Proposed Coles Hill uranium mine: Buried treasure or hidden threat?

[unhappycamper]

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/12/23/178033/proposed-coles-hill-uranium-mine.html



An historic plantation home sits on Coles Hill in Virginia, site of the nation's largest uranium deposit.

Proposed Coles Hill uranium mine: Buried treasure or hidden threat?
By Sean Cockerham and John Murawski | McClatchy Newspapers
Posted on Sunday, December 23, 2012

CHATHAM, Va. — Beneath an estate that’s been farmed by the Coles family since just after the Revolutionary War lies the nation’s largest untapped uranium deposit, a potential $10 billion bonanza amid rolling hills, oak trees, pastures and a historic plantation home.

The radioactive treasure in the Blue Ridge foothills is pitting neighbor against neighbor and North Carolinians against Virginians. North Carolina is only about 20 miles from the proposed uranium mine and residents, public officials and lawmakers there worry that a catastrophic release of radioactive waste could poison Kerr Lake, the drinking water source for more than 118,000 North Carolinians, as well as contaminate the fishing- and recreation-rich Roanoke River as far east as Pamlico Sound.

"My concern is the catastrophic impact it could have on North Carolina’s water, and it could be major," said state Rep. Mitch Gillespie, a McDowell County Republican. "This is brand new for North Carolina."

The city of Virginia Beach, which gets water from Lake Gaston, also is raising alarms about risk to its drinking water. Virginia dairy farmers who live near the mine site wonder who’ll want to buy milk that comes from pastures near a massive uranium mine. “It’s going to ruin this area,” said Bill Needy, a 57-year-old Chatham farmer.