Unlocking Southside Virginia’s Geologic Treasure Continued from Page 29 In the 1950s and 1960s, the uranium industry was largely unregulated by the federal government and operated under conditions almost equivalent to those of the Wild West of the late 19th century. Today, the industry is the most heavily regulated in the U.S. It is overseen by a veritable alphabet soup of federal regulatory agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) and the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), to name a few. These agencies have a record of stringent enforcement of the most rigorous standards for worker safety and the protection of air and water from radioactive Contamination. Numerous studies conducted by John Boice Jr., scientific director of the International Epidemiology Institute, in New Mexico, Colorado and Texas found virtually no difference in the prevalence and mortality rate of cancer between residents of mining and nonmining communities. All of the rudimentary, unsafe practices that contributed to illnesses and environmental damage among Navajo workers and communities 50 years ago have long since been prohibited and are strictly monitored by federal regulators. Miners no longer smoke cigarettes in the mines – a practice that was perhaps the number one contributor to illnesses among Navajo workers. Advanced ventilation systems – nonexistent 50 years ago – have virtually eliminated the risk of worker exposure to radioactive radon gas. The Bessines-area of France, where uranium mining occurred safely for almost 50 years, has remarkably similar population, climate, hydrological and geographic features to Pittsylvania County. It set an international standard for the safe extraction of uranium and the environmentally responsible storage of mine tailings.
Volume 1, Number 5 / August 2010
The most significant improvement in terms of reducing risks to the health of residents surrounding uranium operations has been the introduction of modern storage systems for mine tailings, the waste material leftover once uranium has been extracted from the ore. It was extremely common in Navajo communities for workers, their families and other local residents to use tailings and other waste rocks to build adobe brick homes and for other construction purposes. The tailings were also improperly stored in exposed, makeshift structures that allowed material to easily escape and contaminate local drinking water supplies. The EPA and NRC have completely eradicated these egregious practices and now monitor the storage of tailings in advanced, impenetrable containment structures built to withstand the most severe weather events – including floods, tornadoes and hurricanes.