Don't lift the ban on uranium mining.
That's the message national environmental groups are sending to the Virginia Legislature.
Now one of those groups American Rivers claims a river in our area is threatened if that ban is lifted.
It's gone on for decades.
American Rivers listed the Roanoke River as one of America's top ten waterways in danger.
They say waste from a potenial uranium mine site in Pittsylvania County could pour into the river.
In an interview this morning with News7's Kimberly McBroom, Andrew Lester with the Roanoke River Basin Association says that runoff could cause cancer and contaminate the water.
"And with a hurricane or tornado it will either blow into the wind 50 miles away or so or it will wash into the Banister River which will go into the Roanoke River," Lester said.
Not true according to groups endorsing the mining.
Virginia Uranium in Chatham wants to see hard evidence before they hear the opposing side.
"A lot of the assumptions they use to base their analysis are misguided. Everyone is entitiled to their own opinion, but you're not entitled to your own facts," said Patrick Wales with Virginia Uranium, Inc.
Uranium mining has been banned since the early 80's.
Legislatures are organizing a study on the supposedly rich uranium area.
That report is set to be released in early December.
Virginia AP-The prospect of uranium mining in Southside Virginia has put the Roanoke River on a list of the nation's most endangered waterways.
American Rivers included the Roanoke and its tributaries on Tuesday as it released its annual list of America's Most Endangered Rivers.
The environmental group said lifting a 1982 Virginia ban on uranium mining would threaten the river and drinking supplies in the region with radioactive pollution and toxic chemicals.
Virginia Uranium Inc. has said it can safely mine the 119 million pound deposit in Pittsylvania County.
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