Virginia AG Successfully Defended State’s Long-Standing Moratorium on Uranium Mining

JULY 31, 2020

Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring successfully defended a moratorium on uranium mining adopted by the state’s legislature in 1978 against a legal challenge in state court. The court’s decision noted that the moratorium was based in part on the legislature’s conclusion—since reinforced by further evidence—that “there was considerably more risk than economic benefit in the proposed mining.” In upholding the moratorium, the court concluded: “The common law supports it. Common sense supports it. To find otherwise would be untenable.”