Uranium mining
Since the mid-eighties the Virginia General Assembly has had in effect a ban on uranium mining in Virginia. Recently, a Canadian company has bought the rights to mine property in Pittsylvania County for uranium. In order for that to happen the state-wide ban must be lifted by the General Assembly. Pro-mining interests have been lobbying GA members to do so.
The Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club and the Roanoke Group oppose lifting the ban. Uranium mining and milling present unique risks. This is especially true in Virginia's relatively wet climate. All current uranium mining in the U.S. is done in the arid parts of the West. Part of the proposed mining site in Pittsylvania County is in a flood plain and has flooded in the past few years. Mining there would risk contamination of the lower Roanoke River, Lake Gaston, and the water supply for Virginia Beach with radioactive waste from mine tailings.
Uranium mining is not only a risk for Pittsylvania County. There are also many potential mining sites up and down the Blue Ridge and Piedmont areas of Virginia. A bill may be introduced in the 2012 session of the General Assembly to lift the ban. Please contact your State Senator and Delegate and ask them to Keep The Ban.
Dec. 2, 2015: A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit Wednesday that sought to overturn Virginia’s ban on uranium mining.
The lawsuit was filed by Virginia Uranium, the company that proposes to mine a large deposit in Pittsylvania County. Judge Jackson Kiser granted the state’s motion to throw out the lawsuit Wednesday morning. He ruled that the Atomic Energy Act does not bar the state from regulating or banning uranium mining
Virginia Uranium has filed (in the last week of November, 2015) a second lawsuit in state court, arguing that the ban violates the Virginia Constitution.
Video report (on YouTube) of August 27, 2013, of the City of Virginia Beach Dept. of Public Utilities regarding the proposal to mine Uranium at the Coles Hill site: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INYpSPzqaXg>.
The following link is to a summary of the National Academy of Science report, Uranium Mining in Virginia:
Summary of NAS Uranium Mining Report
The full report of the National Academy of Science is available
as a free PDF file download (nearly 300 pages) at