Radiation, no snub, Webb and cuts

By Published by The Editorial Board

Published: June 17, 2008

What if it were radioactive?

To the editor:

If anyone doubts low-level radioactive dust from uranium mining and milling would not drift to Chatham and Danville, they should consider the heavy, acrid smoke that blew in over our area last week. The source? Smoke-filled winds from wildfires in eastern North Carolina.

With visible, smoke-filled skies, folks were wise to stay inside their homes to avoid breathing in the particulate-laden smoke while it remained heavy in the area.

Where do folks go to escape low-level radioactive dust that will be in the atmosphere for the next 30 years? Virginia Uranium Inc. has given this estimate of time it will mine and mill uranium at Coles Hill near Chatham. Sadly, the low-level radioactive dust created by open-pit uranium mining (through successive TNT blasts) and milling (the grinding of mined rock into a powdery state for ore extraction) will create a continuous dust fallout — a low-level radioactive fallout, carried by the winds, onto food and water sources and into the airways of man and all other animal life. It is known that sufficient exposure (I consider 30 years to be a long exposure period) to low-level radioactive waste materials has been shown to increase the risk of cancer and other illnesses. To quote one source: “While uranium mining is most commonly associated with cancer, low level radiation is also implicated in birth defects, high infant mortality and chronic lung, eye, skin and reproductive illnesses.” (http://www.anawa.org.au/mining/problems.html)

At least with the smoke from the wildfires, folks could recognize the potential health hazard and stay indoors until the smoke had dissipated. The potential health hazards attributable to low-level radioactive-laden dust from a uranium mining and milling facility, operating over a 30-year span, would be much harder to detect because its radioactivity is odorless, colorless and tasteless. The true health effects will come years later when it is too late to undo the damage.

Do we really want to expose our beautiful state and our loved ones to the potential health hazards caused by a uranium mining and milling facility? VUI would have us believe there is no danger — don’t believe it!

ANNE COCKRELL

To the editor:

I was dismayed by the headline, “Gilmore snubs Southside on tour” (June 14, page A3). The article went on to say that “Southside Virginians got the cold shoulder” because former Gov. Jim Gilmore did not include our area in his campaign kick-off tour. The end of the article said Gilmore’s Web site states he would be visiting the Danville area in the next few weeks.

I’m all for attention-grabbing headlines — as long as they are fair and don’t give readers the wrong impression. This article’s headline was unfair. The word “snub” means “to insult (someone) deliberately (verb) and/or “a deliberately insulting remark or act” (noun).

I doubt that simply choosing one area of the state over another in which to begin a campaign tour is a “snub” or a “cold-shoulder.” You can do better than this, Register & Bee! Let’s keep the news clear, concise and non-inflammatory. By the way, I’m a Mark Warner supporter.

LAURIE TILLETT

To the editor:

A few weeks ago, I was discussing Barack Obama’s choices for a running mate and a gentleman suggested Sen. Jim Webb. The idea had not occurred to me, but because I respect the person’s judgment, I have given it some thought. As a result, I think Barack Obama should consider Jim Webb.

Webb’s young and independent. He still has the spirit in him to stand for what he thinks is right — regardless of the party line. He is a principled man, one who could be trusted to be one heartbeat away from the presidency. Those who consider him reckless are wallowing in the cesspool of mediocrity which does not understand or even perceive the value of risk-taking behavior — behavior which is endemic to those who have been trained in and survived warfare.

He stands in the soldier-statesman model, being accomplished as a writer and thinker. It takes both intellect and courage to face the issues of this world. After serving his country in the field, Webb has stepped forward to serve in another venue and, I believe, he is a man who is prepared for this time in history.

He has not spent long years in the Senate, becoming anesthetized to the realities of life in America or as one of those C-SPAN stars spending valuable time searching for video opportunities to be captured parroting a list of complaints they think we want to make to big oil while making no progress whatsoever in changing the picture for the American family.

He’s mountain people, of Scots-Irish lineage. He has known hard times. His background speaks to the heart of many Americans who were fervent supporters of Hillary Clinton and who were touched by something distinctly American about her. She was unswerving in her determination to secure the Democratic presidential nomination, she had spent the last few years working and preparing to be president and she has a strong network of old-guard Democratic allies — many of them black — who helped keep her in the game until they no longer could ignore the wishes of their constituencies.

Despite all of the hard work, it was not her time.

The working class folks of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas and other red states can relate to a Jim Webb.

He is also one who could be a valuable asset, first to Barack Obama and then to this country. He stood up for the right thing early on in Iraq. To quote an op-ed in The Washington Post published on Sept. 4, 2002, Webb asked: “Is there an absolutely vital national interest that should lead us from containment to unilateral war and a long-term occupation of Iraq? Would such a war and its aftermath actually increase our ability to win the war against international terrorism?”

Jim Webb has won the respect of his peers in the Senate during his short tenure winning this high praise from Republican Chuck Hagel who said, “I think Jim Webb is one of the smartest guys I’ve ever known. He has an ability to think through issues; not many here do. He questions, he probes, he thinks through the consequences — we almost never do. We take an action — like going to war — without thinking. He listens.”

He and Barack Obama share that wisdom which knows how to listen.

I say again to Mr. Obama: Consider Jim Webb.

CAROLYN LaVISCOUNT

To the editor:

I am writing in reference to, “City needs to raise taxes,” (June 5, page A4), the letter about how we should have our property taxes raised in Danville to help lower utility rates.

In the letter was something about rising utility rates being a hardship on our people who live on a limited income. Most of us live on a limited income and we who own property struggle to pay our property taxes now. So how is raising the property tax going to help us? Homes are being foreclosed on now.

Why can’t we cut back on making our city beautiful to try to lure companies here? The ones that have come are mostly low-paying jobs. I am sure parents who are struggling to send their child (or children) to college do not want them to be working in low wage jobs after college. Would you?

Greensboro and Raleigh, N.C., and Roanoke are not beautiful — and they have more higher paying jobs than our city does. I recently read where Lynchburg has 500 new jobs coming and I bet a lot them will be reasonable paying ones.

You can only tax a city of people so much before they go broke and it becomes a ghost town. Higher property taxes for people that have no problem paying them are great, but for the people that are hurt by that, it’s bad.

I’m sure if our City Council members study the budget long enough, they will find other things that can be cut back on — or cut out.

JEWEL TOLLEY

Danville