last summer the price jumped to over $100 a pound and there was a resurgence of interest to mine a deposit in Sheva.
A moratorium is the temporary prohibition of an activity.
A study bill proposed in this year's General Assembly was unsuccessful when it failed to make it out of committee.
"Through the House effort we were able to stymie the study bill, which wasn't really a study bill, but a time to set regulations in place."
Dunavant, an engineer and member of Halifax Town Council, explained that he believes the open pit mine proposed could create a mound of earth possibly 200 feet tall and miles long.
"There is no way in a hurricane or flash thunder storm they can contain all the water that flows off the site. If it ever gets into the streams to contaminate, you can't get it out. If you lose your water, then you have lost it all.
"You can't contain the dust. It becomes airborne.You can't contain the water runoff and it will last forever. This is the greatest scourge that this area has ever been subjected to. It won't work. It can't work and it will be a catastrophic disaster," added Dunavant.
"We are already categorized by the government as a sacrifice area. That's why we get sludge. We can't let this happen."
Council asked if SCC had information about health hazards associated with uranium mining and were given several written documents.
http://www.wpcva.com/articles/2008/04/18/chatham/news/news25.txt
No comments:
Post a Comment