RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Six Southside Virginia legislators have met with Gov. Bob McDonnell to discuss their concerns about uranium mining in their back yards.
Pittsylvania County Republican Delegate Donald Merricks said the governor told them Friday legislative matters such as transportation and education issues have his full attention and he doesn't expect to take up uranium mining anytime soon.
A proposal to end Virginia's decades-old prohibition on uranium mining got nowhere in the General Assembly this session, so the Legislature's leading advocate asked the governor to step in. Sen. John Watkins wants McDonnell to direct state agencies to draw up regulations for uranium mining that would possibly go before the 2014 session.
Virginia Uranium Inc. wants to mine a 119-million-pound deposit of the ore in Merrick's home district.
