Letter: Uranium Mining Decision Should Have Been Open

The article, “Governor wants to keep ban on Uranium Mining” describes the recent decision by Governor McDonnell to create a commission to both study and draft regulations for uranium mining. This behind-closed-doors mandate is a movement towards lifting the uranium mining ban in Virginia.

I applaud the governor’s decision to maintain the moratorium for now. However, a decision to move this process forward should have been an open process, especially if the mining will take place in our backyard. In the event of a catastrophic failure at a waste disposal facility, radioactivity in Lake Gaston (primary drinking water source for Chesapeake/Virginia Beach) could reach levels 10-20 times greater than allowed in the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Any threat to our public health should not be tolerated. The NAS study stated that uranium mining in Virginia poses serious health risks. Our climate, ripe with hurricanes and floods, is untested ground. Could the uranium waste be washed away and into our drinking water? Governor McDonnell’s actions beg the question, “Are we killing the goose to feed the gander?”

Michael Edwards
Richmond, Va.

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