The Supreme Court of Virginia has refused Virginia Uranium’s appeal to overturn the state’s ban on uranium mining. The policy keeping the industry out of Virginia has been in place for nearly four decades.
Opponents of uranium mining say it’s risky to human health and the environment due to radioactive waste and the potential for groundwater contamination among other worries.
Virginia Uranium maintains it can prevent many of the environmental concerns including the contamination of groundwater, recreation sites and farms.
The company has said the ban is both illegal and unwise. It argues the state is trampling on its property rights by refusing to allow the company to mine the largest known uranium deposit in the U.S. on property it owns in Pittsylvania County.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2018 that Virginia has the authority to ban uranium mining. Attorney General Mark Herring, who is defending the state, said the state Supreme Court’s ruling on Thursday affirms that right. Lawyers for Virginia Uranium argued the state is indirectly interfering with federally-regulated nuclear-waste management by banning state-regulated mining.
Congress gave states the authority to regulate mining, or upstream development, and it’s up to the federal government to regulate downstream activities, including uranium production and the storage of radioactive waste.
