Study shows proposed Pittsylvania uranium mine will produce “substantial and much needed economic benefits”

A Chmura Economics and Analytics report produced for the Virginia Coal and Energy Commission on the socioeconomic impact of uranium mining in Pittsylvania county is out and the results are quite interesting. From the executive summary:

In the opinion of Chmura, the mining and milling operations would bring substantial and much needed economic benefits to Pittsylvania County, the immediately surrounding areas, and the state. During its projected 35 years of operations, the Coles Hill site is expected to support more than 1,000 jobs annually (direct, indirect, and induced) and have an annual net positive economic impact of approximately $135 million. This net benefit comes after subtracting for a broad array of potential socioeconomic costs (such as public health and the environment) and negative “stigma” effects on some sectors (such as tourism and agriculture), which under specific circumstances, Chmura judges most likely to be minimal. Over the life of the operation, the Coles Hill site could generate almost $5.0 billion in net accumulated economic revenue for Virginia firms.

There are caveats based upon the assumptions built into the model, but overall, it looks like uranium mining is a big economic win for the area.

This study was paid for by the Virginia Tobacco Commission. A study from the National Academy of Sciences will be released in the next few days.

Contribute for Conservatism!

About the author

Norman Leahy

Norm Leahy has written about Virginia and national politics online since 2002, beginning with One Man's Trash (OMT), and continuing through Bacon's Rebellion (both the blog and the e-zine), Sic Semper Tyrannis, NBC12's Decision Virginia, Richmond.com and Tertium Quids. He is the chief blogger at "The Score" and a producer of "The Score" radio show as well as being a Washington Examiner contributor.