Va. Coal Commission Proposes Uranium Study; Proposal Draws Praise, ‘Unfair’ Responses

The Gazette Virginian [Halifax]

October 17, 2008


The Coal and Energy Commission will meet Nov. 6 in Richmond to propose and adopt a study on uranium in Virginia, according to Del. Terry Kilgore, chairman of the 20-member commission.


The commission will meet at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 6, in the General Assembly Building in Richmond.


“The parameters of the proposed study will include close examination of all important aspects of uranium development as they would be applied in Virginia,” Kilgore said, which would include the large uranium deposit located northeast of Chatham.


Marline Uranium Corp. first discovered the “Coles Hill” deposit in the early 1980s. However, Virginia has had a moratorium on uranium mining since 1982.


“The need for independent American sources of energy is a matter of national security and economic prosperity,” Kilgore said in his announcement.


“We know that Virginia has a significant high-quality uranium deposit, and as Virginians and Americans, we have a responsibility to study the feasibility of mining it safely,” he added.


“The Coal and Energy Commission conducted a similar study in the eighties and deals regularly with mining issues; it is the Commonwealth’s repository of mining expertise and the right entity to conduct this study. The Commission will work the affected locality and surrounding areas to develop parameters to the study,” he said.


Jack Dunavant, chairman of the Southside Concerned Citizens, said yesterday, SCC is taking a wait and see attitude. “In the 1980s that commission recommended mining,” he recalled.


“Of course, the big issue is safety and radiation,” continued Dunavant. “How are they going to protect people forever against radiation, which is what they would have to do?”


Dunavant said the (mining) decision should be made by Southside Virginians. “We very strongly oppose anyone trying to jam this down our throats. We’re not going to take that.”


Shireen Parsons, Virginia organizer of the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, challenged the proposed study.


“They are doing an end-around,” she said. “This was mentioned back in 1985, having the Coal and Energy Commission do a study. It is certainly not an unbiased group of people; they are the coal and energy people. They basically work on behalf of the coal and energy community [I said "corporations"...SP]. And so, this study has absolutely no chance of being a fair study. Of course it will say that mining can be done safely,” she said. “This study is both illegitimate and irrelevant because it doesn’t matter what the study says, the citizens of Southside do not consent to be mined. That is the bottom line.


“The real question is who gets to decide what Southside looks like, feels like, or how safe it is, the citizens or a handful of corporate officers aided and abetted by the state legislature,” emphasized Parsons.


Opposition to the proposed mining project first surfaced in Halifax County in the 1980s, with area residents’ expressing concern about water and air safety issues if mining occurred upstream from Halifax County.


Del. Clarke Hogan, who sought input from the Halifax County Chamber of Commerce regarding questions citizens wanted addressed in any future uranium study, could not be reached in Richmond yesterday.


Del Don Merricks, who represents Pittsylvania County, supports an independent study, but said the commission needs to hold public hearings before beginning work, according to a report published in the Chatham Star-Tribune this week.


“They need to hear firsthand what people are concerned about,” Merricks told Star-Tribune editor Tim Davis.


The delegate also said the study should examine economic and social issues surrounding uranium mining as well as environmental concerns, according to the Chatham report.


“I’m neither for it or against it,” he said, “but I do think an independent study will put it to rest once and for all.”


Walter Coles, the majority landowner, formed Virginia Uranium Inc. several years ago to explore the possibility of mining the large deposit on his and neighboring property in Pittsylvania County. Estimates of the deposit’s worth have been as high as $10 billion.


“With the growing importance of energy independence for America, as well as the presence of Virginia’s world-class uranium deposit, the time is right to conduct an independent and thorough study of the issue,” Coles told Davis this week.


The Coal and Energy Commission was established in the legislative branch of state government and consists of 20 members appointed from both the House of Delegates and the Senate. It also includes seven citizen members representing industry, government and groups of organizations identified with production and conservation of coal, natural gas, and energy.


Members include Del. R. Lee Ware Jr. of Powhatan, Del. Charles W. Carrico Sr. of Galax, Del. William R. Janis of Glen Allen, Del. Timothy D. Hugo of Centreville, Del. Watkins M. Abbitt Jr. of Appomattox, Del. Kristen J. Amundson of Mount Vernon, and Del. Clarence E. Phillips of Castlewood.


Senate members include Sen. John C. Watkins of Midlothian, Sen. Charles J. Colgan of Manassas, Sen. William C. Wampler Jr. of Bristol, Sen. Phillip P. Puckett of Tazewell, and Sen Frank W. Wagner of Virginia Beach.


Citizen members are Barbara Altizer, Harry D. Childress, Frank Henderson, Albert Darrell Holbrook, James K. Martin, John K. Matney and Dale P. Lee.

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