A Virginia Farmer Fights to Harvest His Uranium
A U.S. Supreme Court challenge to the state’s mining ban divides the town of Chatham, as an environmental group warns of the potential “disaster” for air and water.
Coles in front of his home in Coles Hill, Virginia.
Photographer: Meg Roussos/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Walter Coles Sr. stood on a hill overlooking the Virginia pasture land that his family has farmed since it was deeded to them by Thomas Jefferson, motioning with a sweep of his hand to the expanse of radioactive treasure buried below.
“There’s uranium everywhere,” Coles said of fields that had once been filled with tobacco.