Photo Credit: NC Coastal Federation
There’s a debate going on up here that North Carolinians, especially those living along Roanoke River, should pay attention to. Virginia is considering lifting a moratorium to allow uranium mining. One of the world’s largest undeveloped deposits lies north of this town in the heart of the Roanoke basin, and mining it could threaten the river.
Thomas Jefferson knew little about uranium when, as governor of Virginia, he granted property in Pittsylvania County to the Coles family. Some 230 years later the gift is at the heart of a public debate that pits national energy policy and local economic opportunities against regional environmental concerns.
So far, the debate has:
- Raised serious doubts about the potential economic benefits for the Coles and others in Virginia with lands laden with uranium.
- Prompted a study by the prestigious National Academy of Science that confirms the risks that extraction could present across the Commonwealth and down in North Carolina.
- Driven the state’s governor to issue an unprecedented directive for the development of a “conceptual regulatory framework” for mining even while a statewide moratorium exists.
Learn how you can take action on the North Carolina Coastal Federation website. Learn more about the Roanoke River Bottomlands IBA.
