VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) - The company proposing to mine the nation's largest known uranium deposit in the United States is assuring Virginia Beach residents their public water supplies would not be threatened by the processing of the radioactive ore.
Virginia Uranium Inc. restated its commitment Tuesday to store radioactive-laced rock from the processing of the ore at the so-called Coles Hill deposit in below-ground containment cells, which it said would "eliminate the risk" of tailings entering public water supplies.
A Virginia Beach study has warned that a catastrophic weather event at a Pittsylvania County milling facility could scatter waste known as tailings into Lake Gaston, which supplies water to the resort city and neighboring communities about 100 miles away.
The company offered its assurances at a news conference in Virginia Beach.
