So much for learning all about uranium mining
To the editor:
I went to a meeting about uranium mining in Danville last week held by Southside Concerned Citizens and found out some things I did not know.
Gregg Vickrey ran the meeting. He told us that he did not know anything about uranium mining until he looked it up on the Internet. “That’s what I did, and that’s where I learned all I know about uranium,” Vickrey said.
In praising various people, Vickrey pointed out Chatham Mayor George Haley, calling him his “hero,” and asked the folks there to give Mayor Haley a big round of applause. Some did.
Then Shireen Parsons got up and talked about what she called chemical trespass ordinances. She was really stirred up about them. She is so upset about things in general that she told the people, “I don’t know why we aren’t rioting in the streets.” She predicted that Danville willbecome a “ghost town” if uranium is mined 20 miles to the northeast.
Parsons, who lives near the coalfields, said that she would not let mining take place in the backyard of her house even if offered $1 billion.
The meeting was a very interesting experience. In fact, it was sort of like going to an old-fashioned carnival and seeing wild movies with loud music and all sorts of horrible exhibits. One of the movies even showed what appeared to be a two-headed baby.
I also saw pictures of rain water standing in the ditches near Coles Hill and heard threats that all of this water would cause the tailings ponds to overflow or burst.
My question to the SCC is why my father’s pond or any other pond in the area that has been there for 40-plus years and was built with a tractor and a shovel didn’t burst?
One would assume that given the same scenario, of controlling water, a couple engineers could come up with something even better than the local farmers.
I had some questions I wanted to ask, such as why the SCC is opposed to a scientific study to find out whether uranium can be mined safely. If it can be, it would be a huge boost for our region.
But this meeting was not a place where anyone could ask reasonable questions or find out any useful information.
STEWART EAST
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