Decommissioning issues at Cañon City uranium mill (Colorado)
(last updated 25 Feb 2012)
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CDPHE invites public comment on decommissioning of Cañon City uranium mill
The first round of documents relating to the termination of Cotter's radioactive materials license have been received and a public comment period begins today.
Written comments will be accepted through Feb. 17 by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment on three documents: the New Evaporation Pond Conceptual Design, Onsite Soil Excavation and Groundwater Characterization Process Plan and the Soil Remediation Criteria Selection.
(The Cañon City Daily Record Jan. 17, 2012)
Written comments will be accepted through March 2, 2012 (comment period extended).
> View CDPHE notice Jan. 17, 2012 
Cotter Corp. adds $6.8 million to Cañon City uranium mill cleanup as Colorado accelerates timetable
It'll take at least a decade before Cotter Corp.'s contaminated Colorado uranium mill is cleaned up under a new deal aimed at accelerating work at the site.
State regulators on Friday (Jan. 13) announced terms that include Cotter adding $6.8 million more to a $20.8 million surety fund as insurance if the company fails to complete the cleanup. They say negotiations with Cotter led to an arrangement in which $3.6 million of that surety money immediately will be used in an effort to speed the work.
The agreement settles a long-running dispute about the surety fund - state officials have estimated cleanup would cost as much as $40 million - and also sets Cotter's timetable and penalties if deadlines aren't met.
It "affirms Cotter's commitment to site remediation," according to a statement from Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment director Chris Urbina.
Key tasks include:
- Installing new monitoring wells and lining ditches in adjacent Caņon City.
- Building and testing a system that could flush and treat contaminated water in the so-called "dam to ditch" area straddling Cotter's 1,500-acre property and private land.
- Digging a trench system and new evaporation pond for holding contaminated water at the mill site.
"All sides agree this is how we are going to proceed," said John Hamrick, vice president of milling for Cotter, a subsidiary of San Diego-based defense contractor General Atomics.
However, a cleanup watchdog group criticized the deal Friday night, saying plans were revised with little public input.
(Denver Post Jan. 14, 2012)
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