Scientists fear impact of Asian pollutants on U.S.

By Les Blumenthal, McClatchy Newspapers Sun Aug 31, 6:00 AM ET

WASHINGTON — From 500 miles in space, satellites track brown clouds of dust, soot and other toxic pollutants from China and elsewhere in Asia as they stream across the Pacific and take dead aim at the western U.S.

A fleet of tiny, specially equipped unmanned aerial vehicles, launched from an island in the East China Sea 700 or so miles downwind of Beijing , are flying through the projected paths of the pollution taking chemical samples and recording temperatures, humidity levels and sunlight intensity in the clouds of smog.

On the summit of 9,000-foot Mt. Bachelor in central Oregon and near sea level at Cheeka Peak on Washington state's Olympic Peninsula , monitors track the pollution as it arrives in America.
By some estimates more than 10 billion pounds of airborne pollutants from Asia — ranging from soot to mercury to carbon dioxide to ozone — reach the U.S. annually. The problem is only expected to worsen: Some Chinese officials have warned that pollution in their country could quadruple in the next 15 years.

While some scientists are less certain, others say the Asian pollution could destabilize weather patterns across the North Pacific, mask the effects of global warming, reduce rainfall in the American West and compromise efforts to meet air-pollution standards.
" East Asia pollution aerosols could impose far reaching environmental impacts at continental, hemispheric and global scales because of long-range transport," according to a report earlier this year in the Journal of Geophysical Research . The report said that a "warm conveyor belt" lifts the pollutants into the upper troposphere — the lowest layer of Earth's atmosphere — over Asia , where winds can bring it to the U.S. in a week or less.

READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE HERE

Uranium Education Seminar to be Held Friday in Chatham

By TIM DAVIS/Star-Tribune Editor
Wednesday, August 27, 2008 9:58 AM EDT

Southside Concerned Citizens and the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund will sponsor an educational seminar on proposed uranium mining in Pittsylvania County Friday, Aug. 29, at the Community Center at Chatham.

The program, which is free and open to the public, will begin at 7 p.m. at the new community center on South Main Street in Chatham.

The seminar will explore the environmental, social, and economic impact of uranium mining in Southside Virginia.

"Many citizens admit they don't know enough about the issue to have an opinion," said Shireen Parsons, a community organizer with the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund in Christiansburg.

"In a democracy, informed decision-making is essential," said Parsons. "With this goal, citizens and government officials are urged to attend this seminar in Chatham on the proposed Coles Hill uranium mine."

Representatives of Southside Concerned Citizens and the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund will present issues and information on how communities can protect themselves from uranium mining.

Informational hand-outs will be available, and a question-and-answer session will follow the presentations.

The anti-uranium groups have held similar educational seminars in recent weeks at New Prospect Baptist Church in Hurt and Gretna Middle School in Gretna.

They also are organizing petition drives in hopes of convincing local officials to adopt "chemical trespass" ordinances aimed at uranium mining.

Earlier this month, Chatham Mayor George Haley said he wants the town to consider a chemical trespass ordinance to protect residents from the dangers of uranium mining.

"I think we would be remiss not to learn more about chemical trespass ordinances that have been enacted in other parts of Virginia," he said.

Halifax became the first locality in Virginia to adopt a Corporate Mining and Chemical and Radioactive Bodily Trespass ordinance last February.

Halifax Councilman Jack Dunavant called the vote "historic."

"The people have finally agreed to protect their health and the environment from corporate assault," said Dunavant, who is chairman of Southside Concerned Citizens.

"It's time the constitution was evoked to give the power to the people to protect their own destiny and end this era of corporate greed and pollution," he added.

The ordinance is designed to hold corporations and governing officials permitting those corporations liable for chemical trespass.

Parsons said chemical trespass ordinances have been enacted in Pennsylvania to stop a variety of corporate actions, including the spreading of sewage sludge.

Ben Price, a project director with the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, said the action "empowers the community" and "is a first shot across the bow to let them know the people have the right to govern."

Read the full article here

Summer interns gain job experience at Virginia Uranium

By TIM DAVIS/Star-Tribune Editor
Wednesday, August 27, 2008 9:58 AM EDT


Seven young people gained valuable job experience this summer as interns at Virginia Uranium Inc.'s main office in Chatham.


The company employed seven: Walter Anderson, Erica Galvan, Jonathan Wright, Mary Dare Thornton, Josh Shields, Lena Cole, and Sam Cole.

The interns, all students, analyzed and recorded data, did statistical and administrative work, conducted economic research, and even constructed a three-dimensional model of the Coles Hill uranium deposit.

Located six miles northeast of Chatham near the Sheva community, the deposit was discovered in the early 1980s by Marline Uranium Corp.

Last year, Walter Coles, who owns the land and a majority of the ore, formed Virginia Uranium to explore the possibility of eventually mining the deposit, which is now worth an estimated $10 billion.

Although Virginia has had a moratorium on uranium mining since 1982, Virginia Uranium received a state permit last year to conduct exploratory drilling to verify the deposit. The company began test drilling in December.

Virginia Tech professors and students have also begun an extensive here-year research project at Coles Hill that is expected to shed new light on the uranium deposit.

Although there is no uranium mining, Virginia Uranium's office in Chatham is a beehive of activity. The company employs about 20 people. Almost all are local, including the interns.

"When we got started, we always said we were going to use local folks, and we're trying to do what we said we'd do, " said Coles. "I think it's exciting these bright young kids have a place where they can work and learn and grow."

Anderson, 17, a 2008 graduate of Chatham High School, plans to study chemistry at Hampden-Sydney College this fall.

The youngest of the interns, he spent the summer digitizing huge amounts of historical technical data from Marline.

Anderson thinks the United States should develop more nuclear energy.

"I think it's safe because regulations on the nuclear industry are very stringent," he said.

Anderson also thinks Virginia Uranium, which has promised jobs and an economic boost, may be a good place to work after college.

"This is definitely a job prospect in the future," he said.

Galvan, 19, of Sheva is a student at Johnson Bible College in Tennessee. A sophomore, she is studying to become a social worker, but may change her major after spending the summer at Virginia Uranium.

"Actually, since being here, I'm on the fence," she said. "I'm thinking about looking at engineering."

Like Anderson, Galvan played a key role in digitizing technical data from Marline's extensive research almost 30 years ago.

She also put her creativity and innovation to use developing papers and brochures on complicated subjects like radiation and air quality.

In addition, Galvan helped create a kids' educational section on Virginia Uranium's website.

"I'm just really glad to have the opportunity to work here," she said. "Being here has really opened my eyes."

Wright agreed.

"It's been pretty interesting," he said. "I didn't know much about uranium mining, but I'm more for it now because I understand it better. It's safer than a lot of people think."

Wright, 21, of Chatham is a senior accounting major at Lynchburg College. He used his expertise with numbers to help prepare complex technical data this summer.

Thornton, 19, of Chatham is a rising sophomore at Roanoke College, where she is majoring in global business with a minor in French.

Thornton, whose mother, Nina, works for Virginia Uranium, did a little bit of everything this summer, including research, sitting in on meetings, and working on a newsletter for the uranium company.

"I've learned a lot," she said, noting this is her first real job. "It was a good business experience. I've seen a lot of how a business works."

Shields, 21, may have received the most practical experience as an intern. A 2005 graduate of Chatham High School, he is a senior mining engineering major at Virginia Tech.

Shields conducted field research at Coles Hill and served as key link with professors and other students from Virginia Tech. He also was instrumental in creating geologic modeling of the uranium deposit.

"I've enjoyed being around the home area and looking at what I can be doing in the future," he said. "Hopefully, if this project is going, I'll come back here to work."

Cole, a student at Danville Community College, helped analyze and prepare drill core for assay, helped construct and compile core lab data worksheets, and assisted in locating historic drill holes.

Her brother did similar work, and also created grid maps marking drill holes and their working status. He is a student at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Ill.

Their mother, Jenny, is a geologist for Virginia Uranium.

http://www.wpcva.com/articles/2008/08/27/chatham/news/news41.txt

YOU NEED TO READ THIS!

FROM CELDF.ORG

Over a century ago, corporate robber barons and their politicians started creating the nation’s regulatory laws and agencies. Corporate managers, their lawyers and their politicians have been perfecting this system ever since. It’s fine-tuned to the point that most of us think it was us trying to regulate them.

By replacing real governing power with the toothless Regulatory System, corporate schemers have us trudging off to permit application hearings, hat in hand, to beg our elected Zoning Board members and Environmental Agency employees not to let corporations use their pre-engineered regulatory law as a community wrecking ball.

By relying on the Regulatory System to solve problems that effect community health, local economies, environments, and the sustainability of a decent quality of life, we let powerful minorities hiding behind corporations and the legal protections they wield call the shots. They are always one step ahead of us, since they wrote the rules.

Our communities expend time, money, energy, and resources in an endless game in which the right of corporations and those who command them to harm our communities and deny our rights isn’t even on the table.

Decades of experience have convinced growing numbers of people that the Regulatory System operates as an “energy sink” -- forcing communities to expend limited resources on roads to nowhere.

Others hold onto the hope that if they make the right presentation, hire the best lawyers, become experts in hydrology, toxicology, traffic patterns...the people working at the regulatory agencies will notice and protect our communities.

What some of us have learned is this: we have been letting corporations regulate us. We’ve been letting corporate mangers LEGALIZE corporate assaults with their deadly technologies, disruptive constructions, and denials of rights. We know this because their Regulatory System has been issuing the permits.

The story of the corporate theft of people’s rights reaches back to the 1600s, when the very first global corporations included the East India Company, the Royal African Company, the Hudson’s Bay Company, The Virginia and the Massachusetts Bay Companies. Like today’s multinationals, they exploited cheap or slave labor, appropriated ineffectually defended public resources, and swindled markets.

In 1787, when the U.S. Constitution was drafted behind closed doors, the same institutionalized culture of promoting privileges for the privileged left all women, blacks, Native Americans, and un-propertied white men with no claim to constitutional rights. In 1886 it granted those rights to corporations, which then proceeded to challenge the rights of people.

In 1893, when the very first regulatory agency, the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC), was established, then Attorney General Richard Olney assured the president of the Burlington Railroad that there was nothing to worry about:

The [ICC]...is, or can be made, of great help to the railroads. It satisfied the popular clamor for a government supervision of the railroads, at the same time that the supervision is almost entirely nominal. Further, the older such a commission gets to be, the more inclined it will be to take the business and railroad side of things. It thus becomes a sort of barrier between the railroad corporations and the people and a sort of protection against hasty and crude legislation hostile to railroad interests.

Regulatory agencies established after the ICC are no different. They protect corporations from being governed by the people with laws that would clearly subordinate the powerful minorities commanding them to community majorities. The Regulatory System has, in fact, erected a nearly impenitrable barrier between the soveriegn people and their legal creations, the mighty corporations of today. (e.g. see: PA local officials condemn attempt to usurp authority to govern corporate ag.) And there is much more. The true history of corporations is largely untaught and therefore cannot instruct us as we attempt to protect our communities from the harm they inflict, unless we take the initiative to ferret out the truth, and learn it. Citizens who are interested in uncovering this history are encouraged to attend the Daniel Pennock Democracy School.

Our authority to simply decide what kinds of communities we want to live in has been robbed from us through an ingenious bait-and-switch. Regulatory agencies create the illusion that we have legal remedies in the face of corporate assaults on our communities and families.To safeguard the future for our children and the planet it is time we confront these usurpations. What needs to become clear is that it is no use just fighting a particular corporation, a site battle, a permit. In every campaign, we are fighting hundreds of years of accumulated law and custom that have stolen democracy, rights, and self-determination from us. And it matters what you will do next.

Read: "TRIAGE" from CELDF's March 2008 Newsletter, Susquehanna

"It is business control over politics (and by 'business' I mean the major economic interests) rather than political regulation of the economy that is the significant phenomenon of the Progressive Era. Such domination was direct and indirect, but significant insofar as it provided a means for achieving a greater end -- political capitalism. Political capitalism is the utilization of political outlets to attain conditions of stability, predictability, and security -- to attain rationalization -- in the economy. Stability is the elimination of internecine competition and erratic fluctuations in the economy. Predictability is the ability, on the basis of politically stabilized and secured means, to plan future economic action on the basis of fairly calculable expectations. By security I mean protection from the political attacks latent in any formally democratic political structure.

"I do not give to rationalization its frequent definition as the improvement of efficiency, output, or internal organization of a company; I mean by the term, rather, the organization of the economy and the larger political and social spheres in a manner that will allow corporations to function in a predictable and secure environment permitting reasonable profits over the long run. My contention...is not that all of these objectives were attained by World War I, but that important and significant legislative steps in these directions were taken, and that these steps include most of the distinctive legislative measures of what has commonly been called the Progressive Era." -- Gabriel Kolko in The Triumph of Conservatism

Study finds new earthquake dangers for NYC

VUI's proposed uranium mine is ON THE CHATHAM fault. Representatives of VUI, such as Henry Hurt, will tell you that we are using scare tactics. Folks, you should be scared! The following article is about a nuclear power plant in New York. A major earthquake can happen at any time. An earthquake can also happen at any time along the Chatham fault. VUI's proposed mine is ON THE CHATHAM FAULT! An earthquake of sufficient magnitude could devastate the mine and mill, releasing deadly toxins that will cause us to be in the epicenter of a radioactive Superfund site.

DON'T BE FOOLED BY THE REPRESENTATIVES OF VUI! They want you to "TRUST THEM" Trust them after they answer some tough questions. You owe that to yourself and all of the people you love...

Gregg

Sat Aug 23, 5:05 AM EDT

An analysis of recent earthquake activity around New York City has found that many small faults that were believed to be inactive could contribute to a major, disastrous earthquake.
The study also finds that a line of seismic activity comes within two miles of the Indian Point nuclear power plant, about 25 miles north of New York City. Another fault line near the plant was already known, so the findings suggest Indian Point is at an intersection of faults.
The study's authors, who work at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Observatory, acknowledge that the biggest earthquakes — in the 6 or 7 magnitude range — are rare in the New York City region. They say a quake of magnitude 7 probably comes about every 3,400 years.

But they note that no one knows when the last one hit, and because of the population density and the concentration of buildings and financial assets, many lives and hundreds of billions of dollars are at risk.

The metropolitan area does not have a single great fault like the San Andreas fault in California, said Leonardo Seeber, co-author of the study.

"Instead of having a single major fault or a few major faults, we tend to have a lot of very minor and sort of subtle faults," he said. "It's a family of faults, and that can contribute to the severity of an earthquake."

John Ebel, director of seismology at Boston College's Weston Observatory, said he agreed with the study's finding that small faults can contribute to large earthquakes. "A quake can jump from one fault to another," he said.

Read the rest of the story here...

Uranium Mining Foes Clash at Gretna Forum

By Bernard Baker

Published: August 23, 2008

GRETNA – Opponents of uranium mining in Pittsylvania County say the area is being used as a “sacrifice zone” for corporate profit.

About 75 people met Friday at Gretna Middle School for an education forum sponsored by Chatham-Pittsylvania County Southside Concerned Citizens.

Gregg Vickrey, chairman of the local group, said the area falls into the sacrifice zone category because of a small population, low incomes and lower educational standards.

“Uranium mining in Pittsylvania County is a bad, bad idea,” Vickrey said, adding he lives 6 miles from the possible mine site on Coles Hill.

Shireen Parsons, Virginia community organizer with the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, said uranium mining in the county is a corporate assault. She said uranium mining has never been done safely.

Once mining takes place, the dust particles will contaminate everything they touch, Parsons said.

She contends some fortunate people will be bought out and other families will have to walk away from their homes, with those left behind forced to deal with the health hazards of uranium mining.

“Are you willing to be guinea pigs?” Parsons said.

Supporters of uranium mining said the committee is using half-truths and scare tactics.

Henry Hurt, an investor in Virginia Uranium, said opposition claims are outrageous.

“Calling us corporate terrorists is so silly when there are honest concerns that need to be addressed,” he said. “People around here are too intelligent to be fooled by such irrational nonsense.”

Hurt said it would be hard to enforce a broad ordinance banning radioactive materials, like that sought by Chatham Mayor George Haley, since it could be interpreted to ban trucks or trains that carry these materials from passing through the area.

The ordinance passed by the town of Halifax outlawing chemical trespassing has a provision to allow succession, he noted.

John Anderson, of Renan, wanted to know what oversight role federal agencies, such as the Nuclear Regulatory Agency, would play.

Renan disagreed with Parsons’ view that the federal government would “rubber stamp” permits to OK mining operations.

“They just don’t rubber stamp these permits,” Anderson said, adding the federal government would probably want a say in what happens with the issue.

http://www.godanriver.com/gdr/news/local/danville_news/article/mining_foes_clash_at_gretna_forum/5787/

STATEMENT OF CLARA HARDING, PADUCAH, KY

Our friend Phil from New Mexico sent me the following testimony by Clara Harding, the widow ofJoe Harding, one of the workers who gave his life to the USA's position within the Cold War. He worked at the gaseous diffusion plant in Paducah, KY. Union Carbide and the Dept. of Energy did virtually nothing to protect workers from the dangers of enriching uranium, even after they became aware of how dangerous the process was and that there were indeed some safeguards that should have been (and could have been) put into place to make the work of the employees at least somewhat safer. It's only been in the past few years that a significant number of safeguards have been publicized and lawsuits subsequently filed by many workers and/or their survivors.

Mrs. Harding's testimony was before the subcommittee on Immigration and Claims of the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives of the One Hundred Sixth Congress, Second Session in 2000. It is the most bone-chilling description of health issues I've seen yet.

The subcommittee was taking testtimony regarding COMPENSATION FOR ILLNESSES REALIZED BY DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY WORKERS DUE TO EXPOSURE TO HAZARDOUS MATERIALS

The transcript for the entire, quite lengthy proceeding can be found here:
http://commdocs.house.gov/committees/judiciary/hju67346.000/hju67346_0.HTM#0

I realize that mining uranium is an entirely different process from enriching it. I'm not trying to pass off Mrs. Harding's testimony as an indictment of every aspect of the nuclear industry. However, I do find it quite informative and heart-breaking. It appears to be a testament to the lack of care and oversight by some of the companies involved in the nuclear industry and the Department of Energy. Mrs. Harding's testimony is found on page 480.

Her introduction:

Clara Harding is a resident of Paducah, KY, having moved there in 1951 as a young married woman after her husband, the late Joe T. Harding, got a job working for Union Carbide Nuclear Division in the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PGDP). Mrs. Harding raised her two daughters, Martha and Clara Jo, working as an assistant to Dr. Curley, an oral surgeon to help make family ends meet when her husband's health deteriorated. She worked longer hours when he was abruptly terminated after 18 years of work by Carbide because of his illnesses. He was fired without insurance, disability or pension benefits.

For the next ten years, Mrs. Harding struggled to help her husband survive, watching his health decline rapidly, and finally losing him to stomach cancer in March, 1980. She has been a first-hand witness to Joe Harding's on-going struggle to bring to light the truth about the terrible conditions suffered by nuclear weapons workers throughout the country. She and their daughter, Martha Alls, carried on his fight after his death. Clara brought a state workers compensation case for widows benefits in 1983, only to have it dismissed 12 years later for failure to meet the statue of limitations. The order stated that for her to meet the filing deadline, under Kentucky law, she would have had to file her widows case five years before her husband died. In 1997, after fifteen years of legal battle, she settled her claim for a nuisance value of $12,000.

In September of 1999, Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson, came to Paducah and presented her with the Secretary's Gold Medal, saying that she had put a face on the Cold War. Clara Harding continues to live alone in Paducah on a fixed income, babysitting and doing volunteer work in the community. She enjoys needlepoint and watching C–SPAN. She attends Broadway Church of Christ in Paducah.

The Summary:

Clara Harding's testimony will cover her life with her late husband, Joe T. Harding, who worked at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Paducah, Kentucky, before dying in 1980 of what he and she allege were work-related illnesses. Because of his disabilities and his ''trouble-making'' in reporting health and safety problems at the plant, Joe Harding was terminated by Union Carbide in 1971. Clara Harding will testify about her husband's subsequent fight for his life and his tireless exposition of DOE's cover-ups right up until the day of his death, including trips to meet the Secretary of Energy Charles Duncan in 1979, as well as her own meeting with Secretary of Energy Richardson in 1999. Her testimony will also detail her struggle after Joe Harding's death with the Department of Energy and Union Carbide, regarding a workers compensation widows benefits case she filed in 1983, as well as her feelings about the current proposed nuclear workers compensation legislation now before this Subcommittee.

Her statement:

Mr. Chairman and other honorable subcommittee members, I thank you for allowing me to speak today not only in memory of my husband, Joe Harding, but on behalf of all workers like him, and on behalf of all the surviving families who have experienced what we—my daughter, Martha, and I—have experienced. We need Congress to do the right thing, after putting it off for over forty years, and passing a law to compensate workers and their families who have been killed cell by cell, atom by atom, by work we were told was to further the national interest and protect all of our children from harm.

Ms. HARDING. I am Clara Harding. I am from Paducah, and I live in Paducah, Kentucky. I have lived there since my husband, Joe Harding, began working at the Union Carbide plant in 1952. He worked there for 18 and a half years. He was terminated because he was too ill to work. Then he had his pension, his Social Security, his health, his insurance taken from him by the company. I have pictures here to show you to make sure that I am not telling you--

Mr. SMITH. Good. And, Ms. Harding, if you would pull that microphone a little bit more close to your mouth.

Ms. HARDING. Is that fine now?

Mr. SMITH. Yes. Thank you.

Ms. HARDING. Am I speaking loud enough?

Mr. SMITH. Now you are, yes.

Ms. HARDING. I want to thank you all for having me here today. I have longed for it for 20 years now to come to Washington, DC, and let people know what I have been through with.

He had a very bad time with his health from the age of 40. He had 35 percent of his stomach removed. He had sores all over his body. He was very anemic. He had fingernails growing out of the palms of his hands, soles of his feet, his elbows, his wrists. Finally he died in March 1980 of stomach cancer at age 58.

Fifty men were on this list before Joe died that had been having trouble. After he was terminated in 1971, he tried to tell the world he knew he was one of the only workers who would talk about how bad things were. He was so smart and knew so much; very few would listen. He even came to Washington in 1973 and talked to Congress and to the White House and to the Secretary of Energy and to the press. It turns out he was right and we should have believed.

After Joe died, I filed a workmen's comp case in Kentucky. DOE Carbide fought me for 15 years. DOE must have spent a million dollars to fight my claim worth $50,000. In 1997, I ended up getting $12,000 of workmen's comp. The judge said I should have filed my widow's claim 15 years before he died. I never heard of filing such a claim before somebody died. I didn't know he was going to die. The paperwork shocked us. It is taller than me, over 6,000 documents, five and a half feet of paper.

Uranium Will Benefit Few, Endanger Many

Hildred nails it dead on and demonstrates Lord Overton's prescient statement, "No warning can save a people determined to grow suddenly rich" even when the number of people standing "to grow suddenly rich" is very, very small.

STAR-TRIBUNE

Opinion

In the excellent analysis in the Star-Tribune, Aug. 13, 2008, page 1, written by Katie Whitehead of the column in The Wall Street Journal by Max Schultz, reprinted by The Star-Tribune, the rhetorical question was raised as to who would profit if mining and milling uranium takes place in Pittsylvania County.

For the benefit of those who do not follow developments on uranium mining in Pittsylvania County, one finds on the Internet site of the U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission a report of a meeting held by Virginia Uranium Inc., in Denver, Colo., on May 8, 2008.

The purpose of the meeting was to and I quote: "discuss Virginia Uranium Inc.'s (VUI'S) plans for mining and milling uranium from the Coles Hills Project."

As a part of this discussion, a statement was made about ownership of Virginia Uranium, Inc., to-wit: "VUI is owned primarily by approximately 31 landowners located near the project and they control the company."

Further stated was "VUI owns or leases approximately 2,300 acres of surface rights and 3,000 acres of mineral rights."

So the answer to who profits from mining and milling uranium in Pittsylvania County is approximately 31 landowner stockholders of Virginia Uranium Inc, who will get a part of the estimated $10 billion worth of the uranium deposit, along with those who lease mineral rights.

Of course, a large part of the uranium ore is said to be on the farm owned by Walter Coles and Sarah Coles McBrayer, so these two people will garner the proverbial "lion's share."

In other words, they ain't gonna end up po', not withstanding the problems of preventing the contamination of the environment (defined as air, water, land, plants, animals and humans).

A lot of people will be put at risk so about 31 people can become millionaires....capitalism at its worst.

Hildred C. Shelton

Danville

http://www.wpcva.com/articles/2008/08/21/chatham/opinion/opinion11.txt

Hogan: Let Chambers [of Commerce] Set Questions for Mining Study

Monday, August 18, 2008

Del. Clarke Hogan announced Thursday that he has asked the Halifax County Chamber of Commerce and the Danville-Pittsylvania County Chamber to appoint a local committee to help generate a fair and balanced study of uranium mining.

Hogan said he was delighted that the General Assembly in its last session denied a request by Virginia Uranium for a study of uranium mining in Pittsylvania County, but he knows that the issue is coming right back during the 2009 legislative session.

“It’s very hard to defend a position that says you don’t want to even study an issue,” Hogan said. But it’s the questions that are addressed in the study that Hogan wants to make sure the public has input in putting forward.

“I don’t want to see a study put forth and paid for by Virginia Uranium Mining accepted by the General Assembly,” said Hogan.

Virginia Uranium, Inc. was formed by Walter Coles and Henry Bowen of Pittsylvania County, owners of the land on Coles Road, near the Town of Chatham, where the mining project would take place. Halifax County lies downstream from the site and its residents, along with those of Pittsylvania County, will see the most effects of the any mining activities there.

To that end, Hogan has asked the local Chamber and the neighboring Danville chapter to name four to six members each to address the matter. The committee will be asked to collect information that will assure that the proper questions are asked and answered in any study that may be presented to the legislature.

Nancy Pool, president of the local Chamber, said she welcomes the task and will ask her board of directors for their support in their upcoming Aug. 28 regular meeting. She said she had also talked with Laurie Moran of the Danville chapter, who is willing to take on this task.

Hogan said he cannot imagine that he will ever be able to vote to lift the moratorium on uranium mining which the state set back in the 1980’s. “I don’t believe that technology has made changes that will significantly change the dangers of the tailings from uranium mining since that time,” he said Thursday.

But Hogan said he also fears that a study from the owners of the mine, described as one of the greatest sources of uranium in the world, would not be objective and fair and would not answer the questions of the Halifax County-South Boston community.

According to the plan, the chambers will begin their work as soon as the membership can be announced. Hopefully, the panel will have its questions formulated in time to present to the General Assembly during their 2009 session.

Then, Hogan said, legislators can come up with a study that asks the right questions — a process that he sees taking a year and a half, at least, to work through the answers.

“I’m trying to find a solution to settle this issue definitively for a generation,” Hogan said.

http://www.thenewsrecord.com/2008webfiles/20080818hoganuranium.htm

Fire Reported at Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant

Sunday, August 17, 2009

Tribune staff report

A fire broke out at Diablo Canyon Power Plant early Sunday morning.

The fire was in the plant’s Unit 2 main bank C phase transformer.

According to Sharon Gavin, communications manager for the power plant, the fire was reported at 12:12 a.m. and extinguished about 14 minutes later.

An “unusual event” was declared because the fire was outside the plant’s normal activity. The event was called off at 2:31 a.m.

There was no threat to the plant’s nuclear reactors, Gavin said.

The fire appears to have been caused by a transformer failure in an area east of the plant's turbine building, according to a mid-afternoon release of additional information.

Unit 2 was shut down as a result of the fire, and remained shut down Sunday afternoon.

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/breakingnews/story/442251.html

Del. Hogan Seeks Formation Of Chamber Work Group To Develop Questions For Uranium Study

Gazette-Virginian
August 15, 2008

Del. Clarke Hogan has asked the Halifax County Chamber of Commerce and the Danville/Pittsylvania Chamber of Commerce to form a joint work group to develop questions the community would like to have answered when a study is conducted on whether or not uranium can be mined safely in Pittsylvania County.

Hogan is asking area chambers to put together a work group composed of four to six persons from each chamber to determine “some of the things people living in this area want to have considered in a uranium study.”

The uranium mining issue resurfaced last fall after 25 plus years when Virginia Uranium Inc. formed to mine and mill a huge uranium deposit in Pittsylvania County.

Instead of having Virginia Uranium Inc. write a study, Hogan is suggesting the area chambers form this committee to determine what the community wants studied.

Once this committee has arrived at a consensus on what questions need to be answered in the uranium study, Hogan said the committee recommendations can be presented to the General Assembly.

Part of his request of the area chambers will be to ask the community to submit individual questions so everyone will have an opportunity to voice their concerns.

The work group will then filter through all of the questions and concerns expressed, and encapsulate those to construct the study.

In asking the area chambers to undertake this task, Hogan said he is looking for “a well-respected institution in both communities that can serve as a vessel for this process.”
Halifax County Chamber President Nancy Pool and Danville/Pittsylvania County Chamber Executive Director Laurie Moran have both agreed to take this task on, Hogan explained.

Pool is expected to present Hogan’s proposal to the Halifax County Chamber when it meets August 28.

“We’re trying to create some consensus around what we want to have studied, and what we want to know about this process,” Hogan added.

Although the chamber boards have yet to commit to this task, the delegate said he feels good about the project.

“We know we can’t kill this study forever,” Del. Hogan said, adding, “I am very, very skeptical about uranium mining. I am very, very doubtful whether it can be done safely, but I do not believe that opposing a study is a long-term sustainable position.

“To the extent that we are going to study it,” Hogan said, “I want to make sure that this study is fair and objective and answers the questions that affect this community.”

Hogan said personally he would prefer if this mining issue was not before the community.

“It is, so given that, I feel we have to take hold of it as a community so that we’re setting the agenda, so that we’re deciding what’s studied and what questions we want answered. When that study comes back, we can live with the results if it meets those standards.”

Regardless of what the study says, Hogan said he cannot imagine ever voting to lift the moratorium “under any circumstances.”

However, he realizes he is only one delegate out of 104 and is well aware of the democratic process.

Hogan anticipates the chamber task force beginning its work gathering community input together this fall with the committee making its recommendations to the General Assembly in 2009.

“Then we will come up with a study that asks the right questions. This thing will work its way through the process for a year and a half or so, and it should be relatively objective in that time frame. People will ask good questions, make sure they get reasonable answers, do their homework, and work this out. At that point maybe the fireworks will start again,” Hogan said.

“I’m trying to find something that will settle this issue definitively for a generation,” he added.

Virginia Uranium Inc. was formed by the Walter Coles and Henry Bowen families, who own the land where one of the richest uranium deposit in the United States was discovered some 25 years ago.

The deposit is located on Coles Road between Chalk Level and South Meadows roads in the Sonans and Sheva communities of Pittsylvania County, about six miles northeast of Chatham.
It includes two ore bodies and an estimated 110 million pounds of uranium worth $10 billion.

Virginia Uranium tried to convince the General Assembly last session to adopt a study resolution on uranium mining and milling, but in March a legislative committee rejected the proposed study of whether uranium can be mined safely in Virginia.

Del. Watkins Abbitt, House District 59 of Appomattox, offered the motion to table the bill with a second by Del. Hogan.

http://www.gazettevirginian.com/news1.htm

Uranium Controversy About Health, Not Energy Independence

Guest Editorial by SCC'er Katie Whitehead to the Chatham Star-Tribune!


Wednesday, August 13, 2008 10:34 AM EDT

Editor's note: The following article by Katie Whitehead is a response to Max Schulz's opinion piece on uranium mining, which was originally printed in the Wall Street Journal and reprinted on the front page of the Star-Tribune.

Whitehead, a Pittsylvania County native, is a member of the Mining Task Force of the Dan River Basin Association and former information officer for the Uranium Administrative Group, which studied uranium mining for the Virginia General Assembly in the 1980s.

The Dan River Basin Association's mission is "to preserve and promote the natural and cultural resources of the Dan River basin through stewardship, recreation and education."

The Dan River basin covers an area of 3,300 square miles in Virginia and North Carolina, including the Dan, Banister, Hyco, Mayo, Sandy, and Smith rivers.

The association has six staff members and offices in Eden, N.C., and Collinsville.

By KATIE WHITEHEAD

"Virginia Sitting on Energy Mother Lode" on the front-page of the July 30 Star-Tribune appeared to be a reprint of a Wall Street Journal opinion piece by a senior fellow with the Manhattan Institute, Max Schulz, who promotes nuclear energy and ridicules environmentalists for a living.

Schulz's bias was evident from his first sentence. Rather than study the local controversy over proposed uranium mining, Schulz began with the conclusion that south central Virginia is a "front in the battle over nuclear energy."

From my perspective, in Pittsylvania County, the controversy is not over nuclear power. Sure, the pros and cons of nuclear energy inevitably enter our conversations. But the issue is whether to permit uranium mining, milling, and tailings disposal in Pittsylvania County and throughout Virginia.

The issue is the health and well being of everyone here and the long-term socio-economic effects on our communities.

People debate the risks. People want to know who will benefit if mining is permitted.

We wonder just how radically the character of our towns and rural landscapes will change.

We worry about the stigma associated with mining and radioactivity and how it will influence economic development and tourism in our region.

Who will come to our area? Who will leave? Who will get rich? Who will get sick 15 or 50 years from now?

For Max Schulz to claim that the outcome of the "battle" here will tell us "whether the country is willing to get serious about addressing its energy needs" reduces a multi-faceted discussion to one dimension.

It also completely overlooks the fact that there is no shortage of uranium from friendly sources.

The risks associated with uranium mining in Virginia, in particular the very long-term storage of hazardous tailings, may not be risks worth taking.

Our backyard may not be an appropriate place for this industry, whether we want it here or not.

Had Max Schulz done his research, he would have seen a complex debate over uranium mining in Virginia.

Instead, he accepted the simple "battle" metaphor, found one advocate from each side, and entertained himself with their dramatic language.

For a pro-mining quotation, Schulz chose James Kelly, emeritus professor of nuclear engineering at the University of Virginia.

Schulz quotes Kelly's comment on uranium mining: "It would be ugly to look at, but from the perspective of any hazard I wouldn't mind if they mined across the street from me."

Does Kelly mean this literally? Or is he just grandstanding, grabbing our attention with an extreme position?

For an anti-mining quotation, Schulz chose Jack Dunavant, president of Southside Concerned Citizens.

To Jack Dunavant's description of "a dead zone within a 30-mile radius of the mine," Schulz added his own description of Dunavant's "courtly drawl," as he "paints a picture of environmental apocalypse."

As many people in south central Virginia know, the media loves Dunavant's colorful choice of words - fighting words.

Max Schulz says, "Only irrational fear prevents mining Virginia's vast uranium deposits," and paints for us a different picture: Virginia Uranium Inc. stopped in head-scratching wonder before "a brick wall of environmental activists who are determined to prevent scientific studies of the issue."

Mr. Schulz not only fails to understand the uranium controversy in Virginia, he gets his facts wrong:

The Virginia House of Delegates Rules Committee killed the 2008 study bill by a vote of 10-4. Led by House Speaker William Howell, R-Fredericksburg and Majority Leader Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, the Rules Committee is hardly "a brick wall of environmental activists."

Critics of the 2008 uranium study bill, including environmental and conservation groups and the majority of the Rules Committee, objected to an industry-framed study designed to fast-track legislation that would end the moratorium, not to unbiased scientific studies of uranium mining.

Schulz himself seems to have no need for scientific studies. "It's not as though we have no experience with uranium mining, which is in fact relatively harmless," he says fearlessly.

He adds, "What sense does it make to ban the safest step in the nuclear fuel cycle?"

Apparently Schulz is ready to begin blasting. But past mining has not been safe in many areas of the world.

Uranium mining in western states has been devastating, especially for Native Americans.

It is an open question whether current mining methods significantly reduce risks, particularly in an area with Virginia's population density and climate.

Strict regulations don't ensure safety. Accidents do happen due to lack of enforcement, intentional violation, human error, and acts of God.

Perhaps Schulz can show us examples that provide reviewable evidence relevant to Virginia for his study-free conclusion.

Many people throughout Virginia are doing their best to keep their minds open and develop opinions based on evidence.

Max Schulz would do well to do the same.

http://www.wpcva.com/articles/2008/08/13/chatham/opinion/opinion01.txt

Why Are We Even Considering Uranium Mining?

Another great Letter to the Editor of the Chatham Star-Tribune!


Wednesday, August 13, 2008 10:34 AM EDT

While I agree that the state of Virginia needs to explore alternative means of producing energy, this area of the U.S. is not well-suited for uranium mining.

I have been studying the issue of uranium mining in this part of Virginia ever since learning a uranium mine was being proposed.

A few days ago, I read an article in the April 4 issue of USA Today regarding a California-based uranium exploration company that leased more than 1,000 acres of land in Slope County, N.D.

Slope County is located in southwest, N.D.

I became curious about how Slope county compares to Pittsylvania County and decided to do research, using very recent data.

While Pittsylvania County has a land area of 983 square miles, the average land area of Virginia's 95 counties is approximately 429 square miles.

This compares to the average land area of 1,334 square miles for the 53 counties that make up North Dakota.

Slope County has a population of 767, compared to the 61,745 residents in Pittsylvania County plus Danville city's 48,411.

If we could "place" those 767 Slope County residents into Pittsylvania County, there would be less than one person per square mile.

In comparison, including the combined populations of Danville, Chatham, Gretna and Hurt which totals 52,282, this figure for Pittsylvania County would be 107 people per square mile.

Another fact is that the only two listed towns for all of Slope County are Amidon (population 26) and Marmarth (population 140).

The five counties bordering Pittsylvania have an average county population of approximately 50,840. The six counties bordering Slope County have a county population average of 5,576.

The nearest and largest town to the proposed uranium site in Slope County is Bismarck, N.C. Bismarck's population of 55,532 is approximately 120 miles away from the mine site.

Traveling 120 miles in every direction from the proposed Pittsylvania County uranium site would "take in" too many population centers to list in this letter.

For example, the population of Roanoke is 94,911 and the population of Lynchburg is 65,269.

In addition, there is in excess of 1.2 million people living along the busy I-40 corridor between Winston-Salem, N.C., to the west and Wake Forest, N.C., to the east.

All three populated areas are less than 120 miles away from the proposed Virginia mine site. A look at a map will show more examples.

There are other comparisons to make between a uranium mine proposal in Slope County, N.D., and a uranium mine proposal in Pittsylvania County.

One comparison is the average yearly rainfall. The rainfall in Slope County is just a third of the rainfall in Pittsylvania. Science tells us this area of Virginia is too wet for uranium mining.

Another example is state ranking in population. Virginia ranks 12th in population while North Dakota ranks 47th.

In conclusion, I see these comparisons as things the Virginia General Assembly needs to seriously consider.

I hope I have made my point.

Why are we even considering uranium mining in this part of the USA?

Tod Hoffman

Chatham

http://www.wpcva.com/articles/2008/08/13/chatham/opinion/opinion05.txt

Chatham Mayor Seeks Uranium Mining Law

Published: August 13, 2008

Chatham’s mayor wants Town Council to pass a chemical trespass ordinance against uranium mining to protect residents.

Mayor George Haley said it is the role of Chatham officials, elected and not elected, to protect people from the potential hazards associated with uranium mining.

He said he is concerned there isn’t enough being done to protect residents and hold people accountable if the state government eventually lifts the moratorium on uranium mining.

If approved, the mining would be done on Coles Hill near Chatham.

Chatham-Blairs Supervisor Henry A. “Hank” Davis Jr. said there are people on all sides of the fence when it comes to uranium mining – people who support it, those who don’t and people who want to know more.

Davis, an attorney, is concerned that Chatham doesn’t have the authority to make chemical trespassing a crime. There are state and federal laws that local governments can’t get around, he said.

Haley said all planning documents are written with regard to the safety, protection and welfare of the people. He said most of the people he’s talked to in Chatham are against mining.

Haley said if mining was safe, there wouldn’t be a moratorium.

“I don’t like what I see,” he said. “I want to be proven wrong.”

• Contact Bernard Baker at bbaker@registerbee.com or (434) 791-7986.

Read the original article here.

Way to go, Mr. Mayor! We really like the way you think!

Area Can't Afford Uranium Experiment

Wednesday, August 13, 2008 9:54 AM EDT

I read the story by Max Schulz of the Manhattan Institute that appeared in the Wall Street Journal about uranium mining at Coles Hill in Pittsylvania County. I have also read numerous quotes from James Kelly, former head of the nuclear engineering program at the University of Virginia on this same subject.

I am always concerned that people like these two and all other proponents of uranium mining in Virginia never live where they would be in any danger of mining operations or they are people who have a financial interest in uranium mining. They always seem to think that they know what is best for us. Of all these proponents of uranium mining, except maybe for local stockholders, I don't think any of them express any great interest in buying property and moving to Southside Virginia, let alone in Pittsylvania or Halifax counties.

Here's something to think about. Let's just suppose someone with a foreign government wanted to come to the United States, and in a densely populated and vegetated area of our country, explode a nuclear device to see what effects the radioactive fallout would have on the populace, animals, crops, food supply and water. What a terrible experiment this would be. What do you think our citizens would do? They would say that it was insanity and would do anything it takes to prevent it.

A foreign-owned corporation is planning on developing a gigantic open pit uranium mine, including a uranium ore milling operation in Southside Virginia, just a few miles from Chatham and Gretna. There could be two pits, each 800 feet deep and each covering 110 acres. That's the equivalent of 55 city blocks wide and one and one-half blocks deep. The constant blasting in the mine, the milling of the ore and the stockpiling of the fine radioactive tailings have the potential of spreading radioactive dust in all directions, much the same way a bomb would spread radioactive fallout. According to Virginia Uranium Inc.'s private presentation, there could potentially be 41,250,000 pounds of tailings, enough to produce a mountain 400 feet wide, 200 feet high (that's 20 stories) and 14 miles long. Remember, this mine would be only about six miles from Chatham, even closer to Gretna and very near the Banister River.

This radioactive dust being blown into the air and leaching into the streams would contaminate humans, animals, crops and vegetation, food supplies and water for hundreds of miles, from the Banister River to the Albemarle Sound and the Atlantic Ocean, including Lake Gaston, the water supply for Virginia Beach. Possibly the danger of contamination from this dust could be compared to the detonation of a nuclear device, as this mining operation would last 30 years or more. Another danger would be deadly radon gas emitting from these pits.

This operation would really be an experiment for the uranium company, as it cannot assure anyone that it would be safe. At this time, they do not even have any type of liability insurance. They do say that they have "real-time monitoring and reactions." As one of the opponents of this mine said, "If you have to react, then the damage is already done."

We can't afford to be guinea pigs for their experiment. There is no real cleanup for radiation contamination. When the genie gets out of the bottle, you can't put him back. Radiation is forever.

If the state of Virginia should allow them to go ahead and mine, some years later, when the extent of this pollution has been discovered or even sooner in the case of a disaster such as a tornado, hurricane, flood or earthquake, the owners and principles of the corporation would most likely just close the mine and milling operation, declare bankruptcy, move away to safer parts of the world and leave the mountain of tailings there.

Also, leaving the populace to suffer whatever would befall them. Remember uranium mining has never been done in Virginia and nowhere in the type of terrain we have in Southside Virginia, not in places that have the amount of annual rainfall we do. It has only been done in sparsely populated, dry and arid regions of the world. Many places near where it has been done are now ghost towns, unfit for human inhabitation.

The proponents of potentially dangerous enterprises such as uranium mining always want to dismiss the opponents by calling them "environmentalists." If being concerned about the health, welfare and safety of our present and future generations qualifies us, then you can call us "environmentalists."

The people of Southside Virginia had better educate themselves about the dangers of uranium mining and fast. Find out what you can do to help prevent uranium mining in Virginia. For more information, go to http://www.sccchatham.blogspot.com/ and http://www.uranium2008.blogspot.com/. Find out about many other websites and learn more.

W. G. Nunn

Virgilina

(Mr. Nunn is the treasurer of Southside Concerned Citizens. Excellent letter!)

http://www.wpcva.com/articles/2008/08/13/altavista/opinion/opinion03.txt

A Note From Gregg:

Henry Hurt, an investor in VUI, sent me an email pointing out that the claims about the size of the tailings pile(s) is a quote from Jack Dunavant, Chairman, SCC and not something in VUI's presentation. In fact, VUI vehemently disagrees with Mr. Dunavant's estimate.

Mr. Hurt's entire email to me follows:

Gregg-

Much of what you say, whether correct or incorrect, is within the realm of free and open commentary, and you know that I respect that.

But FOUL! on Wallace Nunn's attributing Jack Dunavant's wacko version of the tailings pile to OUR presentation. Nunn writes and you publish:

"According to Virginia Uranium Inc.'s private presentation, there could potentially be 41,250,000 pounds of tailings, enough to produce a mountain 400 feet wide, 200 feet high (that's 20 stories) and 14 miles long."

Jack Dunavant has repeatedly made that charge, and we continue to discredit it. So be it. But this is different. I don't know who Wallace Nunn is and am indifferent to his opinions, but it isn't like you (or Tim Davis) to let him use your forum to charge that we have stated something in our presentations we believe is so blatantly wrong. If anyone is tempted to believe Jack Dunavant's wild scenario about a tailings pile, all they have to do is look at any state or federal regulations to see that there is no way on earth such a montrosity could ever happen.

Many thanks,

Henry.

I hope that this post clarifies the record. GV