Possible uranium mining--trouble for Charlottesville? (Virginia Beach, Norfolk: sales, home, unemployment rate)

[artistatheart]

Seriously.

We love VA, but have no real ties here. If we settle permanently in the state, it'll probably be in Charlottesville, because it's a beautiful area with lots of surrounding land. But, if we could choose anywhere along the east coast (and we do want to stay on the east coast), why would we choose to settle our (young) family in southwestern VA while the government works out the kinks of a potentially hazardous experiment? No thanks--we'll go elsewhere.

Uranium mining in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Uranium mining and processing carries with it a range of potential health risks to the people who work in or live near uranium mining and processing facilities. Some of these health risks apply to any type of hard rock mining or other large-scale industrial activity, but others are linked to exposure to radioactive materials. In addition, uranium mining has the potential to impact water, soil, and air quality, with the degree of impact depending on site-specific conditions, how early a contaminant release is detected by monitoring systems, and the effectiveness of mitigation steps.[57]

Some of the worker and public health risks could be mitigated or better controlled through modern internationally accepted best practices, the report says. In addition, if uranium mining, processing, and reclamation were designed, constructed, operated, and monitored according to best practices, near- to moderate-term environmental effects should be substantially reduced, the report found. [58]

However, the report noted that Virginia’s high water table and heavy rainfall differed from other parts of the United States — typically dry, Western states — where uranium mining has taken place. Consequently, federal agencies have little experience developing and applying laws and regulations in locations with abundant rainfall and groundwater, such as Virginia. Because of Virginia’s moratorium on uranium mining, it has not been necessary for the Commonwealth’s agencies to develop a regulatory program that is applicable to uranium mining, processing, and reclamation."

[JoeHenry]

I understand you not wanting to be in Virginia becuz of the uranium mining.We have a typical narrow minded conservative government that sees what this kind of mining mite do for the economy.The economy is more important to the ritewing ,and maybe some left, then the hazards of fooling with uranium.Theres nothing safe about it or nuclear power.If the uranium is mined it will be trucked on the highways.If uranium, nuclear power and coal is the best we can do Id soon go back to using candles and manualy hauling buckets of water which Im prity close to doing now.I understand the need for electricity in certain areas,hospital,etc.But theres beter ways and the majority is to blind,deaf, lazy and fat to want to work harder for safe and clean energy. Good luck.

[sregorat3]

Originally Posted by JoeHenry

I understand you not wanting to be in Virginia becuz of the uranium mining.We have a typical narrow minded conservative government that sees what this kind of mining mite do for the economy.The economy is more important to the ritewing ,and maybe some left, then the hazards of fooling with uranium.Theres nothing safe about it or nuclear power.If the uranium is mined it will be trucked on the highways.If uranium, nuclear power and coal is the best we can do Id soon go back to using candles and manualy hauling buckets of water which Im prity close to doing now.I understand the need for electricity in certain areas,hospital,etc.But theres beter ways and the majority is to blind,deaf, lazy and fat to want to work harder for safe and clean energy. Good luck.

Really??? Pretty scathing commentary on a state that seems to be close to the charts in most things when compared to others. I'm sure that there are people who are so scared of hydro-fracking that they won't move to states like Pennsylvania, but most educate themselves and simply avoid the areas that concern them. I doubt if people are scared to move to Greensboro, Raleigh, or Durham out of concerns for uranium mining in Danville, even though they are much closer to the action than the good folks in Charlottesville are.

[JoeHenry]

Originally Posted by sregorat3

Really??? Pretty scathing commentary on a state that seems to be close to the charts in most things when compared to others. That being said, I'm sure that there are people who are so scared of hydro-fracking that they won't move to states like Pennsylvania, but most educate themselves and simply avoid the areas that concern them. I doubt if people are scared to move to Greensboro, Raleigh, or Durham out of concerns for uranium mining in Danville, even though they are much closer to the action than the good folks in Charlottesville are.

The state should keep the ban on uranium mining.And I dont doubt theres people scared to move close to Danville becuz of the possible uranium mining .It doesnt matter how close or far we are from the mining.It will be trucked across the state.Which means it will effect more then just the area its being mined.

[sregorat3]

Originally Posted by JoeHenry

The state should keep the ban on uranium mining.And I dont doubt theres people scared to move close to Danville becuz of the possible uranium mining .It doesnt matter how close or far we are from the mining.It will be trucked across the state.Which means it will effect more then just the area its being mined.

I'd bet you know very little about the mining issue in Danville. You presume it will be trucked across the state, but there is absolutely nothing that supports that claim. Why even bother posting things like that if they are simply assumptions? Do you even know how radioactive goods are transported, what they are carried in, and how those containers are tested?

[artistatheart]

Originally Posted by sregorat3

I doubt if people are scared to move to Greensboro, Raleigh, or Durham out of concerns for uranium mining in Danville, even though they are much closer to the action than the good folks in Charlottesville are.

We actually used to live in Chapel Hill (and loved it)--that was another city on our short list that we would abandon if the ban is lifted. It's basically out of concern for buying a substantial piece of land (which is what we want to do), settling there and then (possibly) finding it worthless (to us or others) due to some unforseen circumstance related to this mining. There are just too many unknowns for us with this. And it's hard to educate yourself when even the experts can't predict what will happen.

To answer your earlier point: Yes, there are reactors peppered all over the east coast already (including the one near C-ville)--we're not really in love with the idea of living near one of them, either, but at least they're up and running and we can assess the risks to some extent. No one knows yet what the risks of mining uranium in Virginia would be. We're willing to tolerate unknowns to a certain degree (I mean, that's just life), but, in our opinion, uranium mining in Virginia is just too big a variable for us to want to deal with.

There's always Vermont...

[sregorat3]

Originally Posted by artistatheart

There's always Vermont...

Don't forget the risks of falling space debris, airplanes, etc. If we counted all the risks that one might encounter, we'd have to live in titanium bubbles. You have to do what you are comfortable doing, but I have yet to see a furor of anti-nuke mining come out of the educational elites in Cville or the RTP area, and if there were real dangers, you would be hearing about them (though wise people ignore the SELC!).

[ShadowBat]

Originally Posted by artistatheart

Seriously.

We love VA, but have no real ties here. If we settle permanently in the state, it'll probably be in Charlottesville, because it's a beautiful area with lots of surrounding land. But, if we could choose anywhere along the east coast (and we do want to stay on the east coast), why would we choose to settle our (young) family in southwestern VA while the government works out the kinks of a potentially hazardous experiment? No thanks--we'll go elsewhere.

Charlottesville is not in southwest VA. It's just as close to DC as it is to where the uranium mining is proposed. And one thing to remember is that while uranium can have negative influences on the body, we're not talking about nuclear bombs here. The chances of some kind of accident on a mass scale are very little. It takes nuclear fission to cause an explosion. My only concern would be for the miners and the water supplies in the area. Which have absolutely no connection to the Cville area.(The water supply) The rivers and creeks in that region flow towards NC, not up towards Cville.

I'm not for or against uranium mining. But as someone who lives in Charlottesville, it hasn't made me even think twice about it except for this thread. If you choose not to move here because of possible mining in a completely different part of the state, then I fear you will be too paranoid to live anywhere, much less drive, as that poses a much greater risk to your health than uranium mining 120 miles away.

[JoeHenry]

Originally Posted by sregorat3

I'd bet you know very little about the mining issue in Danville. You presume it will be trucked across the state, but there is absolutely nothing that supports that claim. Why even bother posting things like that if they are simply assumptions? Do you even know how radioactive goods are transported, what they are carried in, and how those containers are tested?

Mined uranium is packed in cases and put on a truck which travels on highways.

[artistatheart]

It's not necessarily just the Danville site that concerns us--it's the possibility that, if the ban is lifted, it would open up exploration and potential mining in other places in the state--namely, Charlottesville.


Oyster Ranching Etc.: Mine Uranium in Virginia?

Charlottesville Uranium

Pittsylvania is not alone in potential uranium mining sites. Uranium is a fairly common mineral, including here in Albemarle County. What separates economically viable sites from others is the concentration of uranium and the size of the prospect. Robert Bodnar, a distinguished professor of geochemistry and geology at Virginia Tech, who supports an end to the 25-year-old moratorium on Virginia uranium mining, has commented, “I think there’s a very high probability that there are other deposits of the same size, same grade, as Coles Hill located in the eastern United States.” In an op-ed he wrote, “ Virginia has a varied geology that includes rock types often associated with economic occurrences of uranium … Lifting the moratorium on uranium mining will encourage mining companies to explore for uranium in Virginia, and this could lead to Virginia becoming the ‘Saudi Arabia of nuclear fuel.’”


The Virginia Division of Mineral Resources Publication 38 identifies several anomalously high radiation sites around Charlottesville. “Two of the most significant occurrences are located 6 miles northwest of Charlottesville...At occurrence 2 (just off Rt. 676 past Rt. 839 beyond the Whippoorwill Hollow Subdivision) extremely high levels of radioactivity were found in the soil and saprolite…. At occurrence 5 recent excavations for a housing development (within the current Whippoorwill Hollow Subdivision) exposed a broad area of… gneiss and associated schist…….Maximum levels of uranium in the mineralized schist at the surface range from 69 ppm to 140 ppm U3O8….Logs of water wells and analysis of radon gas and uranium in groundwater at occurrence 5 indicate zones of mineralization at depths of up to 131 feet.”

The same study identified 7 sites of anomalously high ground radiation levels, including the recently sold abandoned quarry adjacent to the Charlottesville reservoir.