Are you interested in the uranium mine project proposed for Pittsylvania County? I am, because I lived just miles from Uravan, Colorado for almost a decade. Therefore, I know what an abandoned uranium/vanadium-mining project looks like before Superfund clean-up begins. And, I know a fair amount of information about drilling and radiation, because I am related to a hydrogeologist in Colorado and I have learned much about this subject over the decades.

But, I do not live in Pittsylvania County, so you may wonder why I’m a proponent for upholding Virginia’s moratorium on uranium mining.

Uranium mining has left Superfund federal clean-up sites everywhere it has been conducted west of the Mississippi River and in facilities located east of the Mississippi. In fact, many funds from recent stimulus packages are going to clean up uranium issues in areas where cleanup has been ignored for decades, such as in Moab, Utah and Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Stimulus and Superfund cleanups are tax dollars at work, so any profit seen from uranium mining is mitigated by all Americans who pay taxes. That is just one issue.

The reason behind my interest in the Coles Hill Project in Pittsylvania County is that this project affects more people than those who live in that area. Although local anti-mining proponents are active against this project in Pittsylvania County, this issue is far-reaching. It is a state-wide, inter-state, regional and national issue for the following reasons:

Yes, you'll need to go to the article to read the reasons, but only because it would make this post outrageously long. This is my first stand against the Coles Hill project, with many more articles to come. There is so much to address, and so little time...but my primary concern is this:

"Finally, although some mining companies and government entities consider this a radical stance, I believe that drilling for exploration is a violation of the moratorium that Virginia has on uranium mining. Drilling is part of the mining process, and drilling alone disturbs all levels of substrata and opens problems where none existed before. An open core hole can never, ever be sealed fully, as the integrity of that area has been violated by drilling. In other words, when drilling fractures a rock layer, that rock layer has been changed forever, and it can never fully be “patched up.” Even if a process to create a seal is discovered and used in the future, that hole has forever changed water and air flow patterns underground and has released all sorts of underground chemicals and minerals."

Please chime in and offer your opinions. I'm willing to answer anything but the most obtuse reason for mining. Money, being one, although I will speak on that issue, too.