Hurricane season is June 1 - November 30. Plan Now.

Comments:  Hurricanes have hit Coles Hill, where the proposed Uranium Mill and Mine may be located, Hurricane Fran put down average of 16-24 inches of rain within several hours, Hurricane Camille made mountains on Rt 29 turned to liquid, houses just slide down the side of the mt.  So demand the Gov of VA and all state leaders, VA weather is wild, Keep the Uranium Mining Ban!  We had 2 TS in May, first time in 100 years







Hurricane season is June 1 - November 30. Plan Now.

What is a hurricane?

A hurricane is a severe tropical storm that forms in the southern Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico or eastern Pacific Ocean. To form, hurricanes need warm tropical oceans, moisture and light winds. They gather heat and energy from the warm waters. Evaporation from seawater increases their power.
Hurricanes rotate in a counterclockwise direction around an "eye." They have winds at least 75 mph. When they come onto land, they can bring heavy rain, strong winds and floods, and can damage buildings, trees and cars. They also produce heavy waves called storm surge. Storm surges are very dangerous and a major reason why people must stay away from the ocean during a hurricane warning.

Download the 2012 Virginia Interactive Hurricane Guide [4 mb .pdf]

Hurricanes need not make landfall or move directly across Virginia to cause great damage. The eye of Hurricane Gloria in September 1985 passed 45 miles east of Cape Henry. She was a category 3 hurricane with wind gusts to 104 mph. Damage to eastern Virginia was $5.5 million. The fastest wind ever recorded in Virginia was 134 mph from a hurricane in September 1944 at Cape Henry. Winds gusted up to 150 mph, though the storm stayed just offshore.

Fast-moving inland storms such as Hurricane Hazel in October 1954 maintained hurricane force winds after making landfall. Winds gusted to 130 mph in Hampton and 100 mph in Richmond and Fairfax. Virginia lost 13 people, and statewide damage was conservatively estimated at $15 million.
Eye: The eye is the calm center of a hurricane. Don't be fooled if wind and rain stop during a hurricane. You may just be in the eye of the storm. Listen to the radio to find out when the storm has really passed.

Floods: More people are killed by freshwater floods during a hurricane than by any other hazard. Never play in floodwater.

Watch – The danger of inland flooding from hurricanes: video from the National Weather Service

Classification: Hurricanes are classified into five categories, based on wind speed and potential to cause damage:

• Category One – Winds 74-95 mph
• Category Two – Winds 96-110 mph
• Category Three – Winds 111-130 mph
• Category Four – Winds 131-155 mph
• Category Five – Winds greater than 155 mph

Evacuation order: This is the most important instruction people affected by hurricanes will receive. If issued, leave immediately.

Watches and Warnings
Learn the terms that are used to identify a hurricane.

• Tropical Storm Watch: issued when tropical storm conditions, including winds from 39 to 73 mph, pose a possible threat to a specified area within 48 hours
• Tropical Storm Warning: issued when tropical storm conditions are expected to affect a specified area within 36 hours or less
• Hurricane Watch:issued for a specified area when hurricane conditions, including sustained winds of 74 mph or great, are possible within 48 hours.
• Hurricane Warning: issued for a specified area when hurricane conditions are expected within 36 hours. In coastal or near-coastal areas, a hurricane warning can remain in effect when dangerously high water, or a combination of dangerously high water and exceptionally high waves, continues, even though the winds may have subsided below hurricane intensity.

2012 Hurricane Names

Names are selected by the World Meteorological Organization’s hurricane committee. Six lists of names are used in rotation. If a storm had extraordinary impact, its name is retired. In 2011, the name Irene was retired because of the deaths and damage it caused. In 2008, three hurricane names in the Atlantic were retired from the official name rotation: Gustav, Ike and Paloma will not be used again. The names Hugo, Andrew, Floyd and Isabel also have been retired.
A storm is named when its winds travel counterclockwise and reach 39 mph, tropical storm strength. For more information, visit NOAA’s hurricane naming page.
The 2012 Atlantic hurricane names are:

• Alberto
• Beryl
• Chris
• Debby
• Ernesto
• Florence
• Gordon
• Helene
• Isaac
• Joyce
• Kirk
• Leslie
• Michael
• Nadine
• Oscar
• Patty
• Rafael
• Sandy
• Tony
• Valerie
• William

Read more:
http://www.vaemergency.gov/readyvirginia/stayinformed/hurricanes

Canada's four most expensive contaminated sites

An aerial view of the Grum pit at the mine complex in Faro, Yukon. 

 

Contaminated soil, radioactive waste puts groundwater in jeopardy

CBC News

Posted: May 8, 2012 4:41 PM ET

Last Updated: May 8, 2012 5:24 PM ET

Canada's Environmental commissioner's 2012 report identifies four sites as having the highest reported financial liabilities - although the report does not disclose the financial details, which are "protected information."

1. Port Hope Area Contaminated Sites, Ont.
Natural Resources Canada responsible for remediation of about 1,380,000 cubic metres of low-level radioactive waste, including radium 226, uranium and arsenic. The project is funded through the Port Hope Area Initiative.

2. Welcome Waste Management Facility, Port Hope, Ont.
Natural Resources also responsible for an estimated 620,000 cubic metres of low-level radioactive waste at this above-ground facility and operation of treatment ponds and effluent discharge. Funded through the Port Hope Area Initiative.

3. Faro Mine, Yukon
Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada is responsible for this former mine, whose owner went bankrupt. Estimated 64,000 hectares of contaminated soil and groundwater, leaching of acids and metals into groundwater and surface water. Requires at least 100 years of treatment of contaminated water and potential physical instability of tailings dams and waste rock dumps. Contaminents include petroleum hydrocarbons, metal, metalloid and organometallics.

The federal government is trying to figure out how to keep thousands of tonnes of arsenic trioxide frozen forever underground at the Giant Mine site in Yellowknife, N.W.T.

4. Giant Mine, Yellowknife, NWT
Another bankrupt mine site managed by AANDC, with 237,000 tonnes of arsenic trioxide dust stored in 15 underground chambers; 16,000,000 tonnes of tailings, which is also arsenic rich; three large tailings ponds that require water treatment and discharge; and eight open pits, with 35 mine openings. Requires more than 100 years freezing of arsenic trioxide and contaminated soil to prevent release; treating and discharging water from tailings ponds; and covering tailings and open pits.

Other high-priority contaminated sites:
The Commissioner's report offers two examples of sites categorized as Class 1 (high priority for action). Both have completed step 7 (remediation strategy) of a 10-step process.
Attawapiskat Soil Remediation Project, Ont. (Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada)
Includes the J.R. Nakogee Elementary School, a former water treatment plant and underground fuel supply lines. Site was contaminated in 1979 when 24,450 litres of diesel fuel seeped into the soil and groundwater. In 2000, the school was closed due to health concerns. Students were relocated to portables. The school was demolished in 2009.
Contaminants: Diesel fuel contains toxins such as benzene, toluene, xylene and other chemicals. Health and safety concerns are immediate and long term, including headaches, nausea and possibly cancer.
Closure objectives: Since 1997, $3.6 million has been spent on the school site. $10.1 million more has been approved under AANDC’s Federal Contaminated Sites Action Plan budget by 2014–15. In 2011, AANDC announced a new school was to be built on a new site by 2014.

Read more:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/05/08/canadas-most-expensive-contaminated-sites.html

May 31 Uranium Mining in Virginia Public Briefing - Va. Beach

 

Uranium Mining in Virginia Public Briefing - Va. Beach When:May 31, 2012 - May 31, 2012 6:30 PM (Rally begins at 5:30 pm near the Hilton Hotel - look for the Keep the Ban signs) Where:Hilton Virginia Beach Oceanfront (3001 Atlantic Avenue, Virginia Beach, VA 23451) Parking: 31st Street Parking Garage: This garage is open from 8AM to midnight. Rates are $2 for up to an hour, $4 for up to two hours, $6 for up to three hours and $10 for daily parking. (*$2 discount parking after 5pm for Virginia Beach residents.

More than 10,000 citizens have joined the Keep the Ban campaign by speaking to their friends, family and legislators about the major public health and environmental risks uranium mining poses to Virginia; and, over 100 localities and organizations have voiced support for keeping the ban. Thanks to you and your hard work, the uranium industry did not have the votes in the General Assembly to introduce a bill to lift the ban. On January 19th, Gov. McDonnell was forced to concede that a report from the National Academy of Sciences identified “important questions related to the health and safety of workers, the public, and the environment.” As a result, the ban will stay in place for 2012. At the same time, Gov. McDonnell directed Virginia’s health, mining and environmental agencies to draft “conceptual regulations” for the General Assembly to consider in 2013. Governor McDonnell’s directive to create a draft statute and regulations, behind closed doors, is the first step toward lifting the ban. The fight to keep the ban on uranium mining in Virginia is far from over. Next week The National Academy of Science is planning a presentation on their report "Uranium Mining in Virginia" in Virginia Beach. We encourage you to attend. http://www.vcnva.org/anx/index.cfm/1,93,2718,0,html/May-31-Uranium-Mining-in-Virginia-Public-Briefing-Va-Beach

Virginia Uranium Working Groups hires firm for uranium workgroup analysis

By: Tara Bozick | GoDanRiver
Published: May 29, 2012 Updated: May 29, 2012 - 7:10 PM

Virginia hired a Colorado-based environmental firm to help a multi-agency workgroup analyze uranium mining and milling and associated regulatory issues.

Wright Environmental Services Inc. of Fort Collins, Colo., was awarded a contract May 21 to provide expert analysis of uranium reports, existing regulatory programs and international best practices and to give ongoing technical advice to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy, according to a state notice. The work would cost $513,000, according to the firm’s proposal.

The governor tasked the state workgroup to further study uranium issues and to draft a conceptual regulatory framework to help lawmakers decide whether to lift a 30-year moratorium on uranium mining. Virginia Uranium Inc. would like to mine and mill a 119-million-pound uranium deposit at Coles Hill in Pittsylvania County.

The Virginia Department of Health had also issued a request for proposals related to the uranium workgroup process.

To view Wright Environmental’s proposal, visit the uranium workgroup website at http://www.uwg.vi.virginia.gov/links.shtml.



http://www2.godanriver.com/news/2012/may/29/virginia-hires-firm-uranium-workgroup-analysis-ar-1950986/

Great Google Alerts

Comments:  Great info, all our blogs Karen Maute's Letter, the New group picked up by Google Alerts, , it was all about us today!


New uranium group holds first meeting in Pittsylvania County
WSLS
A newly formed group focusing on concerns about the economic impact of uranium mining and milling in the Dan River Region held its first meeting Wednesday ...
http://www2.wsls.com/news/2012/may/16/new-uranium-group-holds-first-meeting-pittsylvania-ar-1920323/

Web
5 new results for uranium mining and milling

Virginia Against Uranium Mining
What To Expect” presentation by a Utah woman offered nothing of the sort regarding uranium mining and milling. Sarah Fields, founder of Uranium Watch in ...
www.virginiaagainsturanium.blogspot.com/.../by-eva-cassada-sovan...

Virginia Business - Opinion: Environment first but uranium second
Virginia will be in the national spotlight as it considers lifting a 30-year moratorium on uranium mining. If it allows mining and milling operations to go forward, the ...
www.virginiabusiness.com/.../environment-first-but-uranium-s...

Uranium mining is recipe for disaster - Chatham Star Tribune: Opinion
1 Department of Health and Human Resources;. 1 uranium mining and milling company;. 1 Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC);. 1 Uranium Working Group ...
www.wpcva.com/.../article_f6a43c66-9f6c-11e1-8e0b-001a4b...

Meeting Information: Uranium Mining in Virginia - League of ...
Meetings about Uranium Mining and Milling. Uranium Mining in Virginia May 31, 2012 - May 31, 2012. Hilton Virginia Beach Oceanfront 3001 Atlantic Avenue ...
www.lifeincva.blogspot.com/.../meeting-information-uranium-minin...

NC and Uranium Mining - Piedmont Residents in Defense of the ...
Meetings: Uranium Mining and Milling. Meeting: PRIDE, Piedmont Residents in Defense of the. Environment Location: Danville Library 511 Patton Street ...
www.prideva.blogspot.com/2012/05/nc-and-uranium-mining.html

"NRC Regulation of the Uranium Milling Industry

White Mesa Uranium Mill in Utah

Excerpts from: "NRC Regulation of the Problems and Prospects"

by Victor Gilinsky, Commissioner
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Washington DC
May 2, 1978

As long as the uranium ore is undisturbed deep underground not much radon diffuses to the surface. But when the uranium ore is brought to the surface, radon is released into the atmosphere where it can be inhaled.

The possible health significance of these [radon] releases were not immediately recognized. You may recall that during the 1950's mill tailings were used as fill material under and around new buildings in Grand Junction [Colorado], and that later surveys identified hundreds of buildings with excessive radiation levels. Remedial actions are still underway to replace the original fill material.

Since radon is a gas it is also possible for large populations thousands of miles from the source to be exposed, albeit to an extremely low dose. If no steps are taken to control them the tailings can be blown about, further spreading the source.

The extent of the radioactive releases from the so-called "front end" of the nuclear fuel cycle has been persistently underestimated in official reports until quite recently. In 1975 a public interest group petitioned the Commission to amend its standard table of such releases prepared in 1974 because, it said, the NRC neglected mining releases and greatly underestimated the long-term releases associated with radon gas emitted from tailings piles. The Commission has now agreed that the current table is incorrect and is going to provide new estimates.

But even with the right numbers, assessing the health significance of radon releases from uranium tailings is not simple. On the one hand, the relative increase to the existing natural level of radioactivity, at least away from the tailings pile, is exceedingly slight. On the other hand, the tailings continue to release radon for over 100,000 years; and if the tailings are not isolated from the atmosphere the sum of the exposures for all those years could be large in absolute terms -- in fact, it becomes the dominant contribution to radiation exposure from the nuclear fuel cycle.

Because the tailings associated with uranium milling were not regarded as material that posed significant health risks no special provision was made in the Atomic Energy Act for their direct regulation. In view of this situation, after a mill's useful life there is now no legal basis for NRC regulatory control over the tailings whatever the health and environmental concerns. There are about 26 million tons of tailings in this category at twenty-two abandoned mills in eight Western states (Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, Texas, Utah, Wyoming).

A Department of Energy assessment of this problem has been performed and published. It shows that none of the sites can be considered to be in satisfactory condition from the long-term standpoint. At some sites, no stabilization of the tailings had been carried out. At others the site conditions were found to require continued surveillance and maintenance.

http://www.ccnr.org/Findings_Tailings.html#nrc

Compost Basics

by Dawn Walls-Thumma, Demand Media

For the gardener looking to become more eco-friendly, composting is a logical first step, since it reduces the amount of waste your household sends to the landfill (see References 4). Compost adds nutrients and improves your soil --- a key idea in organic agriculture (see References 1). As described by Barbara Pleasant in Mother Earth News, this natural process doesn't require any special equipment or take much effort to maintain (see References 3, page 1).

Step 1:
Decide on the bin or container you want to use or whether you want to have an open pile. Containing your compost helps keep scavengers out, but often limits the volume of materials you can compost at one time. (See References 4)

Step 2:Choose a location for your compost bin or pile. Compost does best in a dry, shady spot and should be near a water source, as you may need to moisten your pile from time to time (see References 2). Pleasant advises you consider convenience, too, and place your compost near where you will be using it (see References 3, page 3).

Step 3:Begin adding materials to your compost bin or pile. Compost needs both nitrogen- and carbon-rich materials to sustain the microorganisms that produce it. Nitrogen-rich materials --- called "greens" by veteran composters --- are fresh, moist materials like food scraps and grass clippings. Carbon-rich materials --- known as "browns" --- include dry ingredients like paper, sawdust and dead leaves. (See References 2) You don't need to over-think the correct proportions of ingredients, according to Pleasant, since compost forms no matter the balance (see References 3, page 1). However, carefully balancing your ingredients and monitoring your pile will increase the pile temperature and speed the composting process, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (see References 5).

Step 4:Add water as needed to keep the materials moist. The ingredients should be damp as a "wrung-out sponge," says Pleasant (see References 3, page 5). Covering an open pile with a tarp can keep it from drying out (see References 2).

Step 5:Turn your compost pile with a garden fork every one to two weeks; move dry material from the edges into the center (see References 2). Turning isn't required to make compost, but it lets you check its progress and moisture level (see References 3, page 2). Regular aeration also speeds up the process by supplying oxygen to the microorganisms (see References 5).

Step 6:

Collect finished compost for use once it looks black with a crumbly texture; you should not be able to distinguish the original materials that went into the pile (see References 4). Incorporate finished compost into your garden soil, use it to side-dress plants or spread it over your garden as mulch.

References

1. USDA: Organic Production and Organic Food
2. U.S. EPA: Create Your Own Compost Pile
3. "Mother Earth News"; Compost Made Easy; Barbara Pleasant; October/November 2006
4. U.S. EPA; Backyard Composting: It's Only Natural; October 2009
5. U.S. EPA: Composting --- Science/Technology

http://greenliving.nationalgeographic.com/compost-basics-2356.html
http://www.small-farm-permaculture-and-sustainable-living.com/how_build_compost_pile.html

Debate the controversy over uranium mining in Virginia

Issue #24.17 :: 04/24/2012 - 04/30/2012

To mine or not to mine?

BY LAURA INGLES Center attorney Cale Jaffe joined Virginia Uranium Inc. project manager Patrick Wales as part of the Batten School’s Energy Policy Forum. For two hours on Friday, Jaffe and Wales tackled the thorny issue of mining uranium in southern Virginia, and fielded questions from students, faculty, and members of the community. But the SELC is concerned about the safety of the process, regardless of any regulatory standards or industry best practices—consider, Jaffe said, that the BP oil spill happened two years ago this month, despite stringent regulations on Gulf drilling. Jaffe said the controversy over uranium is about waste management. In addition to the actual mining, he said, the process would also require milling, with the disposal of 58 billion pounds of toxic, radioactive tailings each year. According to Jaffe, these tailings retain 85 percent of their radioactive activity, and global studies have shown that those living and working near uranium mines are at risk for cancer, birth defects, weakened immune systems, and kidney and liver damage. “We need to take these warning signs very seriously before we move forward,” he said. Despite these statistics, Jaffe said the SELC fears that, right now, the risks are just too great to move the project forward. Because Virginia has not yet been mined for uranium, Jaffe said, there is no way of knowing how the area’s climate, rainfall and natural disasters will factor into the equation. Uranium is traditionally mined in dryer areas like the western states, and Jaffe fears that, even with “gold standard” regulations, mining in Virginia will present unexpected complications unseen in other uranium deposits. “Risk is inherent and will always be there,” Jaffe said. http://www.c-ville.com/Article/News_Extra/Experts_debate_the_controversy_over_uranium_mining_in_Virginia/?z_Issue_ID=11802304123611880

Solar Energy

Published: September 2009

Plugging Into the Sun

Sunlight bathes us in far more energy than we could ever need—if we could just catch enough.

By George Johnson

Photograph by Michael Melford

Early on a clear November morning in the Mojave Desert, the sun is barely touching the peaks of the McCullough Range with a cool pink glow.

Behind them, a full moon is sinking over the gigawatt glare of Las Vegas. Nevada Solar One is sleeping. But the day's work is about to begin.

It is hard to imagine that a power plant could be so beautiful: 250 acres of gently curved mirrors lined up in long troughs like canals of light.

Parked facing the ground overnight, they are starting to awaken—more than 182,000 of them—and follow the sun.

Read more:
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/09/solar/johnson-text

Native Plants for Conservation, Restoration, and Landscaping

Butterfly Weed (really a flower, grows alond roads and woods)

What are native plants?

Native species are those that occur in the region in which they evolved. Plants evolve over geologic time in response to physical and biotic processes characteristic of a region: the climate, soils, timing of rainfall, drought, and frost; and interactions with the other species inhabiting the local community. Thus native plants possess certain traits that make them uniquely adapted to local conditions, providing a practical and ecologically valuable alternative for landscaping, conservation and restoration projects, and as livestock forage. In addition, native plants can match the finest cultivated plants in beauty, while often surpassing non-natives in ruggedness and resistance to drought, insects and disease.

The native plants list identifies native plant species currently recommended by the Virginia Native Plant Society, the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, and other project cooperators for use in horticulture, land management, conservation, and restoration projects in Virginia.

The list provides a selection of plant choices adapted to growing conditions in Virginia, focusing on those native species currently or potentially available in the nursery trade.

For the most part, relatively common species have been included on the list, although a few less common species were also included due to their establishment in the trade and the general stability of their habitat in Virginia. Rare species were left off the list in order to protect the genetic integrity of naturally occurring populations of rare species and avoid the collection of rare plants.

List of Native Plants for Piedmong:

http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural_heritage/documents/pied_nat_plants.pdf

Health Risks of Uranium Mining

 

 

By Michael Brent, eHow Contributor| updated May 13, 2011

Uranium is a metallic element that emits radioactivity; it is a key component in nuclear weapons and nuclear reactors. Uranium occurs naturally in the earth and has been causing health problems in miners since as early as the 14th century. Uranium mining remains highly hazardous, presenting the risk of increased rates of lung cancer for miners if precautions are not taken.      

Health Risks From Mining

• Among the many studies of this problem, a long-term study published in a 2008 edition of "The Journal of Radiological Protection" tracked the mortality rates of miners in New Mexico from 1955 to 1990. The study found increased mortality among underground mine workers, although this did not carry forward to those who worked in uranium mills. The miners' increased mortality was primarily due to respiratory diseases and cirrhosis of the liver. According to the study, the abnormally high rates of lung cancer were attributable to high levels of radon within uranium mines.

Environmental Hazards

• Miners are not the only ones endangered by uranium mining. The Panos Institute West Africa (IPAO) is a network of nongovernmental organizations working in the region. According to IPAO, there is ample evidence that uranium mining can result in poor health for people living in the vicinity of the mine due to the resultant contamination of water and other forms of pollution. In order to produce 25 tons of uranium (which is typically what is needed to fuel a nuclear reactor for one year), 500,000 tons of waste rock and 100,000 tons of mill tailings are produced. This material will remain dangerously toxic for hundreds of thousands of years.

Mitigating Dangers

• According to a 2008 story in the U.K. newspaper "The Guardian," the worldwide effects of uranium mining are "disastrous," described as an "ethical and environmental nightmare" in some countries that have recently undertaken the mining of uranium. The World Nuclear Association, a trade organization for nuclear energy companies that utilize mined uranium, notes that the real problem lies with the fact that many of these Third World countries have no legislation governing health and safety with respect to uranium mining. To address this, the group proposed an international Charter of Ethics that countries could adopt, although it would not be legally binding.

Read more: Health Risks of Uranium Mining | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/info_8410165_health-risks-uranium-mining.html#ixzz1snnz1NJO

Governor McDonnell Announces Sales Tax Holiday to Help Citizens Prepare for Upcoming Hurricane Season

Hurricane Season has early start:  Tropical storm Alberto

Commonwealth of Virginia Office of Governor Bob McDonnell

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 21, 2012

Office of the Governor
Contact: Jeff Caldwell
Phone: (804) 225-4260
Email: Jeff.Caldwell@Governor.Virginia.Gov

Virginia Department of Taxation
Contact: Joel Davison
Phone: (804) 786-3507
Email: joel.davison@tax.virginia.gov


Governor McDonnell Announces Sales Tax Holiday to Help Citizens Prepare for Upcoming Hurricane Season

~Virginians can save 5 percent on designated Emergency Supplies May 25-31~

RICHMOND – Wherever you live in Virginia, chances are you were affected by severe weather during the last year as the Commonwealth was hit by tornadoes, an earthquake and its aftershocks, and Hurricane Irene.

The 2012 hurricane season begins June 1 and Governor Bob McDonnell is again encouraging residents to stock up on supplies – tax-free – to help get them through bad weather and other emergencies.

During Virginia’s Hurricane Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday, May 25-31, shoppers can purchase essential items without paying the 5 percent state and local sales tax.

There are 22 categories of smaller items, including batteries, flashlights, bottled water, tarps, duct tape, cell-phone chargers, smoke detectors and first aid kits. As long as each item costs $60 or less it is tax-free. Portable generators and inverters priced at $1,000 or less are also tax-free during the holiday.

For a full list of eligible products, answers to frequently asked questions, and guidelines for consumers and retailers, visit http://www.tax.virginia.gov.

“The safety of our families is critically important for all Virginians,” said Governor McDonnell. “It is essential that citizens, as well as government and emergency response agencies, make appropriate preparations to deal with anything Mother Nature sends our way.

The best way to protect yourself and your family is by assembling an emergency supply kit and developing emergency plans for your loved ones. With the 2012 hurricane season just around the corner, I encourage residents to take a few minutes to evaluate what items they still may need to prepare for hurricanes and other emergencies. This tax-free holiday will make it easier and more economical to assemble an emergency kit now which may make Virginian’s lives easier in the event of a major storm or emergency.”

During this seven-day period, retailers may also choose to pay the sales tax themselves on any nonexempt items and pass the 5 percent savings onto their customers.

Virginia also has two additional sales tax holidays – one for school supplies and clothing in August, and one for Energy Star and WaterSense products in October. The 2012 General Assembly renewed this tax-free hurricane preparedness holiday through 2017 after successes of previous campaigns.

Do It Yourself Solar Panels and Save a Bundle

Interested in do it yourself solar panels? First it pays to understand a little about how solar panels work.

What are Solar Panels?

Solar panels comprise complex arrays of photo-voltaic cells. These P-V cells accumulate sun energy and turn it into electricity.

Though solar panel systems look complex, technically they are really quite easy - even for the layman - to put together.

The size of solar panels depends on the number of photo-voltaic modules they incorporate.
These P-V modules are held together by special wiring systems and work as a field unit.
To create the exterior of the solar panel a range of materials are suitable including fiberglass, metal, simple glass or even plastic.

How Do They Work?

For solar panels to function as they should, there are some practical conditions to be met.

1. First, in order to accumulate and pass on the electric charge the cells in the solar panels have to be connected with each other.
2. Being quite fragile, the solar panels have to be protected from the outside environment. Threats include hail, heavy snow and strong winds. Solar panels made from wafer-based silicon cells are particularly vulnerable and liable to crumble easily if not properly shielded from the elements.
3. Metal corrosion due to excessive moisture is another potential problem that can dramatically reduce the life and performance of your panels. Avoid this by incorporating insulation cover against moisture into the panel.
4. Can overheating of the cells be an issue? Not if you integrate diodes into the solar panel structure – these can be set up to reduce temperature automatically. And manufacturers and do it yourself solar panels practitioners can also incorporate ventilation into the design of the solar panels.

Types of Solar Panels

While normally rigid, solar panels can be flexible if based on thin film cells. Energy production costs and overall solar panel efficiency is more favorable where the construction combines mirrors and lenses together to focus solar energy on the cells.

Photovoltaic systems can supply up to 80% of the energy needs of the average household. With rapidly dwindling energy resources, and soaring energy costs more and more people are getting serious about alternative energy sources.

Do It Yourself Solar Panels are a great option for anyone who can do simple soldering, is easy to do, and will save thousands of dollars on the average system:

Click here for solar info:
http://www.solarpanelsforbeginners.com/?hop=earthpig

What is Radon Gas?

Radon is a gas that is created in the soils where uranium and radium are found. These elements can be found everywhere in the world, therefore any building has the potential for elevated levels of radon. The more uranium found in the soil, the higher the potential for elevated radon levels within a building constructed above this soil. It is not a question of, Is there radon? but rather, How much radon is there?

Radon primarily comes from natural deposits of uranium in the soil.. Uranium breaks down to radium, which in turn decays into radon gas.

Radon is an inert gas, which means that it does not react or combine with the elements in the ground. Because of this, radon gas can move up through the soil into the atmosphere, where it is easily diluted and presents little concern. However, when it enters a building constructed on top of this soil, it can build up and become a health concern.

Radon causes Lung Cancer
You cannot see or smell radon. There is no way that your body can sense the presence of radon, yet it can have a detrimental effect on the inhabitants by increasing their likelihood of developing lung cancer.

When radon decay products are inhaled they will stick to sensitive lung tissue. Being short-lived, they will break down while they are in the lungs, thereby exposing the lung tissue to radiation.
When radon decay products decay, they release alpha, beta and gamma radiation. It is actually the alpha radiation (in the form of particles) from the two radon decay products – polonium 218 and polonium 214 – that are the most hazardous.

The alpha particles, that come from the decay of radon decay products, will impact the sensitive lung tissue. In most cases they will kill the lung tissue cell, which can be replaced by the body. However, the alpha particles can impact the DNA, or create a chemical reaction that will affect the DNA. When this occurs the cell can become mutated.

This is the mechanism by which prolonged exposure to radon and radon decay products can increase the potential of lung cancer.

Read more:
http://rockymountainradon.com/what-is-radon-gas/

Where It All Starts: Uranium Mines & Mills

In the United States and world-wide, about 70% of all uranium reserves lie beneath indigenous people's lands.

For a long time the Jackpile Mine near Laguna Pueblo in Arizona was the largest in the world. Then came bigger mines in Australia and Cree country in Canada. Before the atomic bombs were dropped in Japan in 1945, Native American miners in the U.S. were already suffering from radiation illness, from mining the ore that made the Hiroshima and Nagaasaki bombs.

Uranium tailings, left over from ore extraction at mills, retain up to 85% of the ore radioactivity for up to 100,000 years. For each ton of uranium oxide produced, up to 40,000 tons of tailings are left behind, in addition to toxic heavy metals. Over 400 abandoned mines, plus mill sites and thousands of test holes continued to poison soils, air and water. Cleanup efforts, mandated in 1978, are moving forward slowly.

For decades, miners had only radioactive water to drink and wash with, often taking it home to families. Protected only by hard hats, uranium dust was carried home on clothing and skin. Native homes and schools were built from tailing-based concrete all over the west. Children played in tailing piles and ponds. Often child mortality figures were higher than for miners themselves.

Earl Saltwater, Jr., a Navajo miner, blames his current hearing loss, kidney disease, diabetes and breathing problems on his work in a uranium mine, though he only worked for about six months in 1968 and 1969. He said he was fired because he was sickened and started vomiting in the mine.*

Read more:

http://www.h-o-m-e.org/uranium-mining.html

Great Google Alert

Comments:  Great info, all our blogs Karen Maute's Letter, the New group picked up by Google Alerts, , it was all about us today!


New uranium group holds first meeting in Pittsylvania County
WSLS
A newly formed group focusing on concerns about the economic impact of uranium mining and milling in the Dan River Region held its first meeting Wednesday ...
http://www2.wsls.com/news/2012/may/16/new-uranium-group-holds-first-meeting-pittsylvania-ar-1920323/

Web
5 new results for uranium mining and milling

Virginia Against Uranium Mining
What To Expect” presentation by a Utah woman offered nothing of the sort regarding uranium mining and milling. Sarah Fields, founder of Uranium Watch in ...
www.virginiaagainsturanium.blogspot.com/.../by-eva-cassada-sovan...

Virginia Business - Opinion: Environment first but uranium second
Virginia will be in the national spotlight as it considers lifting a 30-year moratorium on uranium mining. If it allows mining and milling operations to go forward, the ...
www.virginiabusiness.com/.../environment-first-but-uranium-s...

Uranium mining is recipe for disaster - Chatham Star Tribune: Opinion
1 Department of Health and Human Resources;. 1 uranium mining and milling company;. 1 Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC);. 1 Uranium Working Group ...
www.wpcva.com/.../article_f6a43c66-9f6c-11e1-8e0b-001a4b...

Meeting Information: Uranium Mining in Virginia - League of ...
Meetings about Uranium Mining and Milling. Uranium Mining in Virginia May 31, 2012 - May 31, 2012. Hilton Virginia Beach Oceanfront 3001 Atlantic Avenue ...
www.lifeincva.blogspot.com/.../meeting-information-uranium-minin...

NC and Uranium Mining - Piedmont Residents in Defense of the ...
Meetings: Uranium Mining and Milling. Meeting: PRIDE, Piedmont Residents in Defense of the. Environment Location: Danville Library 511 Patton Street ...
www.prideva.blogspot.com/2012/05/nc-and-uranium-mining.html

Findings on Uranium Tailings

 

Verbatim Quotations from Official Documents

prepared by G. Edwards, Ph.D., 1996

Excerpts from

• A Race Against Time: The Porter Commission Report
  
• The Expansion of the Uranium Mines in the Elliot Lake Area
  
• FEARO Report on the Proposed Eldorado Refinery at Port Granby
  
• Report to the President by the Interagency Review Group
  
• "NRC Regulation of the Uranium Milling Industry: Problems and Prospects"
  
• "Geologic Disposal of High-Level Radioactive Wastes"

Read all of the above click here:
http://www.ccnr.org/Findings_Tailings.html

URANIUM: Known Facts and Hidden Dangers

 

invited address by Dr. Gordon Edwards
at the World Uranium Hearings

Salzburg, Austria
September 14, 1992

Uranium Tailings

Now, if I could just wrap up, I have to tell you something extremely important. The title of my talk was "Known facts and hidden dangers". I've told you a bit about the known facts. Now for at least one of the hidden dangers.
When we extract uranium from the ground, we dig up the rock, we crush it and we leave behind this finely pulverized material -- it's like flour. In Canada we have 200 million tons of this radioactive waste, called uranium tailings. As Marie Curie observed, 85 percent of the radioactivity in the ore remains behind in that crushed rock. How long will it be there? Well, it turns out that the effective half-life of this radioactivity is 80,000 years. That means in 80,000 years there will be half as much radioactivity in these tailings as there is today.
You know, that dwarfs the entire prehistory of the Salzburg region which goes way back to ancient, ancient times. Even archaeological remains date back no further than 80,000 years. We don't have any records of human existence going back that far. That's the half-life of this material.
And as these tailings are left on the surface of the earth, they are blown by the wind, they are washed by the rain into the water systems, and they inevitably spread. Once the mining companies close down, who is going to look after this material forever? How does anyone, in fact, guard 200 million tons of radioactive sand safely forever, and keep it out of the environment?
In addition, as the tailings are sitting there on the surface, they are continually generating radon gas. Radon is about eight times heavier than air, so it stays close to the ground. It'll travel 1,000 miles in just a few days in a light breeze. And as it drifts along, it deposits on the vegetation below the radon daughters, which are the radioactive byproducts that I told you about, including polonium. So that you actually get radon daughters in animals, fish and plants thousands of miles away from where the uranium mining is done. It's a mechanism for pumping radioactivity into the environment for millennia to come, and this is one of the hidden dangers.

Conclusion

All uranium ends up as either nuclear weapons or highly radioactive waste from nuclear reactors. That's the destiny of all the uranium that's mined. And in the process of mining the uranium we liberate these naturally occurring radioactive substances, which are among the most harmful materials known to science. Couple this with the thought that nuclear technology never was a solution to any human problem. Nuclear weapons do not bring about a sane world, and nuclear power is not a viable answer to our energy problems. We don't even need it for electricity. All you need for conventional electricity generation is to spin a wheel, and there's many ways of doing it: water power, wind power, geothermal power, etc. In addition, there are other methods for producing electricity directly: solar photovoltaics, fuel cells, and so on. What we have here, in the case of nuclear power, from the very beginning, is a technology in search of an application.
So, I think that we as a human community have to come to grips with this problem and say to ourselves and to others that enough is enough. We do not want to permanently increase our radiation levels on this planet. We have enough problems already.
Thank you.

http://www.ccnr.org/salzburg.html#he


http://moab-utah.com/rack/atlasm.html

URANIUM: Known Facts and Hidden Dangers

 

 

invited address by Dr. Gordon Edwards
at the World Uranium Hearings

Salzburg, Austria
September 14, 1992

 

Radium

Well, how did the story of uranium progress? Because uranium was less radioactive than its daughter products, it was not valued commercially. But radium was. And radium began to be used principally for two purposes. One was to burn cancerous growths. I should tell you that both Henri Becquerel and Marie Curie suffered grievous burns which were very difficult to heal and which left permanent scars just as a result of handling radium. Other scientists got the idea that if they embedded a needle containing radium inside a cancerous tumor, it would burn the cancer -- and indeed it did. That was the beginning of cancer therapy using radiation, wherein the harmful effects of atomic radiation are directed against cancerous cells instead of healthy cells. Of course, atomic radiation does similar damage to healthy cells.
Now, the other main use for radium was as a luminous paint, because of the glow-in-the-dark phenomenon that Marie Curie had observed. Believe it or not, the price of uranium in the 1920s was $100,000 a gram -- and this is using dollars of the twenties! It was a very expensive commodity, but only very little was needed for any given purpose. Some of it was used to make luminous paint, with which they would paint dials so they could be read even in the dark.
Now the young women who painted these things began to get sick. This was first reported by an American dentist called Blum, who said that he had some very young women -- 19 years old, 18 years old, 20 years old -- coming into his dentistry office. Their teeth were falling out, their gums were badly infected and bleeding profusely, they were anemic, their bones were soft, and in some cases their jawbones had spontaneously fractured. Some of them died of severe anemia.
The only thing these women had in common was that they worked in a radium dial painting factory in New Jersey. Blum called this phenomenon "radium jaw". A few years later, the women who had recovered from these symptoms started developing problems in the rest of their skeleton. They suffered weakening of the bone, spontaneous fractures of the hip and of other bones, and growths -- tumors, some of which were cancerous -- in the bones themselves. Now, bone cancer is such an exceedingly rare disease, that there was little doubt that this cancer was caused by exposure to radium.
It was discovered that simply by wetting the tip of the brush in order to get a nice clean figure on the dials, these women were ingesting minute quantities of radium. And that was sufficient to cause all these symptoms. When autopsies were performed on the corpses of these women, doctors discovered that in their entire skeleton there were only a few micrograms of radium. This quantity was so small, that no conventional chemical analysis could detect it. Nevertheless, this tiny amount of radium had distributed itself so thoroughly through their skeleton, that you could take a picture of any one of their bones just by laying it on a photographic plate in a dark room, It is called an auto-radiograph -- that is, an x-ray picture with no x-ray machine.
So this was our first introduction to the harmful effects of even minute quantities of such substances. By the way, many of the women who survived this phase of the assault later on developed cancers of the head -- cancer of the sinuses, cancer of the soft palate, and other types of head cancers. We now know how these were caused. Remember, radium is radioactive -- even inside the body. As I told you earlier, when radium atoms disintegrate, they turn into radon gas. So radon gas was being produced inside the bodies of these women. In fact, one test for radium contamination is to check a person's exhaled breath and see if it has radon gas in it; if it does, that person must have radium in his or her body. In the case of the radium dial painters, the radon gas was being produced in the bones, dissolved in the blood, and pumped by the heart up to the head where it collected in the sinus and other cavities. And there it was irradiating the delicate living tissues and causing head cancers.

Radon

Now, it so happens that for hundreds of years, going back to the 15th century, there had been reports that miners working in the Erz mountains had been dying at a tremendous rate from some unknown lung diseases. We're talking here about 75 percent mortality in some cases. It wasn't until the late 19th century that the principal disease was diagnosed and found to be lung cancer. At that time, lung cancer was virtually unknown among the surrounding population; yet these miners were experiencing in some cases up to 50 percent lung cancer mortality. The other lung ailments were not lung cancer, but other types of debilitating lung damage.
By the 1930s it had been established that this epidemic of lung cancer and other lung diseases was caused by breathing radioactive materials in the atmosphere of the mine. In animal experiments, radon gas was identified as the main killer.
Uranium finally acquired commercial value in 1942, when we discovered that we could make atomic bombs with it. Only then did we start mining uranium for itself and not as a byproduct of something else. A few years earlier, in 1938, it was discovered that uranium is not only radioactive, it is also fissionable, which makes it unique among all naturally occurring radioactive materials. When uranium atoms undergo the fission process, large amounts of energy are released. Unlike the process of radioactive decay, which cannot be turned on and off, nuclear fission can be controlled. The energy release caused by fission can be speeded up, slowed down, started or stopped. It can be used to destroy cities in the form of nuclear weapons, or to boil water inside a nuclear reactor.
Suddenly, uranium was in demand. We sent miners into the mines in North America at a permissible level of radiation exposure which was comparable to the levels that those miners in the Erz mountains had been getting back in the 19th century. And of course, the results were entirely predictable: an epidemic of lung cancer and other lung diseases. One has to ask therefore: Why were these consequences not predicted and prevented?

Radon Daughters

The answer is, in part, that the scientists refused to believe that such a small amount of radon gas could cause such a huge increase in cancer. As it turns out, the scientists were wrong. One of the basic things they overlooked, is that if you take a sample of radon gas -- right now, if I filled a tube with radon gas in front of your eyes, and measured the radiation in that tube -- within three hours, the level of radioactivity would increase by a factor of about five. Why?
As the radon atoms disintegrate, they produce other radioactive substances. And so, in fact, you have a multiplication of new radioactive materials which weren't there to begin with. This is one of the things the scientists overlooked. So that when the miners go into a mine where the radon has been collecting for several hours, it's five times as radioactive as radon in the laboratory. And those other substances -- the radon daughters -- are extremely dangerous. The worst of the radon daughters, by the way, is a substance called polonium -- the same polonium that Marie Curie discovered so many years ago. Recent scientific evidence shows that polonium is, in many circumstances, at least as toxic as plutonium, and in some cases more toxic.

Health Effects of Radioactive Materials

And so this one material, uranium, is responsible for introducing into the human environment a tremendously large range of radioactive materials which are all very inimical to biological organisms. These are not invisible rays, they are materials. They get into our water, our food, and the air we breathe. They're exactly like other materials except for the fact that they're radioactive.
Take, for instance, radioactive iodine. It behaves just like ordinary iodine, which is not radioactive. Why is there iodine in our table salt? Well, it's one of the few examples of preventative medicine we have. The iodine, when it's eaten in the table salt, goes to the thyroid gland, and there it helps to prevent a disease of the thyroid gland called "goiter". Radioactive iodine does exactly the same thing. If a child or an adult gets radioactive iodine in the diet, the radioactive iodine goes to the thyroid too, and it also helps to prevent goiter. But while it's there, the atoms explode, and the shrapnel rips through the cells of the body, and in the process breaks thousands of chemical bonds randomly.
It's like throwing a grenade into a computer. The probability of getting an improvement in a computer by throwing a grenade into it is very small, and similarly with radiation events and human cells. Now, the cells that die are really no problem, as long as not too many of them die. They can be replaced. The ones that are particularly dangerous are the ones that survive. Those damaged cells can develop into cancers. You can also have damage to germ cells -- eggs and sperm -- leading to genetically damaged children, grandchildren, or great-grandchildren.
As Alice Stewart mentioned in her talk, there are two categories of human illness that everyone agrees can be caused by exposure to atomic radiation even at very low levels. They are (1) cancers of all kinds, and also (2) genetic mutations -- which can be caused right down to the lowest levels of radiation exposure. Most scientists believe that these harmful effects are linearly related to the dose, so that if the dose is doubled, the number of cancers and genetic defects will also be doubled, and if the dose is cut in half, only half as many cancers and genetic defects will be seen. It is important to realize that if a damaging dose is spread out among a very large population, so that each individual receives only a very small portion of the total dose, the number of cancers and genetic defects is in no way diminished. Thus, in the case of radioactive pollution, dilution is no solution at all.
However, there is one other effect of radiation at low levels which wasn't mentioned in the previous talk, and I would like to just mention it here. It has now been confirmed by the scientific community -- only in recent years, by the way -- that mental retardation is caused by radiation exposure in the womb. This type of biological damage also seems to be linear, that is, proportional to dose, right down to the lowest levels of exposure. There doesn't seem to be any cut-off point. And so we have now discovered yet a third category of documented and scientifically accepted harmful effects of radiation and that is mental retardation in children who were irradiated while still in the womb.

http://www.ccnr.org/salzburg.html#ra

Meeting Information: Uranium Mining in Virginia

Meeting Information <><><>

Project Title:	Uranium Mining in Virginia
PIN:	DELS-BESR-09-06
Major Unit:	Division on Earth and Life Studies
Sub Unit:	Board on Earth Sciences & Resources Water Science and Technology Board
RSO:	Feary, David
Subject/Focus Area:	Earth Sciences
Uranium Mining in Virginia May 31, 2012 - May 31, 2012 Hilton Virginia Beach Oceanfront 3001 Atlantic Avenue Virginia Beach, VA 23451
If you would like to attend the sessions of this meeting that are open to the public or need more information please contact:
Contact Name: Courtney Gibbs
Email: cgibbs@nas.edu
Phone: 202-334-2743
Fax: 202-334-1377
Agenda: Public Briefing Report on Uranium Mining in Virginia The National Academy of Sciences' National Research Council will hold a briefing to present the findings of its recently released report, Uranium Mining in Virginia, and take questions from the public. Thursday, May 31, 2012 at 6:30 p.m. ET For more information, e-mail news@nas.edu or call 202-334-2138.

Series of URANIUM: Known Facts and Hidden Dangers

invited address by Dr. Gordon Edwards
at the World Uranium Hearings

Salzburg, Austria
September 14, 1992

Uranium

What do we know about uranium? Well, uranium is the heaviest naturally occurring element on earth. It is a metal, like all other metals, except that it had no commercial value before the mid-twentieth century. Until the last fifty years it was produced only as a byproduct. Thus the entire history of the mining of uranium has taken place during my lifetime. Moreover, a great deal of it has occurred in my homeland, Canada, which was the first country to produce and process uranium as such.
The first uranium processed by Canada was used to produce nuclear explosives for the atomic bombs dropped at Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Indeed, the beginning of the nuclear weapons program marked the beginning of the uranium industry. By 1956, uranium had become the fourth most important export from Canada, after pulp, lumber and wheat; and every ounce of it was used to produce A-bombs and H-bombs for the American -- and, to a lesser extent, the British -- nuclear weapons programs. It was the only use uranium had at that time.
Today, Canada remains the world's largest producer and exporter of uranium, ostensibly for peaceful purposes; that is, as fuel for civilian nuclear reactors. Canada is also one of the very few countries in the world in which uranium mining is currently expanding. In the province of Saskatchewan, there are environmental assessment hearings going on now, this year, having to do with the potential opening of five new uranium mines. This, despite the fact that the price of uranium is lower today than it has ever been. The price has been falling steadily for more than fifteen years, and is now at an all-time low.
I hope that those attending this conference will write to the Prime Minister of Canada (c/o House of Commons, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1A 0A6) and to the Premier of Saskatchewan (c/o Saskatchewan Legislature, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada) asking them not to continue the expansion of this industry. Why? Because uranium is the deadliest metal on earth. As you will see, the scientific evidence fully bears out this conclusion. I would now like to explain why.
Both the commercial value and the dangers of uranium are based on two extra-ordinary characteristics which it possesses. First of all, uranium is radioactive. Secondly, uranium is fissionable. These are two quite different properties, however, and they should not be confused.

Radioactivity

The phenomenon of radioactivity was accidentally discovered in 1896 when Henri Becquerel put a rock in a drawer. The rock contained uranium, and the drawer contained a photographic plate, which was well-wrapped and shielded from the light. Some weeks later, when Becquerel unwrapped and developed the plate, he found rays of light on the photograph emanating exactly from the point of contact where the rock had been resting on it. Being a scientist, he was astounded. He could think of no possible way in which an inert rock could spontaneously be releasing energy -- especially such a penetrating form of energy. Moreover, the energy release had taken place in total darkness, in the absence of any external stimulation -- there was no chemical reaction, no exposure to sunlight, nor anything else. Becquerel had discovered radioactivity.
Marie Curie decided to pursue the mystery further. She got some uranium ore from the Erz mountains, not very far from here. She chemically separated the uranium from the rest of the crushed rock (she had to crush the rock and dissolve it in acid to get the uranium out, which is what we still do today in mining uranium) and she found that even after the uranium had been removed, the crushed rock remained very radioactive -- much more so than the uranium itself. Here was a mystery indeed. Why is it that eighty-five percent of the radioactivity stays behind in the crushed rock?
Starting with many tons of rock, Madame Curie proceeded to separate out all the chemical elements she knew. It was painstaking work. Finally she was left with a small beaker of concentrated, highly radioactive liquid. By evaporating the water, she felt sure she would discover whatever was causing this intense radioactivity. But when the liquid was evaporated, the beaker was, apparently, completely empty. She was deeply disappointed. She couldn't fathom what had gone wrong. But when she returned to the laboratory late at night, she found the beaker glowing brightly in the dark, and she realized that it wasn't empty after all. In this way, Marie Curie discovered two new elements: radium and polonium. We now know these are inevitable byproducts of uranium.
By 1906, all the basic facts of radioactivity were known, except for the central mystery as to "why"; this we do not understand. Indeed, science doesn't really understand why anything is the way it is. All science can do is describe how things behave. Science tells us, for example, that all material things are made up of tiny atoms. The atoms found in most substances are remarkably stable, but in the case of radioactive materials, the atoms are unstable.
Consider the water in this glass. It is made up of stable atoms. Pure water is made up of hydrogen and oxygen atoms, and these atoms are, as far as science can determine, eternal and unchangeable. The very same atoms of hydrogen and oxygen that are in this glass of water were around, in some other combinations, in the days of the dinosaurs.
But radioactive substances have unstable atoms which can and will explode microscopically, and when they do, they give off a burst of energy. This process is called "radioactive disintegration" or "radioactive decay". When radioactive atoms explode, they give off highly energetic charged particles of two types: alpha and beta. These are particles, they're not invisible rays. They are like pieces of shrapnel from an explosion. And this microscopic shrapnel does great damage because of the high energy of the particles which are given off.

Decay Products

When a radioactive atom explodes, that atom is changed permanently into a new substance. And radium turns out to be one of the results of exploding uranium atoms. So wherever you find uranium on the earth, you will always find radium with it because it is one of about a dozen so-called "decay products" of uranium.
To be more precise, when uranium disintegrates it turns into a substance called protactinium, which is also radioactive. And when that disintegrates it turns into a substance named thorium, which is likewise radioactive. When thorium disintegrates it turns into radium; when radium disintegrates it turns into radon gas. And when radon gas atoms disintegrate, they turn into what are called the "radon daughters", or "radon progeny", of which there are about half a dozen radioactive materials, including polonium.
Finally, in this progression, you end up with a stable substance, which in itself is highly toxic: lead. But because the radioactivity of the other materials is so much more dangerous than this toxic heavy metal, people don't even talk about the lead at the end of the chain. They think that once all the radioactivity is gone, what's left is perfectly safe. It isn't -- but the lead that remains is just a whole lot less dangerous than the radioactive materials that produced it.
So all the radioactive decay products of uranium remain in the crushed rock when uranium is separated from the ore. That's why Marie Curie found most of the radioactivity left behind in the residues, including all the radium and all the polonium.

Read more:

http://www.ccnr.org/salzburg.html#ur

Virginia uranium mine could be concern for North Carolina

By Craig Holt - April 24, 2012     

Environmental groups fear that uranium mining in Virginia could cause problems along the Roanoke River system, much of which lies in North Carolina and is a popular fishing destination.

Environmentalists and the Roanoke River Basin Association are worried Virginia may allow mining for uranium in Pittsylvania County and possibly contaminate one of the major river drainages that flows into northeastern North Carolina.

Fishing supports thousand of jobs and several shoreline towns pull drinking water from the river.


  Virginia Uranium, Inc., wants a 30-year moratorium on uranium mining in the state lifted, starting with the world’s richest untouched deposit — estimated at 59,500 tons, between Chatham and Gretna at Coles Hill Farm. Walter Hill, owner of Coles Hill farm, is president of Virginia Uranium, Inc.

“The problem is, (Virginia) state law didn’t actually ‘ban’ uranium mining,” said Taylor Pool of the Duke Environmental Law Center, which has been studying the situation for environmental groups.

“What the law said was no mining could be done until after the state legislature authorized a study.”

That moratorium was initiated in the 1980s after discovery of huge uranium deposits in Pittsylvania County, but no legislation was finalized.

 Current mining proponents must deal with a dearth of public knowledge about uranium. Most people know uranium was involved in three memorable and scary breakdowns: Three Mile Island; Chernobyl, Russia; and last year’s Fukushima, Japan, disaster.

  Raw-mined uranium has little radioactivity until it is altered during the process that converts the ore to isotopes, U-238 and U-239 being the best-known.

The problem, Pool said, is mining of uranium produces tons of waste products (tailings) that have to be stored above or under ground. Underground wastes, unless sealed, can leach into ground water.

“It also produces radon gas, which is dangerous to humans, and if uranium gets into drinking water, it accumulates in the kidneys and eventually shuts them down,” he said. “(Virginia Uranium, Inc.) also hasn’t said how they plan to store the wastes — above or below ground.

“The main concern in Virginia is that it’s very wet,” Pool said. “It’s a temperate climate and has rolling hills, so contamination (after rain events) would be guaranteed.”

Pool said the Banister River, a tributary of the Roanoke River, is two miles from Coles Mill Farm, and two other tributaries, Mill Creek and White Horn Creek, are nearby.

 Virginia’s legislature also hasn’t opened the process to public comment.

“Their uranium working group isn’t subject to public-access laws through the (Freedom of Information Act),” Pool said. “They’re going to hold four public meetings, but we’ve heard they won’t allow public comments. One they held was basically to give everyone handouts to let people know what the process was and what they’d done.”

Another meeting is set June 3 at Chatham, Va.

 Tar Heel State will receive nothing more than contaminated runoff, and a go-ahead decision also will set a precedent and open other areas to uranium mining.

   The debate will continue another year. During January 2012, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell ordered the state study of the mine site to be completed before the 2013 General Assembly


http://www.northcarolinasportsman.com/printer_friendly.php?id=2517

Earth-Friendly & Organic Air Fresheners

 

by Melissa Lewis, Demand Media

Shopping for Eco-Friendly Options

Finding plant-based air fresheners these days is fairly easy, and they offer a variety of earth-friendly benefits. Forget about wasting energy with plug-in scented cartridges; greener options come in nonaerosol sprays and are biodegradable. Most eco-friendly odor-eliminating products also shun animal testing and utilize recyclable packaging. Pesticide-free lavender and citrus essential oils are most often used in organic air fresheners. Read the label carefully; just because an air freshener is unscented or claims to be natural doesn't mean it's 100 percent chemical-free.

 

Making Natural Air Fresheners

Another way to avoid introducing toxins into your home is to make your own air freshener. Fill a spray bottle with purified or distilled water and add several drops of an organic essential oil. Lemon, orange and lavender are popular scents for freshening the home, but you can experiment with your own favorites to create a custom air spray. (See References 4)

More Ways to Clear the Air

The simplest, most effective way to freshen the air inside your home is to open the windows, but you might also set small dishes of baking soda or vinegar throughout the house to absorb offensive odors. Simmering spices such as clove and cinnamon in a saucepan filled with water knocks out cooking odors and adds a delicious aroma to the air. Burning pure soy and beeswax candles with cotton wicks helps to clear the air. Tucking organic herb sachets throughout the house leaves a subtle fragrance. Another natural way to freshen your space is to nurture your green thumb; houseplants significantly improve indoor air quality by removing carbon dioxide and other toxins. (See References 3 and 4)

Read more:

http://greenliving.nationalgeographic.com/earthfriendly-organic-air-fresheners-2263.html?source=glhottopic

Gretna area lands on endangered historic sites list

By: John Crane | GoDanRiver
Published: May 07, 2012 Updated: May 07, 2012 - 7:08 PM

The proposal to mine and mill uranium at Coles Hill has landed a section of Pittsylvania County on a preservation group’s 2012 list of the 11 most endangered historic sites in the state.

Preservation Virginia has declared Whitehorn-Banister Rural Historic Landscape in northeastern Pittsylvania County as under threat from Virginia Uranium Inc.’s plans to mine and mill a 119 million pound uranium ore deposit at Coles Hill, six miles northeast of Chatham.

However, Patrick Wales, geologist and project manager with VUI, said the company has invested its money in preserving historic properties it owns in the county.

“We have been committed to historic preservation,” Wales said Monday. Had it not been for VUI, many of the sites and structures would still be in disrepair, Wales added.

During a news conference held Monday morning along Markham Road in the historic Whitehorn-Banister area, Preservation Virginia field representative Sonja Ingram said uranium mining and milling would bring heavy trucks, noise and dust, spoiling the area’s rural character. The Coles Hill Project would also contaminate the water supply, hurt real estate values and hamper promotion of heritage tourism, Ingram said.

“The impending threat to the region arises from the construction and operation of a uranium mine and mill proposed at Coles Hill, within the historic landscape,” Preservation Virginia stated in the list. “In addition to the loss of its characteristic rural qualities, this development could lead to groundwater contamination, noise pollution and real estate value loss and hinder future heritage tourism initiatives.”

“If the mining and milling process are allowed to take place, many acres of this historic landscape will be spoiled and its historic context disrupted,” the organization stated in the list.

Karen Maute, president of Piedmont Residents in Defense of the Environment (PRIDE), said during the conference that the Whitehorn-Banister area is like a microcosm of what would happen to the rest of the Dan River Region if uranium mining and milling is allowed at Coles Hill.

Virginia has had a moratorium on uranium mining and milling since 1982.

 VUI has owned historic structures in Southside Virginia. The properties include Cedar Hill, Col. East’s home, Coles Hill, Coles Hill Schoolhouse, Frith House, Womack Rock House, Womack second residence and Womack Manor, Wales said.

In its list, Preservation Virginia recommends that the consequences of the Coles Hill Project on heritage tourism and impact on the local economy be considered.

The group also recommends federal review under section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act to “help document and mitigate the damage to these historic resources.”

“We understand that it may not be required under the licensing of this mining and milling operation.

Wales said VUI would be subject to federal laws and that an assessment of historic properties is a component of the environmental impact statement the company will have to complete. The EIS requires a full cataloguing of historic sites and the licensing process incorporates those sites into the design , Wales said.

Ann Rogers, community organizer for the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League (BREDL), said she wrote the nomination letter for the area and the organization submitted it to Preservation Virginia.

PRIDE is a chapter of BREDL, which is based in Glendale Springs, N.C.

“The area is just exceptional for the number of historic properties and absence of more recent development,” Rogers said of the Whitehorn-Banister area.

BREDL was honored to have the nomination accepted by Preservation Virginia, Rogers said.

http://www2.wsls.com/news/2012/may/07/grenta-area-lands-endangered-historic-sites-list-ar-1896928/