Legislators going to France to research uranium mining not in mining areas

Local, Politics, Virginia 1 Minute

Megan Rhyne, from the Virginia Coalition for Open Government tells us today that none of the legislators going to France to research uranium mining is in mining areas in Virginia. Will they be telling their colleagues what they found, or bragging about the wine?

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4 thoughts on “Legislators going to France to research uranium mining not in mining areas”

  1. I understand your problem with the trip, and I share some of those concerns, but does the fact that they don’t represent mining districts mean that they aren’t going to be voting on the issue? And if they are, this certainly isn’t among the legitimate criticisms of the trip.

    1. As my tongue in cheek comment above suggests, I can’t count on the important information getting to the people in whose districts this mine is located or others in the GA. I presume that this issue will still need to go back to/go to committee, and after the experiences over the last few years with those on a “fact-finding” committee, it may not matter if they DO get the information.

      These issues take on a life of their own, and decisions are made sometimes without the best interests of the citizens in mind. I will say that some Tidewater districts that would be affected by the uranium mine have ever right to be concerned about the long term effect on their water supplies and other quality of life issues.

      Thanks for commenting, James.

  2. Was it not Senator Wagner had gone to France and also Canada to see these minds. He said everyone should see both. Maybe they will send the rest of the elected officials on a trip to Canada also. You know just to research the issues, please :-<

  3. Talking last night to some people about this issue several points were brought up. I am including them as I thought they were good.

    Now I myself do not know about the details of Uranium mining but I would like to look into these more after hearing their views:

    1. Sending Legislators to France to see how something is done correctly lets them see what is possible so that is a good thing. However, it is important to remember they have much more stringent regulations over there and they follow up on what companies were suppose to do to verify it was done. The US has a harder time with compliance on these kinds of projects.

    2. There were not any good sites to show positive in US? The legislators ought to see the a bad example sites also. After all France is not overseeing what we do. Of course the company pushing this will not pay for that trip because it is not in their financial interest and I don’t expect them to. It would be like the gas companies sending legislators to see people lighting up the water coming out of their faucets where gas leaked into the drinking water during the fracing process. If they do pass this they need to make sure to do it while looking out for the best interest of the citizens.

    3. Uranium is not in short supply. Will drilling for more hurt the market? Will it help Virginia or just the company wanting to drill?

    4. If something goes wrong and it is not known till after the fact will the company be there in case of a lawsuit or will that fall on the state taxpayers? Usually in case of leaks or damage it takes time to see the results they are not usually noticed right away unless it is some type of major accident.

    5. Digging in other minds, say gold, you are able to crush up what you do not use and it can be used in landscaping or building jobs. That is not the case here as Uranium can taint the materials around it. So what is the plan for the unusable items?

    I think this is a big issue with a lot of concerns that need to be looked at carefully. To make a rush decision on a project like this just because you saw a reclaimed mine in another country would be bad. They need to look at past projects, the facts (pro and con) and also consider will it be advantageous to VA. The most important thing is for them to require some “what if the water or ground was damaged “plan. One big problem with the company in the oil spill was they never planned for a problem because they said “it was unlikely to ever happen”. We have our police, military and cdc have plans. This company should also.

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