Mining subcommittee to meet today

By John CranePublished: March 24, 2009

The objectives of the uranium mining study have been released, but the goals themselves do not seem to have changed the opinions of those for or against the practice.

Virginia Uranium Inc. seeks to mine and mill a 119-million-pound uranium ore deposit at Coles Hill, six miles northeast of Chatham.

The Virginia Coal & Energy Commission’s Uranium Mining Subcommittee is overseeing a study to determine whether uranium mining and milling can be done safely in the commonwealth. It will meet today in Richmond to discuss the study.

The study’s objectives include examining the social, economic and environmental impacts. The study also will look at uranium/supply demand trends and projections; worldwide uranium deposits and operations; deposits in Virginia; and uranium mining, milling and processing technologies. It will assess occupational and public health and safety, security standards and procedures, environmental considerations and other aspects.

However, one uranium mining opponent said it doesn’t matter what the study results are, Pittsylvania County and the region will be guinea pigs.

“It will still be an experiment because uranium mining has never been done in an area with our climate and population density,” said Gregg Vickrey, founder and chairman of the Alliance, a group that opposes VUI’s plans.

The study “is designed to lull people into a false sense of security,” he said.

Patrick Wales, geologist and spokesman for VUI, said the process that has led to this point in the uranium mining debate has been good and open. There are parts of the study VUI is lukewarm about, “but that’s life,” he said. Wales declined to elaborate on the parts of the study VUI disagrees with.

“The point of it is not to see what the company wants,” he said. “It’s to have an open, honest study of this issue.”

The study should clear up misinformation about uranium mining, Wales said. He said he would like to find out what economic benefits mining and milling would bring to the region.

Michael Karmis, a professor in the Department of Mining and Minerals Engineering at Virginia Tech and director of the Virginia Center for Coal and Energy Research, outlined the study’s objectives, set its scope and will oversee the study. Karmis will present the proposal for the study’s scope during the subcommittee’s meeting in Richmond today. The subcommittee hopes the National Academy of Sciences will perform the study, which would take up to two years.

Wales said he hasn’t met Karmis.

Vickrey, speaking on behalf of the Alliance, said they do not want their tax dollars to put a for-profit corporation in business. Virginia Tech has a lot to gain if uranium mining comes about, he said.

“Virginia Tech could solicit VUI for funds” if mining and milling are approved, Vickrey said.

“The whole thing seems cozy to me,” he said.

Contact John R. Crane at jcrane@registerbee.com
or (434) 791-7987.
A draft of the study’s outline can be viewed by going to http://dls.state.va.us/cec.htm and clicking “Uranium Mining Subcommittee