Gov. to Va. legislators: Keep uranium moratorium in place

Gov. Bob McDonnell asked the General Assembly on Thursday to keep Virginia's 30-year moratorium on uranium mining while state agencies figure out how to regulate it and do a comprehensive on-site analysis of the nation's largest known deposits of the radioactive ore.

“Public safety is the paramount consideration in whether we mine uranium here in Virginia,” McDonnell told reporters shortly after his announcement.

 State Sen. Frank Ruff, R-Clarksville, said he liked the governor's decision to have a three-agency work group develop a “draft regulatory framework” to be presented to lawmakers next year. 

 Ruff led a news conference Wednesday in which Southside Virginia business leaders and legislators asked the governor to choose a panel to review six separate studies of uranium mining’s impact in Virginia.

 “I seriously doubt that many legislators had read it,” Ruff said of the most recent study, from the National Academy of Sciences in December. “It would have been irresponsible for the General Assembly to try to take it up,” Ruff said.

  The governor said the analysis will address “gaps in legal and regulatory coverage” regarding uranium mining, the milling of the ore and reclamation and the long-term consequences of storing radioactive waste created by processing the ore into yellowcake used to make fuel for nuclear power plants.

Virginia has never had regulations for uranium mining, and does not have a budget or staff to enforce them.

The General Assembly was expected to take up the moratorium in the current session after a lobbying effort by Virginia Uranium Inc., which wants to mine a 119-million-pound deposit in Pittsylvania County. It has flown legislators to France and Canada at its expense to tour uranium mining and milling facilities, contributed tens of thousands of dollars to their campaigns, and hired several lobbyists.

Still, some at the Capitol questioned whether the company had the votes to overturn the ban.

Virginia Uranium welcomed McDonnell's announcement. “The governor's decision is an important step toward establishing a regulatory framework that will enable our company to build and operate the safest uranium mine in the world right here in Virginia,” the company's project manager, Patrick Wales, said in a statement.

Critics accused McDonnell of attempting to bypass the legislature to get the mining moratorium lifted.

 Bob Burnley, a former director of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, said it was “encouraging that the governor has elected to keep the mining ban in place.  At the same time, the details of the announcement raise some concerns.” 

 Lisa Guthrie, of the Virginia League of Conservation Voters said, “It is unprecedented to undercut the legislature and move forward with uranium regulations without the General Assembly having acted.” 

Guthrie said the decision “should be made by the people of Virginia and their elected legislators.”

McDonnell spelled out a dozen issues the working group will address. They include:

- Analyzing the resources and expertise needed by various state departments to implement and regulate a uranium mining industry.

- Creating parameters for programs needed to monitor communities near the mining site for short- and long-term health impacts.

- Determining standards for groundwater and surface water that might have to be implemented and whether new monitoring programs will need to be implemented.

- Establishing a coordinated plan for conducting meaningful public outreach and input at all stages of the process, including the expected 35-year lifespan of the mine.

Ray Reed, staff writer for The News & Advance, contributed to this report.