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Deborah Lovelace is concerned that a just-started study of the benefits and dangers of uranium mining in Pittsylvania County has no representation from the area.
Hurt and Gretna town councils shared her opinion and recently passed resolutions that, among other things, call for representation. Lovelace, who lives in Gretna and owns property in Altavista, took her concerns to Altavista Town Council last week.
Council referred the issue to the Legislative Committee. That panel, council members Rayetta Webb, Mike Mattox and Bill Ferguson, will meet Feb. 24. Lovelace will attend.
"I am fine with that," Lovelace said about council's decision. "I really expected that. They seem to be very careful in their decisions, which is good."
"My concern is that we have no representation on the subcommittee or as a citizen at-large," she told council at the Feb. 10 meeting. "We have no guarantee that any other public input will be allowed or any other public meetings will be held."
The Virginia Coal and Energy Commission's Uranium Mining Subcommittee will oversee the study, which will be conducted by Dr. Michael Karmis, a professor in the Department of Mining and Minerals Engineering at Virginia Tech. He is expected to work with the National Academy of Sciences or a similar independent group.
The subcommittee has 10 members, with the closest being Del. Watkins Abbitt of Appomattox. All members except one are state legislators.
What bothers Lovelace is that people from other areas of the state will help determine what happens here. She'd like local residents to look over the process and be liaisons for the area.
The study may take up to two years.
"I think if an unbiased study is done, they will find out it's not safe. It's the biased study I'm worried about," Lovelace said.
Opponents of uranium mining are concerned about health effects and reduced property values. Lovelace said she is fighting for her children and grandchildren.
Besides seeking local representation, her resolution also says the town would be opposed to lifting the state moratorium on uranium mining without substantial assurance against negative impacts. That moratorium has been in effect since 1982.
Pittsylvania County is home to what is believed to be the largest uranium deposit in the United States. The site is about six miles northeast of Chatham, some five miles from Gretna and 15 miles from Hurt and Altavista.
Last week, Virginia Uranium Inc., the company looking to mine and mill the material, reported that an independent panel of experts had found that the skilled workers needed for development of uranium in the county are available.
"Mining personnel can reasonably be recruited from the local area as the skill sets needed for miners exist already among people and companies who are comfortable with farming and heavy equipment," the panel found.
"This is important news for our company as well as this region," said Norm W. Reynolds, chairman and chief executive officer of Virginia Uranium. "We are all painfully aware of the unemployment figures in the city of Danville, Pittsylvania, Halifax and Henry counties where we could expect to draw the bulk of our 400-500 workers, if the Commonwealth of Virginia decides to permit the development of the Coles Hill resource."
"I think the question should be how many jobs will we lose if the mining and milling operation is allowed in Pittsylvania County," Lovelace said. She wonders how many businesses would survive or stay in the area because of perceived safety issues.
STORY BY MARK THOMAS/ALTAVISTA JOURNAL STAFF WRITER
http://www.wpcva.com/articles/2009/02/19/altavista/news/news96.txt
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