Most of the 20 speakers at last week's public hearing in Richmond on a proposed uranium mine in Southside Virginia had the same talking points.
They're worried about the mine's effect on the environment and particularly the surrounding streams and groundwater.
Members of a legislative panel will hear those identical concerns when they travel next month to Pittsylvania County, home to an estimated 60,000 tons of uranium, for a second hearing on the issue.
So far, no forum has been scheduled for Virginia Beach, which gets its drinking water from Lake Gaston, located downstream from the mine site.
Will a third public hearing yield any new questions or perspectives about the uranium mine? Probably not. Should the legislative panel even bother to schedule a Beach hearing?
Absolutely.
Until independent scientists have a chance to study the safety of uranium mining in Virginia, everyone will continue to repeat the same unanswerable questions. But that doesn't negate the right for all people who could be affected by the proposed mine to be included in the discussions from the beginning.
Virginia Beach residents have a clear interest in the outcome of the mining study. They deserve ironclad guarantees that their water supply will not be tainted by excavations for uranium or by haphazard disposal of mining byproducts laced with heavy metals.
If Beach leaders prefer to wait until data is available on the mine's potential impact, that's fine. But lawmakers overseeing the study should immediately extend an offer to meet with city leaders and residents to discuss the issue. The interests of Virginia's largest city should not be an afterthought.
http://hamptonroads.com/2008/12/virginia-beach-deserves-hearing-uranium-mining
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