VUI...Virginia Co. Becoming More Canadian-Owned

By James West
MidasLetter.com
Monday, May 25, 2009

As far as uranium companies go, there aren't many who can say they are developing one of the largest undeveloped deposits in the world. But Santoy Resources (TSX.V:SAN), through its acquisition of a minority stake in Virginia Uranium, is doing just that. Santoy is in the process of acquiring a 20% interest in the holding company ("Holdco") that controls the leasehold development and operating rights of the Coles Hill uranium property in southside Virginia.

The transaction is structured as a plan of arrangement that also provides Santoy with a right of first refusal on future financings. Santoy's ambition is to earn a 30% interest over the next few years through various financing transactions.

Ron Netolitzky, Chief Executive Officer of Santoy, is also a director and a shareholder of Holdco. To increase the number of Holdco shares available to Santoy, Mr. Netolitzky and Santoy have agreed under the Business Combination Agreement that Santoy will acquire his 2,000,0000 Holdco shares in exchange for Santoy shares at the same ratio of six shares of Santoy for each one share of Holdco. The transaction has been negotiated by an independent committee of theboard of Santoy and has received full board approval with Mr. Netolitzky abstaining.

It is contemplated that Santoy will, subject to regulatory approval, change its name to "Virginia Energy Resources Inc." or such other name as approved by the Santoy Board to reflect the significance of the transaction to Santoy.

According to Virginia Uranium CEO Norman Reynolds, who will become CEO of Santoy upon the transaction's closing, "What this gives Santoy is a very substantial interest in one of the largest undeveloped uranium projects in the world. Its in an area that is very nuclear friendly, Virginia has four reactors generating more than a third of the state's electricity needs. Forty miles from the project there are two nuclear facilities, one owned by Areva that manufactures fuel rods for the commercial reactors and the other one manufactures the fuel rods for the navy. When the Atlantic fleet is in its home port of Norfolk Virgina, there are in the neighborhood of 50 reactors in the various aircraft carriers and submarines, so it's a state that is very comfortable and supportive of nuclear energy."

Reynolds was the president of Marline Corp. when the deposit was discovered in the '80s.

Dominion Virginia Power has four nuclear plants in Virginia that provide about a third of the state's energy, but the uranium used at the facilities is imported. The situation in neighboring states is similar, including in Maryland, which gets 31 percent of its electricity from nuclear power, according to the federal government.

Marline Corp. began searching for uranium deposits in the Eastern US in the late 1970s and in 1982 said it discovered 30 million pounds of uranium oxide in Pittsylvania County, potentially worth $1 billion or more.

Since then, the estimate of available ore has climbed to 119 million pounds, worth perhaps $10 billion. However, Virginia placed a moratorium on uranium mining in 1982, until such time as uranium mining regulations are enacted into law. Marline was working with the state legislature in the 1980's to develop the appropriate laws and regulatory framework for uranium mining in Virginia when the price of uranium declined to the point that the project was abandoned. Santoy's will support Virginia Uranium's efforts to pick up today where Marline left off 25 years ago. In the meanwhile, the state continues to import all of its nuclear fuel requirements.

In 1982, Virginia did pass laws covering uranium exploration. Per those regulations Virginia Uranium Inc. applied for and received a permit from the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy in November 2007 to conduct uranium exploration drilling on 194 acres in and around the Coles Hill deposit in Pittsylvania County.

Baseline water quality has been established for water wells, surface water ponds, and streams in the area. An archeological, cultural, and historic resources review of the area has been completed. There are no threatened or endangered species within or near the permit area.

The Virginia governor's energy plan issued in the Fall 2007 mentioned this project about 50 times, saying that studies needed to be done to assess the potential for developing it, and generally supporting the idea of a developed uranium mining industry in the state," said Reynolds "That was largely the catalyst that motivated the Coles and Bowen Families to begin developing Coles Hill more aggressively."

Family patriarch Walter Coles said in January 2008, "There's too much uranium here. Somebody's going to mine it. I felt like while I was alive, it was my duty to make sure it was done right."

Virginia Uranium is focused on and committed to best practices in terms of environmental protection and community relations. To that end, the company is:

• Supporting an independent study authorized by the Commonwealth of Virginia to analyze the effect of mining on the community with emphasis on agriculture;
• Actively working with the Virginia Farm Bureau to assist the county's efforts to preserve the agricultural traditions of the region, and;
• Supporting local and regional colleges and universities with research, scholarships, grants and job opportunities related to agriculture, mining and geology.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) supports a study, and a state energy report released this fall recommends one. Virginia currently gets more of its energy from nuclear power than almost any other state -- about 35 percent, almost twice the national average.

In addition to the Virginia acquisition, Santoy has actively been exploring its strategically located uranium properties within three main geographic locations in Canada; the Athabasca Basin of Saskatchewan, the Central Mineral Belt of Labrador and in the Otish Mountains of Quebec. These projects are located on favourable geological trends and are in close proximity to known deposits.

The company currently holds interests in 12 uranium properties within or on the margins of the prolific Athabasca Basin of northern Saskatchewan.

Santoy and its 50-50 joint venture partner Denison Mines Corp. (TSX:DML, AMEX:DNN) have approved a $300,000 budget for fieldwork on the Hatchet Lake and Murphy Lake properties for 2009. Ground electromagnetic surveys are currently underway on the Tuning Fork and Tuning Fork West grid on the Hatchet Lake property.

Santoy will also spend $1 million on nine claim blocks within and on the margins of the Proterozoic Otish basin it controls in the province of Quebec.

The company has an experienced management team which is supported by a veteran board of directors who have been directly involved with the discovery and development of three major gold discoveries in Canada that have subsequently been put into production (Eskay Creek, Snip and Brewery Creek mines); of coal and coalbed methane projects in Western Canada; of producing "green power" projects throughout Canada; of conventional oil & gas discoveries throughout North and South America; and of taking uranium discoveries through to feasibility study.

Visit the company's web site at www.Santoy.ca and also at www.VirginiaUranium.com to learn more.

http://www.midasletter.com/news/09052506_Santoy-resources-jump-starts-growth-with-Virginia-Uranium-stake.php

Kaine Expected to Slash Budget by $1.3 Billion

August 18, 2009

(AP) - Gov. Timothy M. Kaine will cut the state's cash-strapped budget by about $1.3 billion in an address Wednesday before legislative budget writers, legislators told The Associated Press.

His address to members of the House and Senate money committees will mark the fourth time since September that the governor has been forced by the worst economy since the 1930s to scale back state spending.

Kaine said earlier this month he would cut at least $700 million or at most $1.5 billion in comments to lawmakers forced by significant month-after-month declines in state tax collections.

Legislators from both parties and from both the House and Senate said Kaine decided after speaking to economists and his board on revenue estimates to make cuts on the higher side, reflecting lingering uncertainty that a recovery is imminent.

The lawmakers and staffers spoke on the condition of anonymity in deference to the fact that the governor had not announced the figure publicly.

Kaine's quarterly briefing to the House Appropriations and Finance committees and the Senate Finance Committee comes as the economy forms a key issue in this fall's gubernatorial and legislative elections. It's also shortly before a special legislative session Kaine called for Wednesday to address a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that prosecutors say is jeopardizing some criminal cases.

http://www.charlottesvillenewsplex.tv/news/headlines/53603772.html

$1.3 B to be Cut By Kaine

Hmmm...Don't guess we'll be seeing that $1.2M for the big U study coming from the Commonwealth. Hope the NAS continues to hold firm on its ethical stm't about not accepting funding from any entity with a vested interest in the study's outcome. We'll be watching to see who steps forward to fund the study now that the state is apparently out of the process...and hell will be raised if anyone in bed with the U industry tries to be "magnanimous".

RICHMOND(AP) -- Legislative leaders say Gov. Tim Kaine will cut the state budget by about $1.3 billion on Wednesday.

For continuing coverage on this breaking news event, please refer to http://www.wvec.com?bn

We'll try to bring you more details as they're released.

Temporary, Partial Hiatus

For medical reasons, we must take a temporary, partial hiatus. We will continue to monitor articles and announcements and will post what we can, particularly if the information is vital or urgent.

We appreciate your understanding.

Smidgen

Town Ceases to Exist After Superfund Cleanup

Notice the names of these former uranium mining/milling towns: Naturita...Nucla...Uravan. Don't they sound happy? Patriotic? Owned by the uranium industry?

Uravan no longer exists. Exxcept for one building, the entire town was declared part of the Uravan SuperFund site and destroyed.

Could this happen in Virignia?

Uravan once vital to security of United States

by Joe Hanel
Herald Denver Bureau

URAVAN - The sign outside Naturita reads "Uravan 15."

The town still appears on official Colorado maps. But 15 miles north of Naturita, there's no sign on the road and few clues this once was a hopping town with a community center, a soda fountain and a swimming pool. The childhood memories of many residents of Nucla and Naturita were made here.

All that's left now is a flat spot on the ground surrounded by a barbed-wire fence, overflown by sparrows and serenaded by crickets.

The only clue to the labors of the men and women who used to live here is the barbed wire that surrounds the whole site and the metal signs with the universal symbol for radiation, reading: "ANY AREA OR CONTAINER ON THIS PROPERTY MAY CONTAIN RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS."

Other than one office building across the San Miguel River, the rest is gone.

Uravan once was vital to national security. Standard Chemical founded the town as the Joe Jr. Camp, a center of radium mining and milling.

In World War II, the military moved in to scour the tailings piles for uranium to build the first atomic bombs.

The camp was so secret that a young man from Nucla, just 20 miles away, was stationed there, but he wasn't allowed to tell his family until after the war, said Marie Templeton of the Rimrocker Historical Society.

After the war, Uravan boomed until the 1980s as a company town run by United States Vanadium and later by Union Carbide.

Production ended in 1984, and Umetco - a local subsidiary of Union Carbide - began a government-supervised cleanup. The whole town became a federal Superfund site. (emphases mine...SB)

The cleanup formally ended last year, although monitoring continues.

What It Took...

To clean up the former town of Uravan, the following work was done, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Demolition and removal of about 50 major mill facility structures and buildings, including the process systems and circuits, and removal of more than 260 buildings.

Removal and cleanup of dispersed materials and contaminated soil from approximately 400 acres.

Relocation of more than 3 million cubic yards of mill wastes and contaminated materials.

Construction of waste and tailing repository covers, liquid evaporation and retention ponds, and permanent runoff control structures – using more than 1.7 million cubic yards of earthen materials.

Construction of five double-lined ponds (totaling 40 acres) for the evaporation of hillside seepage, tailing-pile seepage and extracted groundwater.

Construction and use of a new repository capable of disposing more than 1.8 million cubic yards of evaporative pond demolition debris and radioactive waste.

Collection of more than 70 million gallons of hillside and tailing seepage, containing approximately 6,000 tons of contaminated inorganic compounds.

Extraction of about 245 million gallons of contaminated liquids from the groundwater with the removal of about 14,500 tons of contaminated inorganic compounds.

Removal of contaminated materials from the dumps.

http://durangoherald.com/sections/News/2009/08/09/Town_ceases_to_exist_after_Superfund_cleanup/

(This article, and a few above and below it, are parts of a current series by Joe Hanel, Durango Herald.)

Reed Hayes: One false step, 41 years of pain

by Joe Hanel
Herald Denver Bureau

Monday, August 10, 2009

July 1967. Graveyard shift at the Atlas uranium mill in Moab, Utah. A light bulb is out on the second level over one of the vats of yellowcake - sludge of concentrated uranium ore.

Reed Hayes eases himself down the walkway, a replacement bulb in hand. But someone on the swing shift forgot to put up a rope to block off the yellowcake tank. Suddenly Hayes falls. He splashes into the tank.

He's a strong swimmer, and he swims out through the sludge. The shift boss tells him to go home, shower, change clothes and get back to work.

A month later, shortly after he left his job, painful rashes break out all over his body, "head to toes." It's an affliction Hayes has carried to his retirement home, a tidy ranch house with an immaculate garden at the western tip of the Paradox Valley.

Hayes' words come slowly, with long pauses between sentences, as he describes dozens of different drugs and tests he's endured over the decades.

"I've got it today. I've got parts of it on my body right now," Hayes says.

He wears a thick, long-sleeved shirt, sunglasses and a hat every time he goes outside to work in his garden and orchard. For some reason, this year, he's been able to grow apricots - 56 of them, to be precise - while many of the Western Slope crops failed.

Atlas was no help to him. The company is defunct. He applied to the government for compensation for sick nuclear workers, but he couldn't get it because the program was for only lung disease. He's applied to another program, and his case has been pending since last fall.

"I think I'm on the back burner, basically," he says.

"I've been in misery, sometimes literally hell, for 41½ years," Hayes says. "My wife has taken me to the emergency room probably seven or eight times. Sometimes it breaks out and gets in my mouth, starts choking me. Sometimes it gets in my eyes. It moves around."

Steroid balms help a bit, along with antihistamines.

"It never does get rid of it. It just calms it down. It's just a Band-Aid," Hayes says. "That's my story."

http://durangoherald.com/sections/News/2009/08/10/Reed_Hayes_One_false_step_41_years_of_pain/

Demonstrations In Helsinki And Tampere Against Uranium Mining

Citizens in countries all over the world are protesting proposed uranium mines. Apparently they're all asking for that one example of a safe mine operation...and getting no answer.

Demonstrators in Helsinki protest plans for uranium mining in Finnish Lapland. Image: YLE

Protesters gathered in Helsinki and Tampere on Thursday to lend support to residents of Ranua, in Finnish Lapland, who oppose plans for uranium mining in the area.

The French energy group Areva has filed an application with the Ministry Employment and the Economy for a uranium mining claim at Ranua, just south of Rovaniemi. If granted, the claim would allow Areva to carrying out prospecting in the area.

According to a local activisit, Kaisa Kaikkonen, granting the claim could force residents of the area to live for decades in fear of the start-up of uranium mining.

"The drilling and digging in search of uranium are in themselves a risk for the natural environment and ground water. In addition, the further the project proceeds, the harder it will be to prevent the establishment of a uranium mine."

Police report that the demonstrations were peaceful, gathering a dozen people in Tampere and around 40 in Helsinki.

http://www.yle.fi/uutiset/news/2009/08/demonstrations_in_helsinki_and_tampere_against_uranium_mining_927323.html

Ore From Last Uranium Boom Still Scattered on Colorado Land

By Joe Hanel
Herald Denver Bureau

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

PARADOX - From the road, it looks like a pile of gray rocks. But a closer inspection reveals flakes of yellow and lime green - telltale signs of uranium ore.

The pile and others like it make up some of the 5,000 tons of uranium ore that remains on the surface from Colorado's last boom, according to a Department of Energy environmental study.

Five thousand tons of rock is only a few months of production from a mid-sized mine, but it's enough to concern Travis Stills, a Durango lawyer leading the legal challenge to the Energy department's plan to lease Colorado land for uranium mining.

The Office of Legacy Management, which issues leases on federal uranium lands, cleaned up all its old mine sites by 2001, according to court filings by Andrew Smith, a Justice department lawyer who is representing the OLM.

Piles of waste rock at uranium mines could cause trouble if water runs off them into creeks, said Angelique Diaz, an environmental engineer for the Environmental Protection Agency's Denver office. The piles are radioactive and give off radon gas, but not in significant quantities, Diaz said.

The Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety cleans mines that were abandoned before 1977, using mostly federal dollars but also money from state taxes on gas, oil and coal production.

With 17,000 abandoned mines in Colorado, the priority goes to open mine shafts that might be dangerous for hikers, said Loretta Pineda, director of the abandoned mines program.

"I do have some environmental funding, but it's pretty limited," Pineda said.

The BLM has asked the state to put several old mines in the Paradox Valley on its list, Pineda said. She had a project on tap near Uravan a few years ago, but it was put on hold when people started staking claims in the area. Anyone who opened a new mine would have to clean up the old pollution first.

For Stills, the cleanup of the old mines should happen now.

"Five thousand tons of uranium ore sitting on the surface should be somebody's priority," he said.

http://durangoherald.com/sections/News/2009/08/11/Ore_from_last_uranium_boom_still_scattered_on_Colorado_land/

Health Risks From Mines Covered Up: Department of Energy Files Reveal Legacy of Secrecy and Negligence

Disgusting and infuriating but not surprising, unfortunately. Can we really expect any better protection or information dissemination in Virginia? Let's learn from the past and leave the U in the ground. Let's let integrity triumph over greed.

by Joe Hanel
Herald Denver Bureau

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

URAVAN - Health experts working for the state of Colorado and the federal government knew about the dangers of working in uranium mines and mills 60 years ago, but they hid their knowledge from the workers. As a result, workers died from cancer.

This has been public knowledge since the mid-1990s, when the Department of Energy published the results of its "Openness Project," an extraordinary catalog of government failures in the decades after World War II.

The report blames state and federal bureaucrats for "intergovernmental buck passing and decades of study, a course that resulted in the premature deaths of hundreds of miners."

State and federal regulators did plenty of studies. According to the archives of the Department of Energy's Openness Project: On Aug. 25, 1949, Colorado health officials met with U.S. Public Health Service employees to discuss uranium mine and mill safety. The same month, the Colorado Health Department and Colorado Bureau of Mines asked the Public Health Service to do a formal study of the mines and mills.

Public Health Service official Duncan Holaday was in charge of the study, and he quickly found evidence that unventilated mines were exposing workers to cancer-causing levels of radiation. Vents would have helped lessen the danger.

But the Public Health Service couldn't get access to the mines without permission from mine owners. To get permission, inspectors promised the mine owners not to warn workers of radiation hazards, Holaday testified in a lawsuit brought by Navajo uranium miners.

"You had to get the survey done, and you knew perfectly well you were not doing the correct thing ... by not informing the workers," Holaday said, according to the Openness Project report.

In May 1952, the Public Health Service gave its initial results in a report that was released to only state and federal officials and mining companies. A news release said "no evidence of health damage from radioactivity had been found." But the Openness Project report notes lung cancer takes 10 to 20 years to show itself, and public health regulators knew about the risks as early as the 1940s.

In 1960, the Public Health Service at last gave the governors of uranium states such as Colorado what it said was a conclusive link between uranium mining and lung cancer. Yet the Atomic Energy Commission, the Public Health Service and the states continued their talks and studies.

The biggest radiation hazard for miners was radon, a radioactive gas that is formed when uranium decays. Although uranium is radioactive, the radioactive particles are most dangerous when ingested. That happens most often when radon is inhaled in mines with poor ventilation.

It wasn't until 1967 that the federal government finally set a standard for radon in uranium mines, about the same time Colorado and Utah started serious enforcement. Most small Colorado mines weren't ventilated until the 1960s, more than two decades into the uranium boom.

By 1990, miners in one study group had seen 410 deaths from lung cancer - almost five times the rate that statisticians would expect.

The judge in the Navajo miners' case called it the "tragedy of the nuclear age."

Congress in 1990 passed a law to compensate the surviving miners and millers called the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act. But of the 165,000 claims filed, only 43,000 have been paid, according to Labor Department statistics cited in a 2008 Rocky Mountain News investigation.

http://durangoherald.com/sections/News/2009/08/11/Health_risks_from_mines_covered_up/

Virginia Energy Closes Final Tranche of Private Placement Financing

Tuesday, August 11, 2009 Virginia Energy Closes Final Tranche of Private Placement Financing News Release: 09-16 Virginia Energy Resources Inc. (TSX.V: VAE) is pleased to announce completion of the final tranche of it's previously announced non-brokered private placement financing announced May 14, 2009. Each Unit will comprise one common share at a price of 50 cents per share, and one-half of one share purchase warrant. Each whole warrant is exercisable at 60 cents per share for a five-year period. The warrants will have an acceleration clause whereby if the Company's shares trade at or greater than $2.00 for 10 consecutive days, the remaining exercise period may be reduced, at the election of the Company and upon notice to the warrant holders, to 25 days. A total of 4,155,600 common shares and 2,077,800 warrants were issued under this placement, for a gross consideration of $2,077,800 and will be subject to a hold period of 4 months and 1 day. Finder's fee and commissions will be payable to qualified third party agents. A portion of this proposed financing will be applied to increasing the Company's equity position in VA Uranium Holdings Inc., which initial transaction was announced in a Company new release dated Dec. 22, 2008 wherein Santoy and a private corporation, Virginia Uranium Ltd. agreed to a business combination by way of a Plan of Arrangement, which closed July 21, 2009. The amalgamated corporation is Virginia Energy Resources Inc. Virginia Uranium Ltd. owns an interest in the Coles Hill uranium deposit located in southern Virginia. Coles Hill, considered to be one of the largest undeveloped uranium deposits in the United States, had been advanced through to the feasibility stage in 1982 and has now been investigated by 220 drill holes. It has an estimated measured and indicated resource of 119 million pounds of U3O8 (at a cut-off grade of 0.025 per cent U3O8) based on a National Instru-ment 43-101 technical report on the Coles Hill property prepared for Santoy Resources by Behre Dolbear and Company Ltd., Marshall Miller and Associates Inc., and PAC Geological Consultant Inc. (Dr. Peter Christopher, P.Eng.) dated Feb. 2, 2009, and revised April 29, 2009. This report is available on SEDAR and on Virginia Energy Resources' website. On Behalf of the Board of Directors Virginia Energy Resources Inc. "Norm Reynolds" Norm Reynolds, President & CEO ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Santoy Resources Ltd. is pleased to announce the closure of their merger with Virginia Uranium Limited. Our new company will be called Virginia Energy Resources Inc. and will trade under the ticker symbol VAE effective Friday July 24. We are currently in the process of transitioning Santoy's website to the newly formed Virginia Energy Resources Inc. website. The company is focused on discovering and developing high-grade uranium deposits and on exploration for coal throughout North America. The company has an experienced management team which is supported by a veteran Board of Directors who have been directly involved with the discovery and development of three major gold discoveries in Canada that have subsequently been put into production (Eskay Creek, Snip and Brewery Creek mines); of coal and coalbed methane projects in Western Canada; of producing "green power" projects throughout Canada; of conventional oil & gas discoveries throughout North and South America; and of taking uranium discoveries through to feasibility study. The Company files its continuous disclosure documents on www.sedar.com and provides a link to SEDAR under the "INVESTORS" tab.

NH's 'green power' law draws wind parks

By PAULA TRACY
New Hampshire Union Leader Staff

Monday, Aug. 10, 2009

The state's incentives for "green power" proved a draw for the company that plans to build a string of 410-foot wind turbines across remote ridge lines in Coos County.

Like 29 other states and the District of Columbia, New Hampshire is offering trade-able credits for renewable power through the state's new Renewable Portfolio Standard, known as RPS.

"Noble would not be building if they didn't have this scheme -- and I use scheme in the positive sense -- in place," Martin Murray, spokesman for Public Service Company of New Hampshire, said of the parent company for the Coos project.

"Just from the sale of energy alone, (the Coos project) would not have been able to be built because the costs are too high. But with this, (the law) they have two products, the energy itself and the credits," Murray explained.

The 2007 law requires utilities to buy certain percentages of power from renewable sources; Gov. John Lynch's goal is to have 25 percent of the electricity used in New Hampshire come from renewable resources by 2025.

The Granite Reliable Power Project received a state certificate July 15 to build a 99-megawatt wind park. Using a series of 33 towers from Dixville Peak south along Mount Kelsey in the Phillips Brook area, it is expected to produce enough emissions-free electricity to power 40,000 homes a year

Cost to consumers

On its Web site, Noble said it will spend $275 million to build the wind park here because of the Renewable Portfolio Standard.

In 2005, about 10 percent of the state's power came from renewable resources, but that is now increasing.

But it will cost consumers a pretty penny.

Murray acknowledged it costs more to buy the renewable power.

"Fossil fuel is comparatively cheap," he said.

On June 19, Iberdrola Renewables dedicated the state's first commercial wind operation in Lempster.

Paul Copleman, communications manager for Iberdrola Renewables, said RPS is "a positive factor" when determining where to locate, but ultimately wind and access to transmission are the primary drivers.

PSNH buys the wind and RPS credits or "RECs" and it also sells the power to New Hampshire Electric Coop.

Copleman said the company began plans for its 24 megawatt park before the state had enacted its RPS.

"It is an added positive factor because it provides an additional market," he said of the credits.

Attending the Lempster dedication the governor said, "We must push ahead in pursuit of a new energy future that will help to protect our environment, create new jobs and strengthen our energy independence."

The state's Site Evaluation Committee voted unanimously to issue a certificate with conditions for the 99-megawatt Granite Reliable Power within one year of its application.

Iberdrola Renewables dedicated the state's first commercial wind operation in Lempster in June. (COURTESY)

It is still subject to federal permitting, and would boost New Hampshire's wind production to 125 megawatts by 2011.

PSNH's Murray said the project simply would not have come here were it not for RPS credits.

Energy credits

One reason PSNH decided to convert a fossil fuel burning boiler at Schiller Station into a wood-chip burning plant was to get into the credit program to help pay down the debt on the project. The company also has new solar panels on its building in Manchester, which it can also get credits for.

The Northern Wood Project has sold its renewable energy credits to Massachusetts, while PSNH can also use it to make electricity for its customers. The Northern Wood Power boiler began operations in December 2006.

To date, it has produced about 800,000 megawatt hours of energy, thereby producing 800,000 credits, known as RECs.

"For the most part, we have sold these RECs to energy suppliers who need them, and used the income to pay down the capital costs of the Northern Wood Power project," said Murray.

The certificates are sold to utilities that did not buy the actual renewable power, but a certificate verifying that the renewable power was produced.

Wood chip plants across the state have reinvested in their equipment to be certified as REC producers; PSNH invested in a new turbine at Smith Hydro in Berlin for that same reason.

"The act establishing minimum renewable standards for energy portfolios recognized that such projects were in the long term beneficial to the state," Murray said.

http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=NH%27s+%27green+power%27+law+draws+wind+parks&articleId=60893836-af9b-48b9-97d4-7f0abcfe2136

Thompson says investment in clean energy means jobs for Southern Nevada

Aug. 10, 2009

By JENNIFER ROBISON
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

The Silver State will soon run out of major construction projects: The Strip’s massive CityCenter will be complete by the end of the year, and the Hoover Dam bypass bridge will conclude soon as well.

That’s why investment in clean energy is more important to the Silver State than ever, said Danny Thompson, head of the Nevada chapter of the AFL-CIO.

Thompson, who participated in a panel on renewable power at today’s National Clean Energy Summit 2.0 at UNLV, said construction unemployment in Southern Nevada is well over 20 percent, and once those big developments on the Strip and local roadway construction projects end, that jobless level is likely to worsen without new investments.

Thompson focused his remarks on the need for a national renewable-energy portfolio standard similar to the one Nevada has. The state’s standard requires utilities to derive 25 percent of their power from renewables by 2025. That mandate has sent a stream of dollars into alternative energy. The result: New jobs building solar power plants and other green developments. A national standard would pay even bigger dividends, Thompson said.

“There are opportunities for jobs not just in construction and operations, but manufacturing,” Thompson said.

Also, the public sector will lead the way on cultivating the green economy, he said.

“Public works offers the jobs of the future, because today, the private sector is in the toilet,” Thompson said.

But green jobs won’t truly bolster the economy unless they’re “good” jobs, said Terry O’Sullivan, general president of the Laborers’ International Union of North America. That means governments need to write policies that encourage companies in the green sector to offer living wages and benefits to employees.

“They should be able to end up retiring and living a middle-class way of life,” O’Sullivan said.

Nationally, 1.6 million construction workers lack jobs, O’Sullivan said.

One initiative could help: One program about to get under way would fund weatherizing for 1 million low-income housing units in the next 12 months to 18 months, up from an average of 140,000 units a year that receive weatherization today. Nearly 40 million homes are eligible for weatherizing programs, and 100 million homes nationwide need some weatherization, O’Sullivan said.

The country just doesn’t have the labor force to handle that volume of work, though. Training dollars from the departments of Labor and Energy would help contractors move toward a capacity of 5 million to 10 million residential weatherization projects a year, O’Sullivan said.

Steven Horsford, D-Las Vegas, also sat on the panel.

Horsford said Nevada is “truly at the center for renewable-energy development in the west, if not throughout the entire United States.”

Launching the green economy will start with training workers to weatherize homes and retrofit schools for energy conservation.

“Nevada is open and ready for business,” Horsford said.

http://www.lvrj.com/news/breaking_news/52908327.html

Develop hydrogen energy to bolster state's economy

By Bobby Harrell

Monday, August 10, 2009

In today's world, the status quo of energy is foreign oil. It is a powerful force that drives economies and enables them to grow. Yet, at the same time, a shortage or change in the price of this volatile commodity can bring economies to a screeching halt.

Oil has two absolutes. One, it is limited in supply. Obtainable oil will eventually run out. Two, it is almost exclusively controlled by tyrants who hate us and the hundreds of billions of dollars we send them fund many of the evil plots aimed at destroying our country.

In order for America to gain true energy independence and break the stranglehold Middle Eastern cartels have on our economy, we must develop alternative energy sources. As a nation, we are much too dependent on foreign oil. To address this, we must first make better use of that which we already have. As Ronald Reagan said, "What is a conservative after all but one who conserves?"

This issue of energy security is very important because of the effect it can have on the sustainability of our economy and the preservation of our way of life.

However, in the face of this energy inevitability, there are still those who refuse to address or even acknowledge its existence. For now, the energy status quo seems safe to them and they attack any alternative plan as liberal or big government.

I urge those clinging to the status quo to look back at the words of Russell Kirk, author of The Conservative Mind. Kirk said, "The spectacle of vanished forests and eroded lands, wasted petroleum and ruthless mining is evidence of what an age without veneration does to itself and its successors."

Getting our country off of oil and on to another energy source is a change that will not come overnight and will require real leadership and vision. While it may be easier to push back instead of offering solutions, we need conservative leaders who dare to take the steps that will secure our economic future. A self-described Republican with a Libertarian slant, former Congressman turned television news host Joe Scarborough, said, "American technology firms, research universities, and scientific laboratories are still the most powerful force for innovation in the world. If our leaders could wisely focus this R&D brainpower on developing a portfolio of oil-replacement technologies the same way the U.S. government teamed with universities during World War II and the space race, it would revolutionize our economy and foreign policy for the next generation."

Just imagine how our economy and way of life could change if the billions of petrodollars we send to unfriendly oil-controlling countries were instead pumped into our own domestic energy industries. A viable alternative energy — produced by Americans and controlled by Americans — will allow our economy to grow, take away the best weapon terrorists have, and protect American lives.

Prosperity follows energy, and we will need more energy in the future if we intend to grow our economy. But we have become a nation dependant on dwindling fossil fuels. This is partly because of a lack of energy alternatives, but in reality, it is because we have lacked the determination to develop them.

The good news is that in South Carolina, we are now actively pursuing this goal of energy independence. Along with nuclear, biomass, hydroelectric, solar and wind energy, hydrogen has emerged as a promising new energy source. Since the only byproduct of hydrogen energy is pure water, it is proving to be one of the cleanest energy sources being pursued. And right here in South Carolina, we are leading the country and the world in the race to develop hydrogen technology. Teaming up with private industries and our research universities, we are making substantial headway in developing this technology.

Industry is getting involved in this new opportunity and that is attracting more private interest and investments — investments that will create sorely needed jobs and grow our economy. Already, we are seeing real-world applications of hydrogen fuel cells in the market. Bridgestone Firestone Manufacturing in Aiken is converting its entire forklift fleet to run on more efficient and cost-effective hydrogen fuel cells. Television stations are using hydrogen to power some of their cameras. It is even being used to power the scoreboard at USC's baseball stadium.

This effort to move our country beyond foreign oil will take leadership and a willingness to break from the status quo ideas about energy. I am confident that the people of South Carolina have this ability and have the vision to see the thriving economic engine that rests just over the horizon.

Bobby Harrell is speaker of the S.C. House of Representatives.

http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2009/aug/10/develop_hydrogen_energyto_bolster_states92024/

Big Crown [sic] Turns Out For McDonnell Town Hall Meeting

Tara Bozick/Register & Bee

Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell (right) learns how giant reed could be a source product for biofuels in the region during Monday’s biofuel demonstration site tour guided by Kenneth Moss, chief operating officer of Piedmont BioProducts.

By Catherine Amos

Published: August 10, 2009

After a day of touring the Dan River Region’s success stories in technology and economic development, Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell spoke with area residents at a town hall meeting in Danville Monday night.

About 200 people gathered at the Institute for Advanced Learning & Research for an hour and a half question-and-answer session after McDonnell gave a few opening comments on his platform, focusing heavily on job creation and improving Virginia’s economy, especially in Southside.

The former attorney general spoke about the staggering unemployment figures facing the Dan River Region — more than 20 percent in Martinsville — and the need for a state government that cultivates entrepreneurship and small business through low regulation and litigation.

“The most important thing facing Virginia is to grow jobs, grow opportunities,” McDonnell said. “That really is what I believe this election is all about. To me it starts with keeping a strong basis for economic development.”

McDonnell was greeted with a round of applause when he mentioned his plan to be “on the ground” in Southside Virginia at least once a month, meaning either he or the lieutenant governor will meet with local leaders on a regular basis.

After praising the technology and innovation at the Piedmont BioProducts plant in Gretna and indoor fishery Blue Ridge Aquaculture in Martinsville, McDonnell thanked Delegate Danny Marshall and the Tobacco Commission for “having the foresight to support” those ventures.

“Unbelievable,” McDonnell said of the biofuel plant. “You’ve got incredible biotechnology here. They’re using crops like switchgrass and hearty sugar cane in a process that is revolutionary and only here in Southside Virginia and turning that into green oil.”

In addition to promoting green and alternative energy, McDonnell supports Virginia being the first state to drill off the Atlantic coast in 2011, a position the crowd enthusiastically commended. If elected, he wants to use 80 percent of the state’s tax revenue from off-shore drilling for transportation and 20 percent for green energy research.

During the question-and-answer portion, McDonnell fielded more than a few questions about whether he would support uranium mining. He told the crowd multiple times that he would not vote on anything without the proper research and studies done on the safety and viability of mining, although he acknowledged the economic value for Virginia.

“I’ve been following the situation here at Coles Farm and I think there’s an estimated $10 billion in the market value in uranium,” he said. “Obviously there are any number of issues that need to be considered before uranium mining is permitted.”

Two people, including Danville Vice Mayor T. Wayne Oakes, asked about how McDonnell plans to attract more local students to local colleges and keep them working here after graduation. McDonnell supported local colleges opening more spots for Virginia students and improving economic development incentives to provide better jobs.

President Barack Obama’s cap and trade legislation was only mentioned once by McDonnell, who opposes it, and no one mentioned the controversial health care reform proposal. A few residents asked about illegal immigration; McDonnell supports stronger civil immigration laws.

Toward the end of the event, a teenage boy asked about the future availability of the green gas made in Gretna, and McDonnell applauded his participation in the event.

“I really appreciate seeing several young people that are here,” he said. “We cannot take democracy as a spectator sport … You have to care, you have to get involved.”

http://www2.godanriver.com/gdr/news/local/danville_news/article/big_crown_turns_out_for_mcdonnell_town_hall_meeting/13119/

Perhaps the R&B reporter didn't hear all of the comments or questions regarding the proposed uranium mining or the proposed study. We're including contemporaneous notes taken during the meeting by one of the audience members, Karen Maute. Apparently Mr. McDonnell isn't staying current with the mining issue. We have edited the remarks for clarity and removed names of the individual speakers:

McDonnell's opening remarks were fairly generic and echoed what he's been quoted as saying at various venues. He stated that he felt Virginia should encourage tourism and the film industry as well as promoting agriculture. I found myself wondering how well we could promote these things if we were best known as the only uranium mining state east of the Mississippi?

He stated we need to be an "energy leader", mentioning Areva and Northrop Grumman (vpap.org shows a sizable donation to his campaign of $25,000.00) which he says includes drilling off the coast and for gas, clean coal and nuclear power and that we should use every resource to become an "energy leader".

Somewhere in the Q&A period he spoke of drilling off the coast and the ride we would have being the first eastern state to do so. He pointed to the Gulf Coast as an area where it had been done with little environmental impact.

Also mentioned need for research and tax credits re: energy.

He mentioned his transportation plan and protection of private property rights.

The first question came from the facilitator of the meeting. The facilitator asked about uranium mining in Virginia. McDonnell praised the General Assembly for authorizing the study and said that was underway and said we should have their findings soon. He said that decisions should be made on the findings of the study.

Others spoke re: uranium. Deborah Dix stated her opposition to uranium mining and read from a document that stated that no level of radioactive exposure could be deemed as safe. Again, McDonnell said he would look at the study committee's findings and any other credible studies that he might have before coming to a decision re: uranium mining.

[Another] told McDonnell that the Coal & Energy Commission (not the General Assembly) had authorized the study, that it was not underway, and there is no indication as to who is going to conduct the study or pay for it. She then asked him who he thought should pay for it. He said he guessed she was asking if the industry paid for it that, perhaps, it would be perceived as a tainted study. He seemed to favor the state and/or private entities paying for the study. He was clearly taken aback by this speaker's information re: how the study was authorized and that there was no one under contract to conduct the study. He did not appear to be aware of these facts about the study.

I asked about the low level radioactive waste compact of which VA is a member and whether, if we were mined, that would increase VA's chances of being the next host state for low level radioactive wastes since SC is no longer accepting it and NC [the state which was to become the next host for the region] reneged since its citizens did not want the dump situated there? This too (the LLRW Compact info) seemed to be something of which he was not very aware.

Camille Brought Changes to Emergency Management

Can you imagine what something like Hurricane Camille would do to a uranium tailings pile?? Every stream, lake, river, field, forest, city and town, for hundreds of miles, would be contaminated with radioactive particulate from the hour of the storm until the end of time.

Please don't lull yourself into complacency by thinking Hurricane Camille was a once in a lifetime occurrence...an anomaly that won't happen again...Mother Nature is not always kind nor is she predictable. Virginia is a coastal state...chances are excellent that she will be hit over and over by hurricanes, tropical winds and tornadoes in the future just as she has been in the past. We can hope that nothing else as fierce as Camille never strikes VA again but to be safe from eternal radioactive ruin, uranium mining and milling must not be allowed in Virginia. Any other course of action is nothing short of criminal irresponsibility.

For a detailed picture of Virginia's history with hurricanes and tornadoes (current to 2006), take a look at http://www.vdem.state.va.us/newsroom/history/hurricane.cfm Virginia's Weather History.

40th anniversary approaches for Virginia's worst natural disaster.

RICHMOND - Almost 40 years ago, the remnants of Hurricane Camille forever changed the lives of many Virginians and permanently altered the landscape of the Commonwealth. The storm also drastically changed emergency management in Virginia and throughout the country. Prior to Camille, emergency officials focused on protecting Virginians from the effect of atomic bombs. The night of Aug. 19, 1969, changed that.

Camille was a weakening tropical depression when it entered Virginia, and no one was expecting the 12 to 27 inches of rain the storm dumped in just a few short hours. Water flowed down mountainsides, uprooting trees and hurling them through homes, businesses and vehicles. Landslides were so deep and deadly that they swept away entire families, communities and even a tractor trailer that was never found.

Nelson County bore the brunt of the storm as 27 inches or more fell - an estimated 1.2 trillion gallons of water. Extensive river flooding affected Buena Vista, Lynchburg, Scottsville, Richmond and many other areas.

Camille left 153 dead in Virginia, more than 300 homes destroyed, 133 bridges washed out and damage of more than $140 million, an enormous amount for the time. President Nixon declared the state a disaster area.

News of the devastation was slow to reach Richmond and the State Office of Civil Defense, which would later become the Virginia Department of Emergency Management. Officials began to act, but Virginia did not have a state emergency operations plan. Federal assistance was very limited.

Things changed after Camille. In 1971, the Commonwealth developed its first natural disaster plan. Testimony from Virginia state and local officials helped in the creation of the Disaster Relief Act of 1974, the forerunner to the current national disaster recovery law.

"Up until that time, our agency focused mostly on protecting citizens from the threat of atomic bombs," said Michael Cline, state coordinator for the Virginia Department of Emergency Management, who joined the agency in 1972. "After Camille, it was apparent that we had to help prepare and protect people from natural disasters and also improve our response and recovery plans."

Virginia's emergency operations plan has been improved many times during the years and now reflects both human-caused and natural hazards.

"Emergency management is much more defined now," said Cline. "Local, state and federal responders train year-round. We have new technologies that give us critical information in real time, and we work together under a standardized structure. We are much better prepared to protect people and property."

Even with the improvements in emergency management during the past 40 years, it is essential that Virginians know what to do to protect themselves and their families in case of emergencies. To learn more about preparing your family for disasters, go to www.ReadyVirginia.gov

Emergency preparedness is everyone's responsibility

Everyone should have a personal emergency plan.

Everyone should be prepared to be self-sufficient for at least the first 72 hours in an emergency.

September is National Preparedness Month.

http://www.wpcva.com/articles/2009/08/10/chatham/news/news38.txt

GOV. RITTER CONGRATULATES NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY LABORATORY FOR LANDING $20M GRANT

Written by Shrewsbury, Holly

Gov. Bill Ritter today congratulated the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden for winning a $20 million grant to advance solar energy research in an effort to forge new frontiers in achieving energy independence. The NREL grant is funded largely by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and is part of a $377 million program targeting 46 Energy Frontier Research Centers across the country. The grants were announced today by Energy Secretary Steven Chu. "Congratulations to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory for securing another Recovery Act grant that will support growth and advancements in the New Energy Economy," Gov. Ritter said. "NREL is a critical component of Colorado’s energy sector and this grant is the latest example of how the state is being recognized for its work to create jobs and advance energy technologies.” The new grant will go to NREL’s Center for Inverse Design and will be used to replace trial-and-error methods used in the development of materials for solar energy conversion with an inverse design approach powered by theory and computation. The Recovery Act devotes $154 billion to energy, infrastructure and science projects nationwide to help push the economy in a new direction and to support efforts to create a sustainable energy industry. The Governor’s Energy Office is implementing a series of programs to use Recovery Act dollars to create jobs, support business and advance the state’s New Energy Economy. For more information about the Recovery Act, go to www.colorado.gov/recovery . To view a complete list of grant recipients, go to http://www.sc.doe.gov/bes/EFRC_Synopses.pdf . http://www.thecherrycreeknews.com/content/view/5026/2/

Sen. Creigh Deeds Talks Sense on Uranium Mining

Map courtesy of the Piedmont Environmental Council

Original Author:

Eileen

Norfolk blogger Vivian Paige had the opportunity to talk one-on-one with Creigh Deeds yesterday. At the request of a friend, she was able to ask Sen. Deeds about the issue of uranium mining. Here's her notes from the exchange:

I asked about uranium mining, a topic that I'm not too familiar with. Fortunately for me, Deeds is.

He mentioned that he practiced law in Danville in the early to mid 1980s and became quite knowledgeable about the issue during that time. Deeds said that energy independence is a part of our national security so he believes in a comprehensive approach, and nothing should be taken off the table. He said, though, that he is not convinced that we have the technology to make such mining safe.

Deeds said, when the issue came up in committee, he asked two questions, one he knew the answer to and the other he didn't. The questions were:

1. What about the terrain in Pittslyvania County has changed?
2. What about the science has changed?

The answer to question #1, which Deeds already knew, was nothing. The terrain is such that the mining may very well contaminate the groundwater and not just in Pittsylvania County. The problem could very well extend beyond, down to Hampton Roads.

As for #2, he would like to see a study done by the National Academy of Sciences. Such a study has been authorized but so far, the NAS has balked at doing it. They want the state to pay for it - as of now, the private sector would pay for it - and they want the request to come from the Commonwealth, as opposed to a General Assembly committee.

The other issue is that of radioactive waste. Deeds was quite concerned about this, saying that radioactivity lasts forever, and even if the technology exists to clean it up - which he was very skeptical of this being the case - the stigma of having radioactive waste in an area may be too much to overcome.

Unless the technology exists to make uranium mining safe, I think I understood Deeds' position to be that he would not support it.

As noted by the Southern Environmental Law Center:

Uranium occurs naturally in the ground, but when exposed to air and water, radiation is released into the environment. Virtually all uranium mining in the U.S. has occurred in the arid, sparsely populated regions of the West. In these areas and other parts of the world, uranium extraction and processing have caused serious problems, such as the contamination of groundwater and surface water and increased cancer risk for workers and the public.

There is no precedent for large-scale uranium mining in eastern states such as Virginia, where the population density puts more people at risk and where a wetter climate increases the chance of radiation contaminating streams and groundwater.

Virginia has no regulations for uranium mining, and the federal government has virtually no experience regulating the activity in a wet climate.

Because the proposed uranium pit is located upstream from Virginia Beach's water supply at Lake Gaston, the City Council of Virginia has unanimously voted in Resolution to oppose uranium mining.

"Thomas Leahy, Director of Public Utilities for the City of Virginia Beach, has two degrees in chemical engineering and has worked in water for years", writes the Appomattox Area News, July 24, 2009.

In an Virginian-Pilot op-ed dated June 13, 2009, Mike Cohen, a contract administrator with Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding stated, "Indeed, the premise that our water supply is in danger reflects an ignorance of the water chemistry and material characteristics of uranium and its related products, which make such long-distance transport virtually impossible."

In a published response, Mr. Leahy stated, "Uranium mill tailings are uranium ore that has been crushed and pulverized into very fine sand and clay-like particles. Except for the radioactivity and toxic metals content, they are little different from the common sediments that are transported by rainfall and runoff downstream into Kerr Reservoir, through Lake Gaston, and through the Gaston pipeline every day."

"The average annual erosion rate for the upper Roanoke River Basin is 11,000 cubic feet of sediment per square mile of watershed. This is a volume of sediment about the size of two Mount Trashmores each year - all eroded and transported downstream by rainfall and runoff. Even the uranium mining industry has never suggested that rainfall and runoff would not effectively transport mill tailings downstream. Instead, they maintain that they can confine the tailings indefinitely, in sophisticated landfills that will withstand probable maximum precipitation (PMP) storm events."

The Appomattox Area News further points out that Mount Trashmore Park is 165 acres, 60 feet high, over 800 feet long. "The Coles Hill mine alone would generate 30 million cubic yards of mill tailings, roughly the volume of 20 Mount Trashmores. The problem, outside of the volume increase created by the mining and milling, is that the Coles Hill sediment will remain radioactive for more than 300,000 years", they write.

Mr. Leahy feels that any statewide study that is not site specific, such as the one proposed to use in a debate on lifting the statewide moratorium on uranium mining, is "insufficient to tackle site-specific issues such as Coles Hill and the responsibility to the public water supply in Virginia Beach".

On May 21 this year, the Virginia Commission on Coal and Energy approved a study on the proposed uranium mining project to be conducted by the U.S. National Research Council, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences. It is expected to cost $1.5 million and last about 18 months. This study is not site-specific and is rather statewide study generally taking on the issue of uranium mining throughout Virginia.

It also remains unclear how the work will be funded. For as Sen. Deeds' has pointed out, NAS is insisting that it be state funded and directed by the entire General Assembly. And that is to be expected considering as the SELC points out, "Virginia has no regulations for uranium mining, and the federal government has virtually no experience regulating the activity in a wet climate". Serious issues means serious study means serious intent.

http://rootswire.org/content/sen-creigh-deeds-talks-sense-uranium-mining

Push is on for mine cleanup funds to go to uranium sites

By Sue Major Holmes, Associated Press Writer

Updated: 08/06/200

GALLUP, N.M. » The name Poison Canyon offers a hint of what's faced by those trying to clean up abandoned uranium mines in the West.

The area north of the village of Milan contains some of the 259 abandoned uranium sites in New Mexico that need cleanup. State officials are pressuring the federal government to direct more money to those areas because of their unique hazard of radioactivity.

"In this case, a pile of rocks is more than just a pile of rocks," said New Mexico Mining and Minerals Division Director Bill Brancard.

There are hundreds of thousands of safety issues at abandoned hardrock mines in 13 western states, according to the Government Accountability Office. Thousands of sites, many dating to the 19th century, also are considered environmentally damaged.

The GAO lists about 800 abandoned hardrock mine sites in New Mexico and says at least one-fourth have environmental problems such as radioactivity or chemical contamination. Half of Wyoming's 956 sites are environmentally degraded, as are 9,900 of Arizona's 50,000 abandoned sites and 5,200 of California's 47,000-plus sites.

Exposure to uranium dust can cause kidney toxicity, which can lead to acute kidney failure; exposure to radiation from uranium increases the chances of developing cancer, according to the Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois.

Until two years ago, states could use abandoned mine cleanup grants on any site considered a serious threat to public health and safety, but the Bush administration interpreted changes Congress made in the law to mean most money should go to cleaning up coal mines.

New Mexico is more interested in abandoned mines for hardrock -- such as gold, lead or uranium -- and wants Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to reverse the solicitor general's opinion.

Kendra Barkoff, a spokeswoman for Salazar, called the matter "an important issue that has many implications for the West," and said Salazar was reviewing it.

New Mexico received $3.8 million this year from an expected $20 million over the next six years for abandoned mines and mills. Only $800,000 of this year's appropriation can go to hardrock sites.

"A lot of what we're doing now is trying to get a grasp on how big the problem is, how much disturbance is there, how high are the radiological readings, and ultimately try to figure out how much work needs to be done at these mines," Brancard said.

But, he said, "The scope of concerns related to hardrock and uranium mines is pretty vast," and $20 million isn't enough.

The Navajo Nation, which lists 520 abandoned uranium sites in Navajo country, is worried about an Obama administration proposal to eliminate a $142 million program for states and tribes certified as having completed coal mine remediation.

"We can't just do away with this program. Our (Navajo) Nation, we still have concerns with abandoned uranium mine sites," said Madeline Roanhorse, department manager for the Navajo Abandoned Mine Lands Program and Uranium Mill Tailings Removal Action Program.

According to her agency, without the federal program no one will be closing old mines on the reservation.

Stephen Etsitty, executive director of the Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency, said the tribe was certified several years ago to use the funds for such purposes as uranium cleanup.

Etsitty said it's in the tribe's best interest to work with the state to get continued funding because of the amount of work left.

The focus of the Abandoned Mine Lands Program is reclamation, and "in a lot of instances reclamation is not the same as remediation," he said. Reclamation removes physical hazards, but remediation looks at environmental problems, such as removing contaminated soil or studying groundwater concerns.

"That's the other shoe that still hasn't dropped yet," Etsitty said. "We know now a lot more about the contaminants in the soil and the ground. But we don't know how this is now potentially impacting our groundwater resources."

Robinson Kelly, vice president of the tribe's Church Rock Chapter in New Mexico, complained at a public hearing in June about a federal government proposal to cover but leave radioactive uranium tailings at one site.

"We don't want it just covered," he said during a demonstration last month marking the 30th anniversary of a tailings spill that sent millions of gallons of acidic water into the Rio Puerco.

"How long is that cover going to last? When it deteriorates, it's going to start emitting radiation," Kelly said.

Uranium has become a focus partly because of concern that new mines are being considered when old ones have never been cleaned up.

Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., introduced legislation this spring that would establish a fund to reclaim abandoned hardrock mines in the West, partly supported by a fee based on the value of production.

The measure was heard by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee last month. A committee vote is expected this fall.

The abandoned mines were opened before 1977, when the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act required owners to put up financial assurance that an area would be reclaimed once mining ended.

New Mexico was a leading uranium producer from the 1950s to the 1980s. Until the 1970s, uranium went to defense.

That history obligates the federal government to help with reclamation, said Brancard and Democratic Rep. John Heaton of Carlsbad, vice chairman of the New Mexico Legislature's radioactive and hazardous materials committee.

"There's a national responsibility," Heaton said.

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_13007900

Who will protect Virginia from uranium mining?

A cogent argument against mining Virginia uranium and an invitation to every Virginian to help stop it.

The Virginian-Pilot

August 2, 2009

Sunday Forum

by Shireen Parsons

URANIUM MINING has never been done safely anywhere in the world. It cannot be done safely. Logically, that should end this discussion, but it will not, because a few individuals, shielded from liability behind Virginia Uranium Inc. — a U.S. corporation wholly owned by Canadian corporations — would reap huge profits from mining and milling uranium on more than 2,000 acres in rural Pittsylvania County .

The Coles Hill mine would be merely the first mine in eastern Virginia, as our entire Piedmont is strewn with uranium deposits, and Virginia Uranium’s corporate mandate is to explore and develop them. If, as it surely will, the legislature lifts the moratorium, the Piedmont would become a uranium mining corridor, just as Eastern Kentucky, Southern West Virginia and Southwest Virginia are coal mining corridors.

As planned, the Coles Hill uranium mine would cover an area equal to 55 square city blocks and would be 800 feet deep. Through the blasting, extracting and crushing of uranium-bearing rock, all open-pit mines and their waste piles release into the environment heavy metals, including arsenic, lead and mercury, and radioactive materials.

The radioactive contaminants persist in the environment anywhere from hundreds of thousands of years to 4 billion years. They are taken up and retained by plants and animals, and they become part of the food chain forever. In animals and humans, the radioactive toxins cause lung, kidney and liver damage, cancers, leukemias and genetic mutations. In mammals, these contaminants are passed on to future generations in utero and via breast milk.

Once released into the environment, the heavy metals and radioactive contaminants travel great distances. Leached into ground and surface water in Pittsylvania County , they would contaminate the Roanoke River watershed to Virginia Beach , North Carolina ’s Albemarle Sound and the Atlantic Ocean . The wind-borne particulates would travel thousands of miles — every way the wind blows — in a few days.

Virginia Uranium’s public relations team tells us that, this time, uranium mining would be done safely, because the mining and milling of uranium in Virginia would be according to a regulatory program developed by the Virginia Department of Mining, Minerals and Energy (DMME).

But monitoring and oversight by our regulatory agencies are inadequate to nonexistent. Since the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was created in 1970, one-third of Americans live in areas with unhealthy ozone levels. Forty percent of our rivers, lakes and tributaries aren’t safe for swimming or fishing. Deforestation, excessive use of pesticides and fertilizers — and a 60 percent increase in the amount of refuse generated in the past 25 years — have further contaminated the soil and water.

Virginia's DMME presides over one of the most devastating mineral extraction processes in the world — mountaintop- removal coal mining, which, in the Appalachian coal states, has razed hundreds of thousands of acres of once-forested mountains, buried thousands of miles of streams under the rubble and destroyed hundreds of coalfield communities. This is a legal activity permitted by the EPA and DMME. Can we rationally expect regulatory agencies to protect us from the catastrophic effects of uranium mining in Virginia?

Those who would profit from uranium mining in Virginia say it would be an economic boon, with jobs and money pouring into the economically depressed Piedmont region. Virginia Uranium says miners would make $68,000 a year in a county where the 2000 median household income was $35,000, the unemployment rate was 9.4 percent and 12 percent of the population lived below the poverty line.

What the corporate spin fails to mention, however, is that hard-rock mining requires skilled labor, and that experienced miners would be imported from other states to earn those salaries and risk their health and lives. And that, wherever hard-rock mining occurs, surrounding communities become ghost towns and regional economies implode. The economic rewards are enjoyed only by the corporate owners and officers.

In Virginia ’s Piedmont , as in all regions cursed with hard-rock mining, the blasting, heavy truck traffic, environmental contamination and impacts to human health would cause real property values to evaporate. Local businesses would shut down, and the regional economy would collapse outward in every direction. The Banister River , a source of Virginia Beach ’s water, is less than a mile from the Coles Hill mine site, and there is absolutely no doubt that the Banister would be contaminated.

The relevant question, then, is who decides what Virginia communities look like, how safe they are, what quality of life they enjoy? Who decides whether the Virginia Piedmont and beyond will be sacrificed for a uranium mining corporation’s profits? Is it We, the People, or is it a handful of corporate executives, aided and abetted by the state legislature and regulatory agencies?

An ever-increasing number of citizens in Pittsylvania County and beyond, understanding the catastrophic effects uranium mining would wreak upon their communities and future generations, declare that they will not consent to this corporate assault, and that they will exercise their inherent local governing authority to enact binding local laws that will protect and preserve the health, safety and well-being of their communities and the ecosystem upon which all life depends.

Like Virginia Beach , the Town of Halifax is downstream from the planned uranium mine in Pittsylvania County . In February 2008, the Halifax Town Council voted unanimously to enact the Halifax Corporate Mining, Bodily Trespass and Community Self-Government Ordinance, drafted at the council’s request by the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, a Pennsylvania- based nonprofit law firm. The ordinance asserts the town’s inherent local governing authority bans

mining within the town and criminalizes chemical and radioactive bodily trespass.

Halifax Town Council member Jack Dunavant said of the decision, “This is an historic vote. We, the people, intend to protect our health and environment from corporate assault. It’s time to invoke the Constitution and acknowledge the power of the people to protect our own destiny and end this era of corporate greed and pollution.”

Citizens and elected officials of every community downstream and/or downwind from the planned Pittsylvania County mine site would do well to follow Halifax ’s lead and exert their inherent governing authority to protect themselves.

Shireen Parsons is the Virginia organizer for the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund in Christiansburg.

We regret that the Virginian Pilot does not publish all of its Opinion online. We have no link to the VP as source. The editorial was circulated by the author; we are privileged to publish it here.

Creigh Call Quickie: redistricting, uranium mining

From "Vivian Page" Blog... http://blog.vivianpaige.com/2009/08/05/creigh-call-quickie-redistricting-uranium-mining/

I got a chance to chat with Democratic gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds a bit ago. He’s in the midst of his Deeds Country tour and I got tired just listening to all the stops he’s making as well as those coming up

In our brief phone call, we talked about two issues: redistricting and uranium mining, the former because it is an issue that is near and dear to my heart and the latter because a friend of mine wanted to know where he stood on it.

Deeds has been an ardent supporter of bipartisan – preferably, nonpartisan – redistricting, having sheperded legislation through the Senate over the past several years, only to see it killed in the House of Delegates. Deeds assured me that he intends to amend and/or veto restricting bills that come out the legislature until he gets what he wants in a fair redistricting bill. He pointed to the precedent of former Democratic governor Doug Wilder.

Wilder, in 1991 with a Democratic majority in both the House and the Senate, vetoed a redistricting bill that did not include enough black districts. Deeds said that any redistricting bill should take into account the principles of compact, contiguous districts, among other things.

While he is not discounting the possibility that Democrats may gain the six seats necessary to obtain a majority in the House – he said that he is “impressed with the quality of the candidates” and rattled off the names of a number of them running in districts around the state – he told me he is more concerned about fairness.

I asked about uranium mining, a topic that I’m not too familiar with. Fortunately for me, Deeds is. He mentioned that he practiced law in Danville in the early to mid 1980s and became quite knowledgeable about the issue during that time. (For some background, take a look here.) Deeds said that energy independence is a part of our national security so he believes in a comprehensive approach, and nothing should be taken off the table. He said, though, that he is not convinced that we have the technology to make such mining safe.

Deeds said, when the issue came up in committee, he asked two questions, one he knew the answer to and the other he didn’t. The questions were:

1. What about the terrain in Pittslyvania County has changed?
2. What about the science has changed?

The answer to question #1, which Deeds already knew, was nothing. The terrain is such that the mining may very well contaminate the groundwater and not just in Pittsylvania County. The problem could very well extend beyond, down to Hampton Roads.

As for #2, he would like to see a study done by the National Academy of Sciences. Such a study has been authorized but so far, the NAS has balked at doing it. They want the state to pay for it – as of now, the private sector would pay for it – and they want the request to come from the Commonwealth, as opposed to from a General Assembly committee.

The other issue is that of radioactive waste. Deeds was quite concerned about this, saying that radioactivity lasts forever, and even if the technology exists to clean it up – which he was very skeptical of this being the case – the stigma of having radioactive waste in an area may be too much to overcome.

Unless the technology exists to make uranium mining safe, I think I understood Deeds’ position to be that he would not support it.

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It was obvious to me that these two issues were ones which Deeds was quite passionate about. They are issues that he’s put a lot of thought into in coming to his own conclusions about.

Thanks to Senator Deeds for the call. I hope we will be able to do this regularly over the course of the election cycle. Deeds will be in Hampton Roads next week. Maybe I’ll get a chance to do the call in person