nuclear-news

New Colorado clean-up law could put the brakes on uranium industry

The new Colorado law requires Cotter to restore polluted groundwater to safe levels before restarting operations. ….Ripple effects of the Colorado law could reach beyond state lines.

Mopping up uranium’s mess, High Country News, States push to clean up mine and mill sites, July 09, 2010 by Nathan Rice When Sharyn Cunningham moved to Cañon City, Colorado in 1994, no one told her the groundwater was contaminated – not her real estate agent, not the county health department, not state regulators. For eight years, she and her family unknowingly used a well tainted with uranium and molybdenum from the Cotter Corporation uranium mill a mile away, a Superfund site since 1984. The mill, the only one in the state, shut down in 1989, then reopened from 2004 to 2006; now, Cotter wants to once again start operations at the site. Despite millions spent on remediation, contamination persists today.
As co-chair of Colorado Citizens Against Toxic Waste, Cunningham has lobbied for cleanup of her community’s groundwater for the last eight years. This spring, the Colorado legislature finally heard the call. It passed the Uranium Processing Accountability Act, which mandates cleanup before Cotter can resume processing uranium ore, which it plans to do by 2014. Gov. Bill Ritter signed the bill into law on June 9………….

Resounding bipartisan support for the bill in the state house (60-3) and senate (24-9) suggests an urgency to mop up the old hot mess before a new wave of uranium production breaks ground.

Similar public sentiment has other Western states pushing back as federal support for nuclear energy propels an ensuing uranium boom. The toxic legacy of the last boom persists throughout the West as abandoned mines and tailings piles continue to contaminate groundwater and health problems plague nearby communities. Initiatives like the Colorado uranium bill and a grassroots-led uranium cleanup plan in New Mexico highlight mounting frustration at the fallout from lax regulation and lagging remediation efforts.

The new Colorado law requires Cotter to restore polluted groundwater to safe levels before restarting operations. ………….Remediation of past uranium mill sites in Colorado has cost taxpayers $950 million, according to the U.S. Department of Energy — another issue addressed by the bill, which calls for more public involvement in bonding decisions……….
Ripple effects of the Colorado law could reach beyond state lines.

Mopping up uranium’s mess — High Country News

July 10, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, water | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear technology, radiation, radioactive, uranium, water