Uranium miningUranium mining debate divides Virginia

In Virginia a fight has begun over whether to drill for uranium. Some feel the drilling, which would create about 1,000 jobs and bounty of tax revenue in addition to nuclear fuel, is important for a state whose main industries, such as tobacco and textiles, are failing. Those who oppose the drilling fear the contamination of drinking water in case of an accident, and a stigma from uranium which would deter people and businesses from moving to the area.

The New York Times reports that now, after years of government reports and hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations, the issue has been brought to Virginia’s General Assembly.

The uranium in the state’s ground is currently worth an estimated $7 billion, and supporters of extracting the uranium say that national security demands more domestic drilling because 92 percent of uranium used in the United States is imported.  Virginia governor Bob McDonnell used the same argument when he promoted the  drilling for oil and gas off the coast of Virginia, but President Obama blocked that effort.

One supporter of the drilling is Richard Saslaw, a Democratic minority leader of the State Senate. When asked in a radio interview about buried uranium tailings which will remain a risk for hundreds of years, Mr. Saslaw answered “I’m not going to be here.”

Opponents of the drilling include Republican state lawmakers from the region, as well as environmental groups, the Virginia Farm Bureau, and cities downstream from the mine site.

Delegate James Edmunds II said that if radiation leaked into the groundwater, his district would be one of the first affected.

“There’s no waiting for a big rain to clean it up,” Edmunds told the New YorkTimes. “I’m not going to have that as my legacy.”

Governor McDonnell seems to be the voice of reason as many lawmakers in the Republican controlled General Assembly have looked to him for a decision on the issue.  McDonnell, however, indicated early this week when the research report he requested was given to him, that he might not take a position on the matter.

According to Jeff Caldwell, a spokesman for McDonnell, the governor will review the findings “before deciding whether or not to take any recommendation on uranium mining.”

Supporters of the drilling are disappointed and confused by McDonnell’s stance on the situation so far, since he   promised, when running for office, to make Virginia “the energy capital of the East Coast.”

According to J. Tucker Martin, McDonnell’s communications director, the governor has reservations on the matter  because “He’s focused on public health and safety and smart public policy. That’s it,” although others think his political aspirations to run for president in 2016 are what is driving his decision to stay neutral on the issue.

Both sides have spent a significant amount of money on lobbyists in order to ensure the victory.

In 2010 and 2011, Virginia Uranium paid $122,000 to fly  twenty-four members of the General Assembly to France to visit a tailings storage site. Among the travelers was John Watkins, the sponsor of the Senate bill that would lift the uranium ban.

“By now, members are running and hiding” in the Capitol when they spot a lobbyist, a legislative aide told the Times.

If McDonnell refuses to pick a side on the issue, the decision could fall to his lieutenant governor, William Bolling who recently said he opposes uranium mining. Bolling casts the deciding vote in the event of a tie in the Senate.