Comment: We are all fighting against uranium mining, the above sign should say " Pittsylvania County County Don't Leave Uranium Study to Richmond Officials or GS!!! Posted: June 3, 2009 01:27 AM EDT
By Marshall Zelinger
m.zelinger@krdo.com
FREMONT COUNTY - Do you know what's in the land beneath or near your home?
Residents of a neighborhood in Fremont County know they live on or near Uranium.
Now, some of those residents want help from the county's planning commission. The neighborhood group called "Tallahassee Area Community" wants to update Fremont County's master plan. The group wants to add language that would protect homeowners from health and safety issues that come from the potential of Uranium mining.
The area they live in used to be a Uranium mining area prior to 1980. Since then, homes and ranches have taken over the land. Recently, a company called Black Range submitted a permit to start mining in the area. More than 50 residents packed the Fremont County Planning Commission meeting. They want the master plan updated to protect them from the health and safety risk of Uranium mining, protect their land and water rights and keep the mining at least two miles away from the nearest home.
"We're asking the county not to permit mining activities close enough to where we live, that it becomes a health and safety hazard," said Tallahassee Area Community Spokesman Lee Alter. "Uranium mining, large-scale hard rock metal mining in general, is dangerous."
At the meeting, the planning commission had the county attorney give her opinion on what the county could address and what was more of a state issue.
"Reasonable land-use restrictions can always be enforced by county government, except for when they conflict with state regulations and state control," said Fremont County Attorney Brenda Jackson. "I do not think that the county has the scope of power that is necessary in order to enact the amendment (to the master plan). Further, I don't think the amendment is appropriate in the master plan, which is advisory. Much of what's being proposed is regulatory in nature and the master plan is not a regulatory document, it's an advisory document."
"Our goal is to get the planning commission to add to the master plan a series of protective provisions that essentially say if you're dealing with a potential dangerous activity, look at it very carefully and decide before you're forced on a time-pressure basis to make the decision in favor of protecting the citizens and, in fact, protecting the environment," said Alter.
"Even if all of this got put into the master plan, it wouldn't be enforceable as written," said Jackson.
According to Jackson, the master plan is simply suggestions that can be followed, nothing binding. That's not stopping the group from trying to add restrictions to future Uranium mining.
"We had no reason to believe that there was ever going to be any interest in Uranium mining again," said Alter. "We are not saying that there should not be any Uranium mining in the county, what we're saying is that because people now live and have bought property and have invested their life savings in property, where there happens to be exploitable Uranium resources that had been ignored for 30 years..." said Alter, who suggested a two-mile buffer between the nearest home and any mining.
"Anything less than two miles surely is inadequate," said Alter.
"Potentially the county could restrict distance, but if the effect is to prohibit mining, then I don't think it's legally supportable," said Jackson. "You have to look at the map of the area because the area where the Uranium is located is in a neighborhood, where if we restrict it to a two-mile radius, there's no mining."
Another argument from the landowners, the safety hazard of diesel trucks using county roads to and from the potential mine to get to the main highway.
"Aside from the fact that diesel exhaust is hazardous to my health, it surely can't be good for my horses," said Alter. "All we're asking the county to do is when you're looking at a project, whether it be mining or anything else, take a look at the fact that if you have high volume, high traffic, heavy duty truck traffic in the area, that you have to look at it carefully from a standpoint of health and safety."
http://www.krdo.com/Global/story.asp?S=10468611
The area they live in used to be a Uranium mining area prior to 1980. Since then, homes and ranches have taken over the land. Recently, a company called Black Range submitted a permit to start mining in the area. More than 50 residents packed the Fremont County Planning Commission meeting. They want the master plan updated to protect them from the health and safety risk of Uranium mining, protect their land and water rights and keep the mining at least two miles away from the nearest home.
"We're asking the county not to permit mining activities close enough to where we live, that it becomes a health and safety hazard," said Tallahassee Area Community Spokesman Lee Alter. "Uranium mining, large-scale hard rock metal mining in general, is dangerous."
At the meeting, the planning commission had the county attorney give her opinion on what the county could address and what was more of a state issue.
"Reasonable land-use restrictions can always be enforced by county government, except for when they conflict with state regulations and state control," said Fremont County Attorney Brenda Jackson. "I do not think that the county has the scope of power that is necessary in order to enact the amendment (to the master plan). Further, I don't think the amendment is appropriate in the master plan, which is advisory. Much of what's being proposed is regulatory in nature and the master plan is not a regulatory document, it's an advisory document."
"Our goal is to get the planning commission to add to the master plan a series of protective provisions that essentially say if you're dealing with a potential dangerous activity, look at it very carefully and decide before you're forced on a time-pressure basis to make the decision in favor of protecting the citizens and, in fact, protecting the environment," said Alter.
"Even if all of this got put into the master plan, it wouldn't be enforceable as written," said Jackson.
According to Jackson, the master plan is simply suggestions that can be followed, nothing binding. That's not stopping the group from trying to add restrictions to future Uranium mining.
"We had no reason to believe that there was ever going to be any interest in Uranium mining again," said Alter. "We are not saying that there should not be any Uranium mining in the county, what we're saying is that because people now live and have bought property and have invested their life savings in property, where there happens to be exploitable Uranium resources that had been ignored for 30 years..." said Alter, who suggested a two-mile buffer between the nearest home and any mining.
"Anything less than two miles surely is inadequate," said Alter.
"Potentially the county could restrict distance, but if the effect is to prohibit mining, then I don't think it's legally supportable," said Jackson. "You have to look at the map of the area because the area where the Uranium is located is in a neighborhood, where if we restrict it to a two-mile radius, there's no mining."
Another argument from the landowners, the safety hazard of diesel trucks using county roads to and from the potential mine to get to the main highway.
"Aside from the fact that diesel exhaust is hazardous to my health, it surely can't be good for my horses," said Alter. "All we're asking the county to do is when you're looking at a project, whether it be mining or anything else, take a look at the fact that if you have high volume, high traffic, heavy duty truck traffic in the area, that you have to look at it carefully from a standpoint of health and safety."
http://www.krdo.com/Global/story.asp?S=10468611
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