We Can't Depend on our Governments to Protect Us

My name is Gayle Carden Hudert. I am a lifelong Virginian, a Halifax county native, and have been living in the wonderful town of Chatham for two years. Thank you for this opportunity to speak on an issue of greater importance than any other issue at hand, because the outcome of our actions - or our inaction - will determine the health and welfare of Virginians for generations to come. Uranium mining is a very real threat. No matter how well intentioned its proponents may be, the truth is that there is no method of extracting and milling uranium without the threat of radioactive contamination. The proof is spread all over the US western states, Australia, and Canada. Radioactive waste has decimated thousands of acres of land wherever uranium has been mined - and the regions devastated by its effects will never recover. Radioactivity is known to cause birth defects, kidney disease, and cancer by permeating the human body and destroying healthy cells. Even when doctors use it as a treatment for cancer, they warn their patients about the dangers of exposing their loved ones to the radioactivity they carry in their bodies. No sane person would willingly expose their child, or spouse, or friends to such a threat, but for one reason - money.

We can't be enticed by the empty promise of an economic boon. It won't be cost effective for the mining operation to train hundreds of local workers when there are experienced miners from the west and Canada waiting for jobs.
For as long lasting as the dangers are, mining is a short-lived feast. Outside workers will be brought in to earn the wages, and, once the uranium has been extracted, those workers will move on, leaving a health cost debt behind them. There will be no long-term benefits to our area - just the same "boom, bust, and fizzle" that follows all uranium mines.

The ones who stand to gain the most money from this venture would have you believe that the state and counties will get their share of the billions they expect to make, but how much is your health worth to you? How much would you have to be paid to complacently accept even an increased probability of watching a loved one suffer from cancer, or trying to think of the right words to say to your son or daughter - or granddaughter - facing parenthood of a child with birth defects? How will you explain to them, to yourself, that it might have been prevented - if you had only acted to stop it at the very inception of the threat?

Uranium mining creates enormous amounts of radioactive waste. Period. Radioactivity is a real health threat - made all the more insidious by the fact that it is a wolf wrapped in sheep's clothing. Profiteers will say it's all for our own good, but don't believe them. They have no way to protect us. We can't depend on the federal government to take care of us. The guys in Richmond will sacrifice us for the sake of commerce.

We have to face this threat now and do whatever we can to stop the radioactive contamination of our air, land, and water. If we do nothing, we will face the dire consequences - not only for as long as any of us will live - but throughout the lives of our children, and their children, and their children - for thousands of years to come. It would be inexcusable to take that chance with their future - whether for money or complacency. We all have to accept our responsibility as citizens and work together to put a stop to this mining threat now.

Gayle Carden Hudert
Chatham, VA

Halifax Town and Orange County Vote for Moratorium

Orange County board of supervisors voted to continue the moratorium set by the state against uranium mining at their November 13, 2007 meeting. The vote was unanimous!

Additionally, on Monday, December 10, 2007, the Town of Halifax's town council adopted a resolution to continue the Virginia state moratorium against uranium mining.

These resolutions can be viewed in our LINKS to DOCUMENTS section on the right-hand side of this Blog.

SCC Press Release

Southside Concerned Citizens today released the following press release:

For Immediate Release: December 17, 2007

Chatham, VA. Southside Concerned Citizens’ (SCC) Board Chairman Jack Dunavant announced today a reinvigoration of efforts to oppose both exploratory drilling and uranium mining in Pittsylvania county.
“The promise of new technology to protect us from this venture simply does not exist and we will fight it at every step, Dunavant said. He continued, “There is simply no way….to do it safely.”
He announced a series of steps and actions that SCC has begun in its battle with local and multi-national mining corporations:
· A revitalization of the Chatham-area chapter with Eloise Nenon of Chatham representing the area on SCC’s Board.
· The establishment of an internet Blog, (http://sccchatham.blogspot.com), to educate the public on the dangers, to provide information to interested parties as to SCC actions and meetings, to list legislator contact information, to provide calls to action as needed, and to provide a forum for the public to debate the issue and learn more in the process. The Blog contains an on-line poll, an on-line petition, and numerous documents to aid SCC members.
· A petition drive headed by Crystal Huffman of Chatham who lives near the proposed sites. She may be contacted at 434-656-2856 or clh@pmtnet.net .
· Simultaneous research projects to gather information on both strategy and the substance of the debate.
· An email campaign to gather email addresses of all concerned residents so that they can be quickly notified of SCC actions and respond to actions by the mining industry. Interested parties are encouraged to make their desire to be on the list known by emailing Gregg Vickrey, Action Project Chairman, at sccchatham@yahoo.com
· A campaign to get all town councils, city councils, county supervisor boards, State Delegates, and State Senators to resolve and announce their opposition to the drilling and mining
Dunavant said, “With these efforts and more as we roll them out and they come on line, we will defeat these corporations! As Gregg likes to say, Heck No, We Won’t Glow!”
-30-

From: John Chaney
Publicity Committee
Southside Concerned Citizens
Cell 434-610-3215
Hm 434-432-4019
John_chaney@hotmail.com
Blog: http://sccchatham.blogspot.com
SCC email: sccchatham@yahoo.com

Comments can be obtained from:
· Jack Dunavant 434-476-6648
· Eloise Nenon 434-432-4381

Map Of Area to be Mined

Go to our "Links to Documents" section on the right-hand side and click on "Coles Hill map" to see an enlarged version of this. You may have to click again once it loads to see the enlarged version.

Legislator Email Addresses Updated

We have obtained a good number of the email addresses of the local and state legislators in the affected areas. Please check on the right-hand side of the Blog and email any and all that you want with your feelings about this issue.

Also, please help us obtain the ones we are missing and send them to sccchatham@yahoo.com .

WSET-TV Channel 13 to Interview SCC Official

SCC officials today learned that WSET-TV Channel 13 newscasters will interview SCC Board member Eloise Nenon tomorrow afternoon! Unknown at present is when the interview will be aired.

Stay Tuned for Details !!

ATTN: Blog Readers

Thanks for visiting our site!! We hope you can educate yourself to the dangers of uranium mining and exploratory drilling. However, most of all, a Blog is for opinions to be traded.....

Please make comments at the end of each post!

Let us know how you feel!

Get involved now!

Physical (real) Petitions !!

Please download a copy of our physical petition in the LINKS TO DOCUMENTS section on the right-hand side of the Blog. Then make copies and start distributing them and getting signatures. When they are filled, please mail them to Crystal Huffman, 5427 Strader Rd, Chatham, VA 24531.

Levy a Tax on Uranium Mined Here?

(From the Danville Register and Bee 10/06/2007)

To the editor:
There seems to be a lot of controversy over uraniummining in Pittsylvania County. It seems to me locallawmakers could pass a fairly large tax on uraniummining and also require the mining company to pay forthe clean-up costs of their mine. I don't expect anycompany to be interested in operating a mine inVirginia if they know they can't make a profit.

ALAN LEWIS
Providence, N.C.

Stand up for Your Rights

(From the Danville Register and Bee 10/06/2007)

To the editor:If the citizens of Pittsylvania County believe uraniummining would be in their best interest, they would dowell to think again. The current proposal to mine theuranium deposit at Coles Hill near Sheva would notresult in a large influx of jobs for PittsylvaniaCounty. It would not be of any great benefit to anyonein Pittsylvania County other than the property ownersand shareholders.
After a few years, when the uranium ore has been minedout and a few are enjoying their money, the rest ofthe citizens of the county who are not so fortunatewill be left holding the proverbial bag. Because forevery ton of raw uranium ore taken from the ground,only 4 pounds of useable material can be extracted,leaving 1,996 pounds of highly radioactive waste(tailings) from each ton of ore.
That toxic waste will become the heritage ofPittsylvania County. Ours will no longer be a proudagricultural heritage as we now have, but a heritageof unusable, poisonous wastelands, which will remainpoisonous and unusable forever. Not to mention theexponentially higher rates of lung cancer and otherillnesses associated with the mining and processing ofuranium. The taxpayers of Pittsylvania County will beforced to pay for the monitoring and maintenance ofthat waste for their lifetimes - as well as those oftheir children and grandchildren.
The truth is that any sort of uranium mining andprocessing is extremely hazardous to people livingnearby. Uranium has never been mined in an area thathas the topography, climate, geology or the populationdensity of Pittsylvania County, which means that thepeople of the county would end up as guinea pigs foran industry that has a long and deplorable history ofdisregard for safety and virtually no regard for theenvironment.
In one recent letter, the author boasted that new andimproved methods of uranium extraction have beendeveloped in the past 25 years. But he did not mentionwhat those methods are.
The county supervisors are now up for re-election. Iurge everyone to call their supervisor and ask what heor she knows about this issue, other than what theyhave been told by the corporate mining interests, whocan paint a very rosy picture of uranium mining. Askyour supervisor what they really know about thedangers involved in mining and processing uranium. Letthem know that if they truly have the best interest ofthe citizens of Pittsylvania County in their hearts,they will say no to uranium mining in their county.And remind them that they are up for re-election.Likewise, if the citizens of Pittsylvania County careabout their homes, their families and the future ofthe county for their children and grandchildren, theywould do well to educate themselves about the miningand processing of uranium. This is an issue whoseoutcome will determine the fate of the county for alltime to come.
Pittsylvania County does not need uranium mining. Ourheritage is not one of poisoning the Earth and eachother for the monetary gain of a few people. Let's notmake it our heritage by allowing this flawed idea togo forward without at least educating ourselves andour government representatives about the hazardsassociated with uranium mining. The folks who stand tomake huge profits from this venture will always tellyou that nothing bad can happen. Don't believe them.Educate yourself before you decide what you want tohappen to your country. Citizen input is crucial tothis issue. Let your voice be heard. Stand up for yourright to have clean water and clean air.
That is the bottom line with uranium mining.

JESSE P. ANDREWS
Halifax

Colorado Town to Stop Uranium Mining

(From the Longmont Daily Times Call 12/15/07)

A company that wants to mine uranium less than 10 miles northeast of Fort Collins can be stopped, opponents of the mine said Friday.
“Uranium mines have been stopped before,” said Lilias Jones Jarding, a member of Coloradoans Against Resource Destruction.
Jarding and Jackie Adolph, both active opponents to the proposed uranium mine between the towns of Wellington and Nunn, spoke during Friday’s Loveland Kiwanis Club meeting.
Canadian-based Powertech Uranium Corp. plans to mine uranium on 5,760 acres of farmland in Weld County. Powertech is in the permitting stage now and plans to begin mining in 2010.
Last week, the Kiwanis Club heard from Powertech’s vice president of exploration on why the mine, known as the Centennial Project, will be safe.
Powertech plans to use a process called in-situ mining, which involves pumping treated water into uranium-laced deposits to dissolve the mineral so the uranium can be pumped to the surface.
The uranium is then removed from the water, and the water is returned to the area.
Powertech maintains that the process will be safe and will have the proper regulatory oversight to prevent any problems from happening.

But a growing number of people disagree.
More than 5,700 people have signed a petition opposing the mine, circulated by Coloradoans Against Resource Destruction.
U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, a Republican who serves the proposed mine’s area, has spoken out against the plan, and Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., has asked federal agencies to look into the mine’s effect on water quality.
Two Larimer County Democrats, state Reps. Randy Fischer and John Kefalas, are drafting a bill they say would improve out-of-date mining rules. Larimer County’s Environmental Advisory Board is studying possible effects on air, land and water associated with uranium mining.
And the Colorado Medical Society, Larimer County Medical Society and the Fort Collins City Council have approved resolutions opposing the planned mine.
Jarding, who has a Ph.D. in political science with an emphasis in environmental policy, said past studies have shown in-situ mining contaminates the environment and causes increased rates of cancer nearby.
It also lowers property values, something she said is already happening to the area surrounding the proposed mine.
“Some say property values have decreased 20 to 30 percent there,” Jarding said. “But nothing has sold there, so it’s a little hard to tell.”
She said the radioactivity coming from a uranium mine — whether it’s in-situ or traditional hard-rock — would hurt livestock, contaminate underground water supplies and cause health problems, among other issues, if allowed to move forward.
Instead, northern Colorado, and the country, should focus on building its renewable-energy industry, Jarding said, noting that 96 square miles of solar panels could produce enough energy to fuel the country’s electricity needs.
“Northern Colorado is trying to be seen as a renewable-energy hotbed,” she said. “Clearly (a uranium mine) is not compatible with that.”

SCC planning Mass Meeting

SCC is planning a mass meeting of interested parties prior to the beginning of the Virginia General Assembly session on January 9, 2007. Potential sites are now being solicited for a group expected to exceed 500!

Stay Tuned for More Info !

Cancer Risk: Higher for Mining or for Nuclear Mining

If cancer in kids is higher near nuclear plants, where the radiation is supposedly contained, how high do you suppose it might be near mines?

SC has a big nuclear reactor near Hartsville. There's a big lake around it. A couple of times, while I was still working in Darlington Co., I went there with some co-workers. I put my foot in the water and it was unnaturally warm...I couldn't bear to get in. Everyone else was swimming and having a big time...it was like summers at Butler Park for everyone but me. That water, though, was NOT refreshing...it was scary it was so warm. I'd love to know what the cancer rate is among all those folks who've swum in it for the past 30+ yrs.



Wallace Coles
Halifax, VA
SCC Member

(News Article below from Reuters, 12/08/2007)

Child cancer risk higher near nuclear plants: study

Sat Dec 8, 8:48 AM ET

BERLIN (Reuters) - A German study has found that young children living near nuclear power plants have a significantly higher risk of developing leukemia and other forms of cancer, a German newspaper reported on Saturday.
ADVERTISEMENT
"Our study confirmed that in Germany a connection has been observed between the distance of a domicile to the nearest nuclear power plant .... and the risk of developing cancer, such as leukemia, before the fifth birthday," Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper quoted the report as saying.
The newspaper said the study was done by the University of Mainz for Germany's Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BFS). A copy of the report was not immediately available.
The researchers found that 37 children within a 5-kilometer (3-mile) radius of nuclear power plants had developed leukemia between 1980 and 2003, while the statistical average during this time period was 17, the paper said.
The newspaper cited an unnamed radiation protection expert familiar with the study who said its conclusions understated the problem. He said the data showed there was an increased cancer risk for children living within 50 kilometers of a reactor.
German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel said in a statement that he would examine the study. He said the BFS should also evaluate its findings.
Germany plans to prematurely shut down all of its nuclear power plants by the early 2020s.

Coles and Gendron Attend Nuclear Symposium

Mr Walter Coles and Ms Ashley Gendron were listed as delegates representing Virginia Uranium at a nuclear symposium in London, England during September 5 -7, 2007. Or, so states the website of World Nuclear Association ... http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=4509162564441654860

Topics included:
Investing in Nuclear Fuel Cycle Facilities to Invigorate the Nuclear Renaissance
The Global Fuel Market: Nuclear Fuel Supply and Demand 2007-2030
The Global Nuclear Energy Partnership - Realizing the Promise of a World Wide Expansion of Nuclear Power
Nuclear Energy Risks and Benefits in Perspective
Introducing Nuclear Power into Currently Non-Nuclear States
Uranium Futures Contract by NYMEX and UxC
Price Transparency in the Uranium Market - a Producer's Perspective