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
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