Yes On Uranium
Southside Dying Economically
Posted: January 11, 2013
At one time in the not-too-distant past, Southside Virginia more than held its own economically. Textile factories dotted the flatlands and rolling hills south of the James River, Danville was center of the Old Belt tobacco market, and Martinsville-Henry County was a leading furniture producer. But those days are gone. Southside is, to put it mildly, an economic basket case, a region slowly dying.
Given this reality, one might think that any new and legitimate business enterprise would hold no small measure of allure. But when that business is uranium mining ...
Though rich in extractive history, Virginia has never, to our knowledge, mined uranium ore. But it may, sometime down the road, be poised to do so — now that one of the world’s richest undeveloped deposits of the ore has been identified in Pittsylvania County, deep in the heart of Southside, and now that the state’s Coal and Energy Commission, in the wake of exhaustive studies, has voted (11-2, on Monday) to lift Virginia’s 31-year-old ban on such mining.
The issue now goes to the General Assembly, where Sen. John Watkins, R-Powhatan, has drafted legislation to officially lift the moratorium. Debate on the matter is certain to be heated and the vote close — if for no other reason than because lawmakers representing areas closest to the Coles Hill site have marched in lockstep against any such endeavor.
Stoking the fires of opposition, predictably, are activists exploiting fears of the “unknown” and spinning worst-case scenarios of imminent environmental disaster. Arrayed against these forces, though, is a grassroots group of farmers and small-businessmen, 1,200 strong, calling itself People for Economic Prosperity. One of its members is Buddy Mayhew, a retired tobacco farmer and teacher.
Speaking at a public hearing in Chatham, Mr. Mayhew said: “Those of us who recall more prosperous days in Southside worry about the lack of economic opportunities in the area. Our region continues to have the highest unemployment rate in the commonwealth as both manufacturing and tobacco abandoned Southside. This is a condition that we cannot simply accept; we must continue to look for opportunities to change it.”
One such “opportunity” is the proposed mine at Coles Hill, said to hold as much as 120 million pounds of uranium ore, enough to serve current Virginia nuclear power plants for 75 years.
Within that factoid lies another reason to support not only a lifting of the ban but an extended look at Coles Hill’s possibilities: America imports no less than 92 percent of the uranium used in this country. Why not avail ourselves of a local source if the operation is judged to be safe?
Given this reality, one might think that any new and legitimate business enterprise would hold no small measure of allure. But when that business is uranium mining ...
Though rich in extractive history, Virginia has never, to our knowledge, mined uranium ore. But it may, sometime down the road, be poised to do so — now that one of the world’s richest undeveloped deposits of the ore has been identified in Pittsylvania County, deep in the heart of Southside, and now that the state’s Coal and Energy Commission, in the wake of exhaustive studies, has voted (11-2, on Monday) to lift Virginia’s 31-year-old ban on such mining.
The issue now goes to the General Assembly, where Sen. John Watkins, R-Powhatan, has drafted legislation to officially lift the moratorium. Debate on the matter is certain to be heated and the vote close — if for no other reason than because lawmakers representing areas closest to the Coles Hill site have marched in lockstep against any such endeavor.
Stoking the fires of opposition, predictably, are activists exploiting fears of the “unknown” and spinning worst-case scenarios of imminent environmental disaster. Arrayed against these forces, though, is a grassroots group of farmers and small-businessmen, 1,200 strong, calling itself People for Economic Prosperity. One of its members is Buddy Mayhew, a retired tobacco farmer and teacher.
Speaking at a public hearing in Chatham, Mr. Mayhew said: “Those of us who recall more prosperous days in Southside worry about the lack of economic opportunities in the area. Our region continues to have the highest unemployment rate in the commonwealth as both manufacturing and tobacco abandoned Southside. This is a condition that we cannot simply accept; we must continue to look for opportunities to change it.”
One such “opportunity” is the proposed mine at Coles Hill, said to hold as much as 120 million pounds of uranium ore, enough to serve current Virginia nuclear power plants for 75 years.
Within that factoid lies another reason to support not only a lifting of the ban but an extended look at Coles Hill’s possibilities: America imports no less than 92 percent of the uranium used in this country. Why not avail ourselves of a local source if the operation is judged to be safe?