COMMUNITY AND GOVERNMENT RESPONSE TO A RECENT GOLD DISCOVERY IN THE PIEDMONT OF VIRGINIA, USA

“Public policy” can be defined as, “Whatever the government decides to do or not do.” Government policy-making typically occurs in response to an initiating event or condition, and is often driven by citizen demand to do something. In this example, the initiating event was the announcement of a new gold discovery in Virginia’s western piedmont by a Canadian “junior” exploration company. Virginia has a long history of gold exploration and production, with most activity concentrated in the Gold-pyrite Belt during the decades before the California gold rush of 1849. The new discovery was outside of the legacy mining area and near an intentional community, tribal lands, and at least one designated disadvantaged community. Local residents from these different communities, alarmed at the prospect of a large, open-pit mining operation in their backyards, banded together to form a new environmental advocacy group. The group demanded government action, first from the county and then from the state, to protect them from the potential negative impacts of gold mining. The actions taken by concerned residents and the response from various levels of government culminated in a state-commissioned consensus study by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The study, conducted by an ad hoc committee of volunteer scientists, engineers, and public health professionals, considered whether Virginia’s mining and reclamation regulations were sufficient to protect air and water quality. The study concluded with a list of science-based recommendations for improving those regulations. In the time since the recommendations were delivered in December of 2022, the Virginia state legislature has yet to act on them. Returning to the definition of “public policy” above, we are compelled to recognize “no action” as a valid public policy response.