Roanoke River

Like mining for gold, mining for uranium typically comes with serious downstream pollution that American Rivers warns "could last for centuries" if it proceeds as planned along a tributary of the Roanoke River — a claim that isn't pure hyperbole when one considers the longevity of radioactive elements. The Roanoke River flows out of Virginia's scenic Blue Ridge Mountains toward North Carolina's Outer Banks. The key to saving the river from this threat, according to American Rivers, is the legislature in business-friendly Virginia; advocates at the Southern Environmental Law Center and elsewhere fear lawmakers' request for a study on the safety of uranium mining is a precursor to lifting the state's ban on the practice.