I took several routes through Virginia during those 2 years and never did I drive though an area that was less than gorgeous. I'd grown up in KY, another beautiful Commonwealth, now marred in spots by expanding coal mines and, local to my home area, massive, ugly steel industries where once beautiful farm crops were grown and prize cattle grazed. I wanted to hope that Southside might be a new home, unspoiled by such ugly, destructive enterprises. Sometimes I would deliberately add a few miles to the trip so that I could drive through Pittsylvania Co...I had fallen in love with a little brick home in Blairs and loved driving by it. I was also charmed by parts of Danville and by Chatham.
When I learned that a uranium mine threatened to destroy so much of this beauty, I was appalled and welcomed the opportunity to work with SCC to help preserve the beauty of the area. A few weeks ago, I returned to Pittsylvania County to meet some of the current SCC members and suddenly found myself face-to-face with my little dream bungalow in Blairs. My immediate reaction was to check the realtor's listing for its price. Then reality set in and I had to admit that I couldn't invest in real estate that could soon be in a "hazard" area where it easily could lose its value quickly. My dream of teaching as an adjunct faculty member at Danville Community College (I'm an early retiree from community college ed in KY) and participating in so many interesting activities in Pittsylvania County were dashed...unless and until the moratorium on uranium mining is retained.
Mr. Withington apparently reached much the same conclusions as I did and I sincerely appreciate his writing to the Danville Register & Bee to express his views. I echo his sentiments: Why spoil it with uranium?
Smidgen
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And now Mr. Withington's letter:
By Published by The Editorial Board, Danville Register & Bee
Published: October 10, 2008
To the editor:
My family and I are from South Carolina. Recently, on a trip back from New Jersey, we stopped by the Virginia Welcome Center. We were impressed to see that Virginia is trying to make a change toward green living.
We also stopped by Chatham to visit friends and noticed “No Uranium Mining” signs. I cannot understand how a state that is trying to become environmentally friendly would allow a process such as uranium mining to destroy the beautiful land found throughout Pittsylvania County. I also could not believe how close this mining would be to streams, farms and houses.
Instead of creating a potential environmental catastrophe, why not set up wind turbines and use the power of nature to produce power? I was shown the area that is proposed to be mined and I don’t see why a bunch of wind turbines couldn’t be set up instead. It is much less destructive and will also show the rest of the country that power can come from nature instead of harming it.
With all the talk lately about “going green,” why would Virginia want to do something on the complete opposite of the spectrum? Chatham needs to be protected from this crime against nature and set forth a good example for the rest of the country — and the world. We should also set forth a good example for the children, since they will be the ones having to live with the decisions made today.
JAMES WITHINGTON
John’s Island, S.C.
http://www.godanriver.com/gdr/news/opinion/letters_to_the_editor/danville_letters/article/t
he_election_and_uranium_mining/6743/
No comments:
Post a Comment