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local citizens want uranium mining company to be accountable for its water pollution

“in-situ” technology, whereby treated water is pumped underground to dissolve uranium deposits. The water is then pumped to the surface, the uranium extracted and the water returned underground.
Opponents of the mine operation say the system threatens groundwater quality over vast areas around the mine

Powertech sues over water rules; residents want mining company to be accountable By Tom HackerLoveland Reporter-Herald, 11/12/2010 Opponents of a proposed uranium mine near the Larimer and Weld county line east of Wellington are assailing a lawsuit filed by the mining company against state regulators.

Powertech Uranium Corp., the Canadian uranium prospecting company that plans the Centennial mine, filed suit in Denver District Court claiming rules adopted by regulators during the past two years designed to protect groundwater are “arbitrary and capricious.”But members of Citizens Against Resource Destruction, the group aligned to fight the mine plan, say Powertech’s legal action stands in contrast to its stated commitment to protect the environment.

Moreover, Powertech officials had said in published comments they “can live with” the new rules, and they are “not fatal to the project.”Powertech’s suit, filed Nov. 1, names as defendants the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board and Mike King, executive director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources.

In Situ MiningPowertech proposes to employ “in-situ” technology, whereby treated water is pumped underground to dissolve uranium deposits. The water is then pumped to the surface, the uranium extracted and the water returned underground.
Opponents of the mine operation say the system threatens groundwater quality over vast areas around the mine.The rules adopted by regulators reflect two laws passed out of the 2008 Legislature that frame more stringent requirements for groundwater protection and allow local government participation in the permit process…….

Powertech sues over water rules; residents want mining company to be accountable, 11/12/2010 – Reporter-Herald, Loveland, Colo.

November 15, 2010 - Posted by Christina MacPherson | Legal, technology, Uranium, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, radiation, uranium