UraniumFree Virginia has submitted this video clip to the Faces of the Grassroots: Environmental Justice Video Contest conducted by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. The video is on proposed uranium mining in Virginia and the dangers of contamination it poses for the Roanoke River Basin.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6qle_ZrbxE
The video features the author of this blog; it was edited by Cory Greer and recorded by Valentin Lukashuk. Special thanks to both of them! Thank you Cory and Valentin!!!
The contest's website: http://www.youtube.com/video_response_view_all?v=tDBl2_f_CSk
The contest's rules: http://www.epa.gov/compliance/environmentaljustice/events/video-contest.html#rules
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Lessons of This Week: April 5-11, 2010
This past week was highlighted by two events: one very tragic – the propane gas explosion that killed 25 miners in West Virginia; the other one is very promising – the signing of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) with Russia. What do these events mean for us, Virginians?
The Massey Energy Co. Upper Big Branch Mine explosion demonstrated a complete failure of the government oversight over mines. Coal mines are heavily regulated by state and federal governments; however, despite the fact that the inspectors from the federal agency Mine Safety and Health Administration have consistently registered violations of safety regulations at the Massey Energy Co. Upper Big Branch Mine, no enforcement action was taken. This resulted in a great loss of human lived.
The coal mining regulatory scheme has been in place for decades, which cannot be said about uranium mining safety regulations in Virginia. The proposed uranium mine at Coles Hill, VA will NOT be regulated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, as this agency only regulates uranium milling and the regulation of conventional uranium mining is the responsibility of the states. Currently, Virginia does not have any uranium mining regulations in place. Those will have to be drafted from scratch and the enforcement mechanism of those regulations would have to be created on the spot. They would have to be tailored to take into account Virginia’s climate with its high precipitation levels, frequent floods and major storms that hit our coastal state. Because all other uranium mines in this country are located in much dryer climates with a lesser population density than in Virginia, our state legislators and regulators would have no examples to rely on when drafting uranium mining regulations.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission does regulate the uranium milling process and oversees the fate of the radioactive waste left by uranium mining. The Environmental Protection Agency also has jurisdiction over the water issues associated with uranium mining. However, just like in the case of the Upper Big Branch Mine, the federal and state regulatory agencies overseeing uranium mining and milling have consistently failed to prevent environmental disasters and water contamination caused by mishandling of radioactive and highly toxic uranium mining tailings in Arizona, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Oklahoma.
Virginians have been told many times that uranium is in high demand and will be needed to power all these nuclear plants for the construction of which the Department of Energy is giving away $54 billion in loan guarantees. Opponents of uranium mining in Virginia are also accused of being unpatriotic because domestically mined uranium should allegedly make the United States energy independent. What uranium mining proponents conveniently forget to mention that 50 percent of the fuel in the US nuclear reactors comes from dismantled nuclear bombs, the majority of which are Russian warheads. There will be much more of US and Russian nuclear warheads to dismantle in the future as a result of the START treaty signed by our President in Prague. The more Russian nuclear warheads are used to recycle uranium to fuel nuclear power plants in the US and throughout the world, the fewer warheads will be out there for terrorists to seize, which will make our towns and cities much safer. Will you call that unpatriotic?
National Public Radio Website “Documents Reveal Extensive Violations at Mine” http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125788709
The Huftington Post, Transcript of CNN Interview with Jeff Biggers “Hold Those Mining Industry ‘Outlaws’ Accountable.” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/08/jeff-biggers-hold-mining_n_530301.html
United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission “Uranium Mining, What We Regulate”
http://www.nrc.gov/materials/uranium-recovery.html
New York Times “Uranium Contamination Haunts Navajo Country“ http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/27/us/27navajo.html?_r=2
Navajo Times “Death in the Earth. 1979 Church Rock Spill a Symbol for Uranium Dangers”
http://www.navajotimes.com/news/2009/0709/072309uranium.php
Wikipedia “Sequoyah Fuels Corporation Release”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequoyah_Corporation_Fuels_Release
Bloomberg.com “Obama Said to Seek $54 Billion in Nuclear-Power Loans” http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aC7VY11v6aMw
U.S. Department of Energy, Loan Guarantee Program.
http://www.lgprogram.energy.gov/
New York Times “Power for U.S. From Russia’s Old Nuclear Weapons”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/10/business/energy-environment/10nukes.html?_r=1&hp
CNNPolitics “Obama, Medvedev Sign START Treaty”
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/04/08/obama-medvedev-sign-start-treaty/?iref=storysearch&fbid=y7Xj9KxdcZq
The Massey Energy Co. Upper Big Branch Mine explosion demonstrated a complete failure of the government oversight over mines. Coal mines are heavily regulated by state and federal governments; however, despite the fact that the inspectors from the federal agency Mine Safety and Health Administration have consistently registered violations of safety regulations at the Massey Energy Co. Upper Big Branch Mine, no enforcement action was taken. This resulted in a great loss of human lived.
The coal mining regulatory scheme has been in place for decades, which cannot be said about uranium mining safety regulations in Virginia. The proposed uranium mine at Coles Hill, VA will NOT be regulated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, as this agency only regulates uranium milling and the regulation of conventional uranium mining is the responsibility of the states. Currently, Virginia does not have any uranium mining regulations in place. Those will have to be drafted from scratch and the enforcement mechanism of those regulations would have to be created on the spot. They would have to be tailored to take into account Virginia’s climate with its high precipitation levels, frequent floods and major storms that hit our coastal state. Because all other uranium mines in this country are located in much dryer climates with a lesser population density than in Virginia, our state legislators and regulators would have no examples to rely on when drafting uranium mining regulations.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission does regulate the uranium milling process and oversees the fate of the radioactive waste left by uranium mining. The Environmental Protection Agency also has jurisdiction over the water issues associated with uranium mining. However, just like in the case of the Upper Big Branch Mine, the federal and state regulatory agencies overseeing uranium mining and milling have consistently failed to prevent environmental disasters and water contamination caused by mishandling of radioactive and highly toxic uranium mining tailings in Arizona, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Oklahoma.
Virginians have been told many times that uranium is in high demand and will be needed to power all these nuclear plants for the construction of which the Department of Energy is giving away $54 billion in loan guarantees. Opponents of uranium mining in Virginia are also accused of being unpatriotic because domestically mined uranium should allegedly make the United States energy independent. What uranium mining proponents conveniently forget to mention that 50 percent of the fuel in the US nuclear reactors comes from dismantled nuclear bombs, the majority of which are Russian warheads. There will be much more of US and Russian nuclear warheads to dismantle in the future as a result of the START treaty signed by our President in Prague. The more Russian nuclear warheads are used to recycle uranium to fuel nuclear power plants in the US and throughout the world, the fewer warheads will be out there for terrorists to seize, which will make our towns and cities much safer. Will you call that unpatriotic?
National Public Radio Website “Documents Reveal Extensive Violations at Mine” http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125788709
The Huftington Post, Transcript of CNN Interview with Jeff Biggers “Hold Those Mining Industry ‘Outlaws’ Accountable.” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/08/jeff-biggers-hold-mining_n_530301.html
United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission “Uranium Mining, What We Regulate”
http://www.nrc.gov/materials/uranium-recovery.html
New York Times “Uranium Contamination Haunts Navajo Country“ http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/27/us/27navajo.html?_r=2
Navajo Times “Death in the Earth. 1979 Church Rock Spill a Symbol for Uranium Dangers”
http://www.navajotimes.com/news/2009/0709/072309uranium.php
Wikipedia “Sequoyah Fuels Corporation Release”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequoyah_Corporation_Fuels_Release
Bloomberg.com “Obama Said to Seek $54 Billion in Nuclear-Power Loans” http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aC7VY11v6aMw
U.S. Department of Energy, Loan Guarantee Program.
http://www.lgprogram.energy.gov/
New York Times “Power for U.S. From Russia’s Old Nuclear Weapons”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/10/business/energy-environment/10nukes.html?_r=1&hp
CNNPolitics “Obama, Medvedev Sign START Treaty”
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/04/08/obama-medvedev-sign-start-treaty/?iref=storysearch&fbid=y7Xj9KxdcZq
Uranium Mining Symposium Videos Released
All of the presentations at the March 11, 2010 Symposium on Uranium Mining in Virginia were recorded and the Southern Environmental Law Center, one of the event's sponsors, just released those video recordings. To request your copy of the DVDs, please contact me at uraniumfreeVA@gmail.com
I will be posting here the excerpts of the presentations. Please stay tuned!
I will be posting here the excerpts of the presentations. Please stay tuned!
Introduction
Currently, Virginia has a moratorium on uranium mining, which was imposed in 1982 in response to public outcry at the attempts to mine uranium in several Virginia counties - Fauquier, Orange, Madison, and Pittsylvania. Virginia is believed to have very large untapped uranium deposits throughout the state. The efforts to lift the uranium mining moratorium were resumed in 2007 when uranium prices spiked.
The first uranium mine, as proposed, would be located in Coles Hill, VA and would create a risk of contamination for the Roanoke River Basin which begins upstream from the Smith Mountain Lake, runs through Southside Virginia all the way to Lake Gaston, the main water supply for Virginia Beach.
Uranium is a highly toxic heavy metal that emits alpha radiation and when consumed can cause kidney failure and birth defects. The mining of just 4-5 lb of high quality uranium ore produces at least one ton of radioactive waste, also known as uranium mining tailings, which contain polonium, radium, thorium, radon, lead and many other toxic elements that are responsible for causing cancer and birth defects.
Uranium mining tailings remain radioactive and highly toxic for thousands of years and must be contained to prevent seepage into ground waters, overspills into surface waters, and dispersion by air. The task of containing radioactive uranium mining tailings becomes nearly impossible in Virginia's climate with its high precipitation levels, frequent floods and major storms that hit Virginia frequently, as it is a coastal state.
Virginia has abundant natural resources that should be used for joy and benefits of its citizens and visitors. In recent years Virginia has made a tremendous progress in reviving and further developing its tourism industry and agriculture. Virginia is on the path toward self-destruction for the sake of short-term gains (if there will be any) and we, the taxpayers, will pay very high costs of destroyed environment, ruined health, life styles and businesses. Let's all get together and not let this happen to our beautiful Virginia.
Sources: Piedmont Environmental Council, Uranium Mining Maps:
http://www.pecva.org/anx/index.cfm/1,557,0,44,html/Uranium-Mining-Maps
Piedmont Environmental Council, Water and Uranium Mining: http://www.pecva.org/anx/index.cfm/1,391,1629,0,html/Water-amp-Uranium-Mining
Piedmont Environmental Council, The Consequences of Toxic Uranium: http://www.pecva.org/anx/index.cfm/1,391,1321,0,html/The-Consequences-of-Toxic-Uranium
Environmental Protection Agency, Uranium Mining Tailings: http://www.epa.gov/radiation/docs/radwaste/402-k-94-001-umt.html
Dr. Doug Brugge, Tufts University School of Medicine, Health Impacts of Uranium Mining: New Research Findings: http://vcnva.org/anx/ass/library/52/bruggeuraniumhealtheffects.pdf
Dr. Gordon Edwards, Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility, Uranium Mining: Radioactive Legacy: http://vcnva.org/anx/ass/library/52/edwardsuraniumhistoryandcanadianmining.pdf
The first uranium mine, as proposed, would be located in Coles Hill, VA and would create a risk of contamination for the Roanoke River Basin which begins upstream from the Smith Mountain Lake, runs through Southside Virginia all the way to Lake Gaston, the main water supply for Virginia Beach.
Uranium is a highly toxic heavy metal that emits alpha radiation and when consumed can cause kidney failure and birth defects. The mining of just 4-5 lb of high quality uranium ore produces at least one ton of radioactive waste, also known as uranium mining tailings, which contain polonium, radium, thorium, radon, lead and many other toxic elements that are responsible for causing cancer and birth defects.
Uranium mining tailings remain radioactive and highly toxic for thousands of years and must be contained to prevent seepage into ground waters, overspills into surface waters, and dispersion by air. The task of containing radioactive uranium mining tailings becomes nearly impossible in Virginia's climate with its high precipitation levels, frequent floods and major storms that hit Virginia frequently, as it is a coastal state.
Virginia has abundant natural resources that should be used for joy and benefits of its citizens and visitors. In recent years Virginia has made a tremendous progress in reviving and further developing its tourism industry and agriculture. Virginia is on the path toward self-destruction for the sake of short-term gains (if there will be any) and we, the taxpayers, will pay very high costs of destroyed environment, ruined health, life styles and businesses. Let's all get together and not let this happen to our beautiful Virginia.
Sources: Piedmont Environmental Council, Uranium Mining Maps:
http://www.pecva.org/anx/index.cfm/1,557,0,44,html/Uranium-Mining-Maps
Piedmont Environmental Council, Water and Uranium Mining: http://www.pecva.org/anx/index.cfm/1,391,1629,0,html/Water-amp-Uranium-Mining
Piedmont Environmental Council, The Consequences of Toxic Uranium: http://www.pecva.org/anx/index.cfm/1,391,1321,0,html/The-Consequences-of-Toxic-Uranium
Environmental Protection Agency, Uranium Mining Tailings: http://www.epa.gov/radiation/docs/radwaste/402-k-94-001-umt.html
Dr. Doug Brugge, Tufts University School of Medicine, Health Impacts of Uranium Mining: New Research Findings: http://vcnva.org/anx/ass/library/52/bruggeuraniumhealtheffects.pdf
Dr. Gordon Edwards, Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility, Uranium Mining: Radioactive Legacy: http://vcnva.org/anx/ass/library/52/edwardsuraniumhistoryandcanadianmining.pdf
Friday, April 9, 2010
Blog Launch
I would like to launch this blog by quoting Martin Luther King, Jr., who said that “our lives begin to end when we become silent about the things that matter.” But in order to be able to speak out your opinion, first one needs to learn the facts in order to persuade others. This blog is designed to give you lots of background information on proposed uranium mining in Virginia, about the specifics of the plan, reactions of various organizations and communities to those plans, as well as science-based information on dangers of uranium mining and milling in Virginia’s climate. This blog will also inform you on any developments pertaining to uranium mining in Virginia. This blog is a work in progress and it will take some time to fill up its library. So please bear with us as we continue our improvements.
Hopefully, you will find this blog helpful and enjoyable. Your comments are most welcome, as long as they are respectful of others. Please do not hesitate to speak up!
Hopefully, you will find this blog helpful and enjoyable. Your comments are most welcome, as long as they are respectful of others. Please do not hesitate to speak up!
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