June 30, 2011

By Matt Ferner

From the Huffington Post

CotterCorp. has received approval from Colorado Department of Public Healthand Environment to dump 90,000 gallons of radioactive sludge andwaste products from its defunct Canon City uranium mill, into animpoundment pond that officials know is leaking, TheDenver Post reports.

Department ofPublic Health officials say that despite the leak, groundwatercontamination will not worsen near Canon City because there areunderground barriers in place that would confine the leak near theimpoundment, according to TheDenver Post.Cotter Corp. disputes that there are any leaks at all in theimpoundments.

Thisapproval by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environmentfor Cotter Corp. dumping comes amidst Cotter’s refusal to clean uptoxic uranium waste that has already contaminated a creek that flowsinto a Denver metro-area drinking-water reservoir discovered in 2010.

Fox31reportedin 2010 that groundwater near Ralston Creek, which flows into DenverWater’s Ralston Reservoir, contained uranium levels 1,000 timeshigher than human health standards.

However,despite early claims from Cotter Vice President John Hamrick that thecompany was<>consideringmethods to deal with the contamination,Cotter has filed a lawsuit against the state of Colorado in challengeagainst the clean up order. Denver Water use their treatment systemsto remove the uranium contamination from the creek and reservoirbefore it reaches Denver homes, TheDenver Postgoeson to report. Environmental groups have been battling with Cotter toclean up their site, Colorado Citizens Against ToxicWaste (CCAT)filed a lawsuit against the company in 2010 to force Cotter toestablish a cleanup plan. Cotter along with the Colorado Departmentof Public Health and Environment asked the court to dismiss CCAT’scase, but in earlier this month District Court Judge Robert Hyattrejected that motion, TheColorado Independent reports.

SharynCunningham, a chair of CCAT and whose own well water was contaminatedby the Cotter Mill made this statement to TheColorado Independent:

Instead of telling us that we don’thave an interest in the radioactive contamination of our water andair, the department ought to be working with the public to protectour environment and health. It is regrettable that CDPHE has takenCotter’s side to keep Colorado citizens out of the decisionprocess.

In 2009,Cotterannounced hopes to refurbishtheCold War-era uranium mine to process ore from a mine in New Mexicoand have it at least partially operational by 2014. Go to ColoradoCitizens Against ToxicWaste websiteformore information about the non-profit group, filed complaints andmore.