Andrew Smith Senior Assistant Director Governmental Relations

An additional meeting has been planned on the possibility of the mining and milling or uranium in Virginia. The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) will hold a public meeting on issues related to the proposal to mine and mill uranium in Virginia.

During this meeting there will be presentations by the VDH summarizing the comments and questions received to date by VDH regarding private wells and recreational water issues related to uranium mining and milling. This follows the recent set of meetings held by the VDH around the state seeking the public’s input.

In addition to the VDH, the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) will make a presentation on ground water, surface water and air quality issues related to uranium mining and milling.

The public will have the opportunity to make comments at the meeting. The meeting is open to the public and pre-registration is not required.

Date: September 17, 2012
Time: 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Location: Old Dominion Agricultural Center, 19783 US Highway 29 South Chatham, VA 24531

Additional information may be found at the Uranium Working Groups website: http://www.uwg.vi.virginia.gov/

The Uranium Working Group established by Governor Bob McDonnell has been busy with their work, which includes holding a series of public meetings held around the state. The most recent was held at Chatham High School in Chatham.

You will remember from previous reports, the working group was established to “to provide a scientific policy analysis to help assess whether the moratorium on uranium mining in the Commonwealth should be lifted, and if so, how best to do so.”

Virginia Farm Bureau has been monitoring the progress of the group’s work, including attending each of the public meetings. In addition, VAFB has submitted questions for consideration on the issue from an agricultural standpoint. These questions were the result of surveying each of the County Farm Bureaus for concerns they felt needed to be addressed.

We encourage all of our members to read the current reports on the issue and, if possible, participate in the public meetings. Members can access the reports and also provide comment to the working group through their website at http://www.uwg.vi.virginia.gov/

VAFB will continue to monitor the issue and keep member’s concerns before the Working Group and policy makers. The remaining public meeting dates and locations have been set except the final one, which will be held in Richmond. The actual location and date has yet to be set.

Should you have any questions or comments please contact Andrew Smith in the Governmental Relations Department at andrew.smith@vafb.com or 804-290-1021.

Remaining Public Meetings on the Uranium Working Group

• August 2, 2012 – 6 pm (joint meeting with NRC)
Old Dominion Agricultural Complex
19783 US Highway 29, Suite G
Chatham, VA 24531

• August 28, 2012 – 6 pm
Virginia Beach Convention Center
1000 19th Street
Virginia Beach, VA 23451

• October 17, 2012 – 6 pm
Old Dominion Agricultural Complex
19783 US Highway 29, Suite G
Chatham, VA 24531

• November 2012 (TBA)
Richmond, VA

Andrew Smith Senior Assistant Director Governmental Relations

Lifting the 30-year moratorium on uranium mining in Virginia continues to be a hot topic with the citizens of the Commonwealth.

Early this year, Governor Bob McDonnell established the  Uranium Working group to provide a scientific policy analysis to help assess whether the moratorium on uranium mining in the Commonwealth should be lifted, and if so, how best to do so.

Part of responsibility of this work group is to hold public hearings to provide updates and to listen to input from the public. The first of these planned hearings will be June, 18 2012, at 6 p.m. when the Virginia Coal and Energy Commission – Uranium Mining Subcommittee meet at Chatham High School, 100 Cavalier Circle, Chatham.

Interested members are encouraged to attend this meeting to learn more about the study, or provide input. The planned subject matter for this meeting is “Mine Permitting, Environmental Impact Analysis & Environmental Monitoring of Mine Sites, Disposal of Mine Waste, Mine Site Reclamation.“

Other hearings are planned for August, October and November. We will post that information as soon as it becomes available.

To follow the progress of the work group or to find additional information on uranium mining in Virginia go to the Uranium Work Group’s Website. For additional information contact me, Andrew Smith, at andrew.smith@vafb.com.