This Note addresses the potential implications for agricultural production if uranium mining becomes a reality for Virginia by looking at scientific and sociological data at other mine sites, as well as public perception of food safety threats.  There are gaps to be filled in both regulation and enforcement mechanisms as they apply to uranium mining’s effects on agricultural crops and livestock.  This Note provides suggestions for means of regulating the output of agricultural products from the potentially affected regions of Virginia under the current statutory framework for developing state and site-specific protocols to ensure safety and preserve the public confidence in the food supply.  By taking the proactive regulatory approach proposed by this Note, agriculture can continue to be a successful economic base of the Southern Virginia both during the uranium mining process and after it has come to an end.

Here is a rational voice in the debate over the lifting of Virginia's uranium mining moratorium, brought to the public by the William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review and written by Maggy J. Lewis. I was pleased to see that Lewis linked to Southside Virginia Against Uranium Mining, and it was interesting to see the post that Lewis linked to within that blog (http://sccagainsturanium.blogspot.com/2009/04/garden-club-to-showcase-coles-h....

Lewis focuses on how an agricultural community can sustain itself if the moratorium is lifted and mining is pursued. So, the link to the garden club cruising through the possible location of an open-pit uranium mine was very appropriate. If you see that photo on the Southside blog and compare it to the photo of the tailings ponds that belonged to a now defunct open-pit uranium mine project, you can see how the Coles Hill area will be transformed (or deformed). The tailings pond photo is here: http://www.appomattoxnews.com/2009/reasons-why-the-uranium-mine-moratorium-mu...

I wish (and, if wishes were horses, beggars would ride, as my grandmother was fond of saying...) that Virginians who will be affected by a possible open-pit uranium mine would visit some mines in the west before they make up their minds about allowing Virginia Uranium and Santoy to tear up northern Pittsylvania County. They then would realize that nothing - nothing - can be used within the area of that mine for centuries.

The federal government is using Superfunds and other monies to conduct reparation in the Uravan area and at Rocky Flats outside Denver. They have turned these areas into parks, and they hope to entice people to camp on these grounds. No one can build there - the radiation is too intense. Nothing can be grown there that will be consumed. The feds even plan museums for those two sites so future generations will not forget what these parks represent.

A park. That's what Coles Hill will become after about fifty years of dangerous uranium mining to extract that metal from that one location. A perpetual park, much like a cemetery. No tax base, no ability to build on that location in the future, no way to use land that might be needed for other purposes. A deadly, dangerous park.

If you don't believe me, order February 16th's issue of High Country News, where Jonathan Thompson writes about the 'importance of memory.' In that article, he states that former workers at Rocky Flats won't enter the grounds without protective masks and clothing...and yet, the federal government expects Americans to believe it's safe to hike the trails on this reclaimed land? (see http://www.hcn.org/issues/41.3/the-importance-of-memory for an introduction).

In fact, it wouldn't hurt to peruse High Country News online and search for articles about uranium mining. You can get a taste of what's in store for Virginia once the moratorium on uranium mining has been lifted. Rather, you can get a SMALL taste of what's in store for Virginia, as uranium mining has never been conducted east of the Mississippi - and for good reason. No one knows how the weather, humidity or other factors might affect uranium mining in the east.

Virginia, therefore, will become an experiment. And, knowing what I know about living near uranium mining, it won't be a happy experience, even if the mine is successful. The payback is down the road, once the ore has been mined and milled and no one is left to clean up the mess (historically accurate) except the taxpayers.