2/3 of U.S. drinking water systems have uranium; search new database to see how your county's water stacks up

Public water systems by uranium, concentration 2000-2011 (Columbia University map; click the image to enlarge it)

Uranium is present in two-thirds of the nation's community water systems, which may put many Americans at a higher risk of health problems such as cancer, heart disease, and kidney problems. That's according to an analysis of Environmental Protection Agency data from 2000-2011 published this month in The Lancet Planetary Health. Though only 2.1 percent of water systems had annual uranium levels that exceed EPA maximums, there has been little research about the health effects of chronic uranium exposure.

Semi-urban Hispanic communities had the highest average levels of uranium and other toxic metals such as arsenic, barium, chromium, and selenium, according to the researchers from Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. Because Hispanic communities tended to have those elevated levels regardless of location or region, the study's authors said a failure of regulatory policy and/or water-treatment infrastructure may be to blame rather than natural occurrence of the heavy metals in the groundwater.

Moreover, an interactive map and searchable database show that counties across the nation — many rural — have contaminated water too. How pure is the water in your county?

Former coal lobbyist confirmed for No. 2 EPA spot

Andrew Wheeler
(Zuma Press photo by Alex Edelman)

Former coal and uranium mining lobbyist Andrew Wheeler was confirmed in the Senate last week as the deputy administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, which would put him in line to run the agency if Administrator Scott Pruitt left. The vote was 53-45, with three coal-state Democrats supporting Wheeler: Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, and Joe Donnelly of Indiana.

Before his lobbying days, Wheeler worked on environmental legislation as a longtime aide to Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), the ranking member of the Environmental and Public Works committee who famously denies climate change, Rebecca Hersher reports for NPR. He also worked at the EPA as a special assistant in the agency's Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics in the early 1990s, helping the agency update its early warning system for regulating and keeping track of new chemical hazards.

"Environmental groups and many Democrats have criticized the nomination, pointing to Mr. Wheeler’s lobbying for the coal industry and, in particular, his work for behalf of Ohio-based Murray Energy Corp," Heidi Vogt and Timothy Puko report for The Wall Street Journal. "Murray Energy, the country’s largest privately held coal-mining company, and its controlling owner, Robert Murray, have been some of the largest donors to Mr. Trump’s political groups."

Wheeler sought to distance himself from Murray, telling the Journal that Murray was "just one client" and that critics highlight his former connection for "political reasons”. However, he said his biggest accomplishment has been working with Murray on health care and pension issues for coal miners.

Ag uranium levels rising in N. California; little info being given to non-English speaking residents

Agricultural workers in California's San Joaquin Valley—many of them non-English speakers—are being warned through poorly worded notices short of information that their drinking water could contain dangerous levels of uranium, reports The Associated Press. Giselle Alvarez, 16, one of the few English speaking residents in the area, told AP of the warning signs, "It says you can drink the water—but if you drink the water over a period of time, you can get cancer. They really don't explain." Long-term exposure can damage kidneys and increase cancer risks. (Valley CAN map)

"Uranium, the stuff of nuclear fuel for power plants and atom bombs, increasingly is showing in drinking water systems in major farming regions of the U.S. West—a naturally occurring but unexpected byproduct of irrigation, of drought and of the overpumping of natural underground water reserves," reports AP. The average level of uranium in public-supply wells of the eastern San Joaquin Valley increased 17 percent from 1990 to the mid-2000s, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

"The number of public-supply wells with unsafe levels of uranium, meantime, climbed from 7 percent to 10 percent over the same period there," reports AP. That means one in four families "on private wells in this farm valley who, unknowingly, are drinking dangerous amounts of uranium, researchers determined this year and last."

The problem has also affected other areas, reports AP. "Nearly 2 million people in California's Central Valley and in the U.S. Midwest live within a half-mile of groundwater containing uranium over the safety standards, University of Nebraska researchers said in a study published in September." (Read more)

Geologists, environmentalists disagree on proposal to mine big uranium deposit in Virginia

A proposal for uranium mining in rural Virginia is being revived with support from the Virginia and West Virginia members of the American Institute of Professional Geologists. Virginia Uranium is hoping to mine Coles Hill, the 119-million-pound deposit "about 100 miles east of Pendleton County, W. Va," The Associated Press reports.

The president of the Virginias section of AIPG, Micale Lawless, told AP, "Members overwhelmingly support the Virgina mining as a way to diversify the nation's energy policy and ease reliance on foreign energy." (Read more)

But uranium mining is opposed by some environmental groups, like Keep the Ban, which distributed maps showing other uranium deposits that could be tapped if the ban is lifted. "It's a bigger can of worms than I think people recognize," the group's Nathan Loft told Liz Essley of The Washington Examiner.

Patrick Wales, the company's project manager, told Essley, "We've got 119 million pounds of uranium we can't do anything with, so that's enough for us. I think it's unfortunate that we have these environmental organizations that are pursuing their agenda that is not based on facts and not based on science." (Read more)

Research suggests fracking could lead to uranium groundwater contamination

Researchers at State University of New York at Buffalo say hydraulic fracturing may release more than natural gas from shale formations as the process can mobilize uranium as well. Scientists say the uranium could pollute groundwater near "fracking" operations, the Environmental News Service reports. "Marcellus shale naturally traps metals such as uranium and at levels higher than usually found naturally, but lower than man made contamination levels," lead researcher Tracy Bank, PhD, assistant professor of geology in UB's College of Arts and Sciences, said.

"My question was, if they start drilling and pumping millions of gallons of water into these underground rocks, will that force the uranium into the soluble phase and mobilize it?" Bank said. "Will uranium then show up in groundwater?" Researchers scanned the surfaces of Marcellus Shale samples from Western New York and Pennsylvania and found uranium bonded to hydrocarbons. "That led me to believe that uranium in solution could be more of an issue because the process of drilling to extract the hydrocarbons could start mobilizing the metals as well," Bank said, "forcing them into the soluble phase and causing them to move around."

Bank warned that water from fracking could contain uranium contaminants when it is brought to the surface, potentially polluting streams and generating hazardous waste. "Even though at these levels, uranium is not a radioactive risk, it is still a toxic, deadly metal," Bank said. "We need a fundamental understanding of how uranium exists in shale. The more we understand about how it exists, the more we can better predict how it will react to fracking." (Read more)

Va. lawmakers kill study of proposed uranium mine

The prospect of a uranium mine in Southern Virginia's Pittsylvania County has divided the area for months. This week, a Virginia legislative panel tabled a proposal for a study on uranium mining at the site site, which owners think is one of the richest uranium concentrations in the country, reports Mason Adams of The Roanoke Times. "The procedural move by the House Rules Committee effectively kills the bill, which many of its opponents saw as the first step to lift Virginia's 25-year-old moratorium on uranium mining," Adams writes.

Virginia Uranium Inc. pushed for the study in hopes of starting to tap the deposit it says is worth $10 billion. Opponents, however, said they are concerned about the safety of such extraction, specifically the radioactive "tailings" left behind when uranium is mined. "We can probably mine it safely," Del. Watkins Abbitt, I-Appomattox County, who helped create the uranium mining moratorium in 1983. "But we cannot handle the tailings safely. That's the problem, that was the problem then." (Read more)

Uranium mine idea sparks debate in southern Va.

A deposit of uranium ore could mean millions for the owner of some southern Virginia farmland, but so far it has only served to make him a controversial figure in his community and create an issue for the state legislature.

Despite the opposition of many of his neighbors, Walter Coles, the owner of the farm and the chairman of Virginia Uranium Inc., wants the state to allow independent testing to see if mining can be done safely in Pittsylvania County, reports Duncan Adams of The Roanoke Times (which produced the map).

The controversy has made Coles and his efforts a common topic on the opinion pages of The Chatham Star-Tribune, an 8,300-circulation weekly that serves the county. One letter asked if Pittsyvlania County wanted to be a "National Sacrifice Area," referencing worries about radioactive material left behind by the mining. (Adams reports that one petition in the community reads, "Heck no! We won't glow!") In a Jan. 2 letter to the Star-Tribune, Coles wrote that the deposit "is estimated to be the largest known untapped uranium deposit in the U.S." and could bring millions to the community.

The Danville Register & Bee, a 21,000-circulation daily, said in an editorial, "The uranium challenge facing this community is simple. People have to learn the facts about uranium mining so that they can better guide their local and state legislators. But they need to hurry."

This week, Sen. Frank Wagner, R-Virginia Beach, introduced a bill to create a commission to explore mining uranium in Virginia. A 1983 ban on uranium mining in the state is still in effect, Adams reports. Earlier this week, the Pittsylvania County zoning board granted a permit allowing Virginia Uranium to construct storage buildings as part of its exploratory work.

While Coles touts the economic impact of the uranium, opponents cite safety concerns. "Many residents have concerns about short — and long-term control and monitoring of the sandy 'tailings' that remain after milling — byproducts containing radioactive materials and hazardous heavy metals," Adams writes. (Read more)