The biggest hurdle to uranium mining is politics

The national Academy of Sciences released its much-anticipated report on uranium mining in Virginia and, true to form, what passes for the Virginia press corps rushed to the concluding paragraphs of the summary to generate their stories and headlines. The narrative as it sits now? There are just too many hurdles for any mining project to clear, so let’s wait.

Except that narrative is flawed. The report (which can be read here if you register, first), is a bit more ambiguous. Yes, there are serious regulatory and safety issues the state must address before a spade of dirt can be turned at the proposed Pittsylvania site (or any other site, for that matter — the report was specifically barred from addressing the pros and cons of individual locations).

And the state can begin to do just that — laying in a regulatory regime, gathering public comments and refining its own oversight mechanisms. But before it can begin those essential steps, it must first lift the uranium mining ban.

A gaggle of Republican legislators has made it clear they aren’t willing to do that in 2012:

State Sen. Bill Stanley and Dels. Don Merricks and Danny Marshall think the General Assembly should wait until 2013 before considering whether to lift the ban on uranium mining in Virginia, in order to provide more time for study, consideration and public comment, they said Monday.

Del. Charles Poindexter said Virginia has a history of carefully considering issues of this magnitude, and he thinks there’s a 50/50 chance the General Assembly will consider in 2012 the issue of whether to lift the ban.

All four legislators, who were reached late Monday afternoon, said they attended a presentation in Richmond a few hours before about the National Academy of Sciences study on uranium mining in Virginia and had not yet had time to read the report. It is about 300 pages long.

Merricks, R-Pittsylvania County, said, “What I heard today is there are still a lot of questions that need to be answered,” and more study needs to be done.

“I really think they (the General Assembly) need to hold off” and digest the NAS report and two recent economic/socioeconomic reports. “It’s a little too much to digest to have something coming out of this session” of the General Assembly, Merricks said.

That’s rich.

The General Assembly has had 30 years to study the issue and ask for public comment. The idea that it needs one more year to study the studies, and keep the moratorium in place, is a dodge. The report says that even if the state puts a regulatory regime in place, mining could not begin for five to eight years. In the meantime, permits must be filed, plans approved, hearings held and, no doubt, lawsuits to be fought.

Not even that slow clock can begin ticking until the ban is lifted.

So yes, there are substantial hurdles for the proposed Pittsylvania mine to overcome.

And they are mainly found in the the resident political class.

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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.