When Virginia Beach City Council voted last week to oppose a uranium mine they fear could contaminate the city's water supply, they were butting heads with a company whose lobbyists look remarkably familiar.
Vectre Corp. has represented the Beach before the state legislature for many years. It's also been hired by Virginia Uranium to help it lift a 25-year ban on mining the radioactive substance.
"That's a concern to us," said Vice Mayor Louis Jones. "Now that the council has voted on the resolution, I would say any lobbyist currently working for Virginia Uranium and also working for us at the same time has a conflict of interest.... They'll have to decide who they want as a client."
As the state's largest city, Virginia Beach's position could be crucial as lawmakers weigh the financial and safety issues. The mine is being proposed in Pittsylvania County, home to a uranium deposit with an estimated value of between $7 billion and $10 billion. But the site is located upstream from Lake Gaston, the water supply for the Beach and much of Chesapeake. Virginia Beach backed the existing ban in 1983.
Jones said he would get little comfort if Vectre appointed separate lobbyists to its two clients.
"We can always find other lobbyists," he said. "The city of Virginia Beach is a good client to have."
But it won't be easy to find a lobbyist whose firm hasn't already signed up with Virginia Uranium. Its government relations team reads like a Who's Who of Virginia Lobbyists, with representatives from four of the state's top firms.
"We knew when we got into this we were up against the Southern Environmental Law Center and the Sierra Club," said Walter Coles, who formed Virginia Uranium. "For us to be competitive we wanted to find resources. We're just a little startup company."
The company spent more than $95,400 on lobbying expenses last year, according to the Virginia Public Access Project, compared to Virginia Beach's budget of $58,200. Virginia Uranium's network of influence could be a problem for other cities in Hampton Roads if they follow Virginia Beach.
Norfolk, which has its own safety concerns because it stores and treats the Beach's water, is represented by Kemper Consulting, another of Virginia Uranium's hires. Ditto for Hunton & Williams, which lobbies for Suffolk. Portsmouth is also a Vectre client. Chesapeake is immune from the dilemma because it uses only in-house staff.
Benson Dendy, president of Vectre and a top staffer for former Govs. Charles Robb and Gerald Baliles, said he tries to avoid conflicts, noting that Virginia Uranium "was a business way on the other side of the state."
Dendy said local governments are more likely to put him in a pickle than industries, whose interests tend to be narrow and static. Cities and counties get involved in a variety of issues, and their position can change with every election.
What will Dendy do now that he's on both sides of the uranium wars? "I think that's between the client and me," he said.
He may not be the only lobbyist weighing the merits of a big-spending industry with an uncertain future against the modest but regular checks from municipalities in Hampton Roads.
Christina Nuckols is an editorial writer for The Virginian-Pilot. Reach her at christina.nuckols@pilotonline.com.
http://hamptonroads.com/2008/12/lobbyists-mine-both-sides-uranium
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