Pittsylvania board may seek probe of lead in drinking water

DANVILLE -- A Pittsylvania County supervisor hopes federal and state agencies will look into elevated lead levels at home wells near Coles Hill, where Virginia Uranium Inc. has done exploratory drilling in hopes of one day mining uranium.

Chatham-Blairs Supervisor Hank Davis has proposed a resolution for the Board of Supervisors that would ask the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Virginia Department of Health to investigate higher amounts of lead in home wells in the Sheva area near Coles Hill.

The board will consider the idea at its meeting Tuesday in Chatham.

However, Walter Coles Sr., chairman of Virginia Uranium Inc., which is seeking to mine and mill a uranium deposit at Coles Hill, said exploratory drilling there is not the cause of rising levels.

"We don't have anything to do with it," Coles said.

Higher lead levels are upstream of VUI's operations at Coles Hill, he said.

Uranium mining is banned in Virginia by a 1982 moratorium. The Virginia Coal and Energy Commission's Uranium Mining Subcommittee is overseeing a study to determine whether mining and milling of uranium can be done safely in the commonwealth.

In late 2007 and 2008, VUI took water samples from about 150 sites at more than 80 residences in a radius of about a mile around Coles Hill. VUI geologist Patrick Wales said in March that lead levels in water vary widely through the region.

At least one resident, Allen Gross, who lives about a mile from Coles Hill, said in March that VUI contracted for test and analysis of five water samples on his property from December 2007 to September 2008.

Before drilling began, the first test showed a lead measurement of 2.83 parts per billion. But the last sample, taken in September, showed a level of 17.9 parts per billion, Gross said.

The maximum safe level of lead in drinking water is 15 parts per billion, according to the EPA.

John R. Crane is a staff writer for the Danville Register & Bee.