Pittsylvania Co. declares local state of emergency

It's beyond me how anyone could consider this an ideal place for a uranium mine/mill. Where do the Coles Hill mining folks hang out during weather like this that they can continue to state that a mine and mill would not pose a threat? Haven't they even looked out the window over the last couple of days??

By John Crane
Danville Register & Bee
Published: November 12, 2009

Persistent rains prompted Pittsylvania County officials to declare a state of emergency in the county Thursday.

“The county of Pittsylvania is facing serious hazards with the amount of downed trees, power lines and potential of flooding due to (rains),” said County Emergency Services Coordinator Jim Davis and County Administrator Dan Sleeper — who’s also deputy director of emergency management — in a statement Thursday. “Due to these hazards, a condition of extreme peril of life and property now exists throughout (the) county.”

Davis later said the declaration was issued as a precautionary measure and he knew of no weather-related emergency situations.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen with the river rising like it is,” Davis said. “… At this point, we’ve not had any type life-threatening emergencies,” he said Thursday.

If the county has to spend money not appropriated for disasters as a result of conditions, Pittsylvania could be reimbursed by the state, he added.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine declared a state of emergency for the commonwealth Wednesday due to high waters and flooding.

There were 26 reported road closures in Pittsylvania County on Thursday evening due to flooding and high waters, said Randy Hamilton, residency administrator for the Virginia Department of Transportation in Chatham.

Paula Jones, VDOT spokeswoman, said the roads that had high waters were ones that typically flood during extended rainfalls. Jones advised drivers to proceed with caution, especially since water can cause hydroplaning and wet leaves can add to already slick conditions.

Also, just a few inches of moving water on a road or street can pose danger to vehicles, Jones said. The rushing water can also hide pot holes and shifted culverts. Wind gusts and wet, loosened soil can cause trees to fall, presenting more hazards for drivers.

In other areas, water levels exceeded full pond at Smith Mountain Lake, and Appalachian Power increased its discharge from Leesville Dam into the Staunton River to create more storage volume in the lower reservoir, according to a news release from Appalachian Power.

In addition, the town of Mayodan, N.C., had a discharge of about 82,000 gallons of untreated water and rain water at two areas off Main Street and 9th Avenue. About eight inches of rainfall in two days caused the overflow which entered the Mayo River, a tributary of the Dan River, according to a press release from the town.

http://www2.wsls.com/sls/news/local/southside/article/pittsylvania_co._declares_local_state_of_emergency/62033/

Wind Advisory for Pittsylvania, VA

Oh, yeah...this is the perfect place for a uranium mine and mill. How many times a year is PittCo under some sort of bad weather alert...wind advisories, flash flood warnings, etc? Way too often for anyone to honestly claim that a huge radioactive sand-pile would be safe here.

Wind Advisory for Pittsylvania, VA until 6 am EST, Fri., Nov. 13, 2009

Issued by The National Weather Service
Roanoke/Blacksburg, VA
7:44 pm EST, Thu., Nov. 12, 2009

A WIND ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM EST FRIDAY.

EXPECT NORTH TO NORTHEAST WIND AT 15 TO 30 MPH... WITH GUSTS UP TO 45 MPH POSSIBLE. BECAUSE OF THE WET SOIL CONDITIONS... THESE WINDS WILL LIKELY BE STRONG ENOUGH TO DOWN MORE TREES... AND POSSIBLY CAUSE POWER OUTAGES.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

THIS WIND ADVISORY MEANS THAT WINDS WILL BE HIGH ENOUGH COMBINED WITH WET SOILS TO DOWN SOME TREES. USE CAUTION IF TRAVELING AS THESE GUSTS COULD DOWN LIMBS AND TREES ALONG HIGHWAYS.

More Information

... STRONG AND GUSTY NORTHEAST WINDS WILL CONTINUE TONIGHT...

.DEEP LOW PRESSURE ALONG THE NORTH CAROLINA OUTER BANKS WILL REMAIN IN THE REGION OVERNIGHT. AS A RESULT... WINDS WILL GUST TO 40 TO 45 MPH AT TIMES THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING.

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/

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

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

Kulongoski signals intent to veto rollback of wind energy tax breaks

by Harry Esteve, The Oregonian

Friday July 31, 2009

Oregon lawmakers hoped to save millions of taxpayer dollars by trimming state subsidies for wind energy farms, but Gov. Ted Kulongoski said Friday he will veto that effort.

In doing so, the governor signaled a low tolerance for any retreat on his vision for the state as a national center for alternative energy -- recession or no.

"A rollback in these tax credits would be detrimental to Oregon's continued success in creating green jobs and new green technology in the state," the governor's office wrote in a news release announcing his veto intent.

Kulongoski also said he will veto a bill that would have allowed older biomass energy plants at lumber mills to contribute to the state's goal of generating 25 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2025.

Sen. Ginny Burdick, D-Portland, who led the effort to rein in tax credits for wind farms, said she shares the governor's commitment to green energy but the tax breaks go too far and cost too much.

"At a time when families are sitting around the kitchen table telling their children they can't go to college because of tuition increases, is it really fair to take what amounts to a corporate subsidy and double it?" Burdick said.

The subsidies to wind farms are part of a program called the Business Energy Tax Credit. Anyone who builds a project that creates renewable energy qualifies for a tax credit worth half of the construction cost to a maximum of $20 million for some projects.

Over the past two years, the tax givebacks cost the state about $60 million. Over the next two years, the cost to the state is expected to rise to at least $144 million, according to the most recent estimates.

An investigation by The Oregonian this year showed that millions of dollars in tax credits were being handed to some risky startup companies, to projects with questionable environmental benefits and to projects that would have been built even without the state subsidy. Critics singled out wind energy farms as undeserving of such large tax breaks.

They don't employ very many people and they send most of their power to California, said Peggy Woolsey, treasurer of Tax Fairness Oregon, which studies the impact of state tax breaks. "The wind farms are oversubsidized," while schools, state police, prisons and programs that help the needy get short shrift, Woolsey said.

Supporters credit the subsidies for bringing hundreds of wind turbines to the eastern Oregon landscape and for enticing several big solar energy companies to Oregon.

Burdick successfully pushed for House Bill 2472, which cut the maximum tax credit for large wind farms from $11 million to $3.5 million. The reductions would save the state an estimated $10 million a year.

"If the governor decides to veto it, it will blow a $20 million hole in the budget," which covers two years, Burdick said. That could mean further cuts to education, which makes up more than half of state spending, she said.

Kulongoski spokeswoman Anna Richter Taylor said the governor would have supported a smaller reduction. Burdick's bill went too far and would take away Oregon's competitive edge for recruiting more wind turbines to the state, Taylor said.

She said the veto won't throw the budget out of whack or take more money out of schools and other state programs because the governor plans to replace the estimated $20 million cost with money from the state's ending balance.

"It's a minimal amount when you look at the return on investment," Taylor said.

The Legislature also passed a bill that requires the state to study the "financial reality" of wind energy to determine whether subsidies are needed. Kulongoski supports that effort, Taylor said. "We should get the facts first."

Finish reading this story here: http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2009/07/kulongoski_signals_intent_to_v.html

Wind-generated jobs: Minnesota could see more than 3,000 renewable energy positions

By: Patrick Springer, INFORUM

Minnesota could generate at least 3,000 jobs by catering to industries involved in making and installing wind towers likely to result from the state’s ambitious renewable energy standard, advocates said Wednesday.

Minnesota 2020, an organization that promotes wind, said the state’s renewable energy standard – which obligates utilities to derive at least 25 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2025 – can be an economic engine.

The group estimates 3,000 to 5,000 jobs could be created from attracting companies that make components for wind turbines or that erect them on the massive wind farms that are dotting the prairies.

Wind-related industries could also pump $8 billion into Minnesota’s economy over the next 20 years, according to the analysis by Minnesota 2020, a “think tank” based in St. Paul.

“I think my estimate is conservative,” said Nathan Paine, a research fellow with the organization, who used economic models developed by University of Minnesota economists.

Minnesota has a good base to build upon when it comes to developing industries involved in wind power, said Joe Sheeran, a Minnesota 2020 spokesman.

The state ranks fourth in terms of its installed wind-energy capacity, about 1,800 megawatts, or enough to power 450,000 homes, according to Minnesota 2020’s figures.

Also, the state has a highly skilled work force, including in welding and manufacturing, that could be put to work building components for wind turbines, Sheeran said.

Minnesota already produces parts for wind towers, including turbines, housings for the gearboxes and bolts for the towers.

The severe recession has taken a toll on jobs in Minnesota, which has shed 35,000 or more positions in the past year, Sheeran said.

Although state and federal subsidies, including the production tax credit, make wind power economically viable, renewable energy sources will become more affordable if fossil fuels are subject to a carbon tax, he said.

Moorhead Mayor Mark Voxland said the city is working toward the goal of installing a third municipal wind turbine. The two towers, becalmed in the gentle breeze Wednesday morning, were visible in the background as the wind proponents spoke.

“We’ll use as much as we can,” the mayor said, noting that every kilowatt generated by wind turbines means the city’s customers don’t have to buy power elsewhere. More than half of Moorhead’s electricity comes from hydropower, but that does not count as a renewable source, he said.

As utilities scramble to meet the 25 percent renewable energy standard by 2025, more wind farms will be needed to meet the demand.

“I’d like to see a lot of these projects built in Minnesota,” Paine said.

http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/247562/

NWS confirms Campbell tornado

Yep, this is exactly where we need a uranium mine, mill, and tailings heap...right in the center of a little tornado alley. Imagine all the places that radioactive sand and rock could blow!

By Dave Thompson

Published: July 18, 2009

The National Weather Service confirmed that, in addition to two tornadoes that touched down in Pittsylvania County mid-day Friday, a tornado also struck the Brookneal area of Campbell County.

The twister, according to meteorologists, was an EF-0 scale, with winds between 85 and 90 mph.

Meteorologist William Perry said the tornado uprooted some trees a few miles northwest of Brookneal, and that a microburst did damage to a few structures in that area.

Appalachian Power Company’s Web site reported no outages Saturday, and representatives did not immediately return phone messages left Saturday evening.

Daisy Pridgen, with Dominion Virginia Power, said at the storm’s height, about 3,300 people in southern Campbell County were without power.

As of 8:45 p.m. Saturday, Pridgen said 500 customers were still without power but estimated they would all have their power restored by this morning.

Perry said for this time of year, this storm system was unusual and was aided by the cooler temperatures in the area.

The last time tornadoes touched down in the area, Perry said, was in May of 2008, when twisters were confirmed in Henry, Pittsylvania and Appomattox counties.

http://www2.newsadvance.com/lna/news/local/article/nws_confirms_campbell_tornado/17815/

Drowning island pins hopes on clean energy

(CNN) -- Tuvalu, the fourth smallest nation on the planet, has announced it aims to be totally powered by renewable energy sources by 2020.

Located between Hawaii and Australia, the tiny Pacific nation is one of the world's climate change hotspots and many believe it is already seeing the negative affects of rising sea levels.

The highest elevation on the island is just 4.5 meters (14.8 feet), and king tides have become increasingly damaging over the past 10 years, threatening the homes and livelihoods of its 12,000 inhabitants.

The government of Tuvalu is working with the e8, a consortium of 10 energy firms from the G8 nations that was set up after the 1992 Rio Earth Summit as a non-profit organization. The Tuvalu government estimates that it will take around $20 million in investment to reach the goal of 100 percent clean energy by 2020.

The first stage of the project has seen the roof of the country's largest football stadium covered in solar panels, which supplies 5 percent of the electricity needed by the nation's capital, Funafuti.

According to e8 figures, after 14 months in operation the solar stadium has reduced consumption of generator fuel shipped from New Zealand by 17,000 tons and saved 50 tons of CO2 from being released in the atmosphere. A further benefit is the reduced risk of diesel spills around the atoll's reefs.

"There may be other larger solar power installations in the world, but none could be more meaningful to customers than this one," said Takao Shiraishi, general manager of the Kansai Electric Power Company that helped implement the scheme.

"The plight of Tuvalu versus the rising tide vividly represents the worst early consequence of climate change. For Tuvalu, after 3,000 years of history, the success of UN climate talks in Copenhagen this December may well be a matter of national survival," he said in a press statem

The next scheme is building a solar power system for a secondary school on Vaitupu, one of the outer islands.

"We thank those who are helping Tuvalu reduce its carbon footprint as it will strengthen our voice in upcoming international negotiations. And we look forward to the day when our nation offers an example to all -- powered entirely by natural resources such as the sun and the wind," said Kausea Natano, Tuvalu's minister for public utilities and industries.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/07/21/tuvalu.cleanenergy/

Economic Benefits, Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Emissions Reductions, and Water Conservation Benefits from 1,000 Megawatts (MW) of New Wind Power in Virginia

The graphics and charts for this article didn't copy but they're certainly worth a look. Click on the link below for the rest of this release and for the visuals. If VA would harness its wind energy, there would be no need for U mining here or in lots of places with similar winds. Job creation would be substantially higher than with U mining and milling too. There are no compelling reasons not to harness VA's renewable energy source, wind.

Wind power is one of the fastest growing forms of new power generation in the United States. Industry growth in 2007 was an astounding 45%. New wind power installations constituted 35% of all new electric power installations. This growth is the result of many drivers, including increased economic competitiveness and favorable state policies such as Renewable Portfolio Standards. However, new wind power installations provide more than cost-competitive electricity. Wind power brings economic development to rural regions, reduces water consumption in the electric power sector, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions by displacing fossil fuels.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Wind Powering America Program is committed to educating state-level policy makers and other stakeholders about the economic, CO2 emissions, and water conservation impacts of wind power. This analysis highlights the expected impacts of 1000 MW of wind power in Virginia. Although construction and operation of 1000 MW of wind power is a significant effort, six states have already reached the 1000-MW mark. We forecast the cumulative economic benefits from 1000 MW of development in Virginia to be $1.2 billion, annual CO2 reductions are estimated at 3.0 million tons, and annual water savings are 1,600 million gallons.

Economic Benefits
Building and operating 1000 MW of wind power requires a significant investment. But this investment will generate substantial direct, indirect, and induced economic benefits for Virginia. Direct benefits include jobs, land-lease payments, and increased tax revenues. Indirect benefits include benefits to businesses that support the wind farm. Induced benefits result from additional spending on goods and services in the area surrounding the development.

Direct impacts result from investment in the planning, development, and operation of new wind facilities. Beneficiaries include landowners, construction workers, O&M staff, turbine manufacturers, and project managers. Indirect impacts reflect payments made to businesses that support the wind facility and include banks financing the project, component suppliers, and manufacturers of equipment used to install and maintain the facility. Induced benefits result from increased spending by direct and indirect beneficiaries. Examples include increased business to restaurants, retail establishments, and child care providers.

Drivers of economic benefits include the use of local construction companies, the presence of in-state component suppliers, local wage structures, local property tax structures, and operation and maintenance (O&M) expenditures.

The projected benefits for Virginia could be greatly increased by the development of a local wind supply, installation, and maintenance industry within the state.

See the rest of this article, including statistics and graphics here:
http://vwec.cisat.jmu.edu/Fact%20Sheets%20&%20Presentations/Fact%20Sheets/NREL%20factsheet%20(latest).pdf