Another try to ban uranium mining at mega park fails

RINGGOLD - Another attempt to ban uranium mining and milling at the Berry Hill Road industrial mega park failed Monday.

A resolution, proposed to the Danville-Pittsylvania County Regional Industrial Facility Authority board by Pittsylvania County resident Deborah Dix, would have banned uranium mining and milling in the mega park.

RIFA board member Hank Davis, chairman of the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors, made a motion to pass the resolution during the RIFA board’s monthly meeting Monday, but the proposal died when no one seconded the motion. Dix’s proposal would’ve only banned uranium mining and milling in the park proper.

Dix said the RIFA board’s inaction sends a clear message about where it stands on uranium mining.

“To me, it’s sort of obvious they do plan on mining and milling uranium there,“ Dix said after the vote.

But RIFA board member and Danville City Councilman David Luther said he knew nothing about the resolution before it was added to the RIFA board agenda at the beginning of Monday’s meeting.

“It wasn’t on the agenda,“ Luther said of why he didn’t second the Davis’ motion. “It came as a surprise to me.“

Luther said Danville City Council will discuss the resolution.

RIFA Vice Chairman and Danville Mayor Sherman Saunders said he refrains from taking a position on an issue the city has not endorsed.

The 3,700-acre industrial mega park is a joint project between Pittsylvania County and Danville. Officials hope to attract a large manufacturer to the site. The installation of roads, utilities, erosion control, grading and making the site into an industry-ready park will cost $222 million.

Virginia Uranium Inc. hopes to mine and mill a 119-million pound uranium ore deposit at Coles Hill about six miles northeast of Chatham.

Karen Maute, an opponent of uranium mining and milling, had asked the Board of Supervisors in November to pass a resolution prohibiting uranium mining within a 25-mile radius of the proposed mega park site. She also wanted the Board of Supervisors, Danville City Council and the RIFA board to sign the resolution. The Board of Supervisors voted 4-3 to table the idea during its meeting in December.

Maute had proposed the resolution because the mega park site is located on suspected uranium deposits. Marline Corp. had plans to mine and mill uranium in Pittsylvania County in the early 1980s, and RIFA owns some of that old Marline land.

Dan River Supervisor James Snead, who had proposed tabling the idea, said after the December meeting that the resolution should come through the RIFA board since it owns the park.

Maute, who was at the meeting Monday, said the RIFA board killed the motion partly to intimidate citizens who had attended the meeting.

“The lack of discussion was deafening,“ Maute said. “Why not discuss the merits of this resolution?“

John R. Crane is a staff writer with the Danville Register & Bee.