In a relatively short period of time, a movement has appeared in Northern Colorado. It is a movement that has brought together people both progressive and conservative, Democrat and Republican, joining environmentalists, agriculturalists, businesses, and activists.
The center of this transforming controversy is the proposed uranium mining scheme by Powertech Uranium outside of Nunn, Colorado. In short order, an efficient and organized opposition has formed to the proposed mining, only eleven miles from Fort Collins. The stakes are large. The implications impact everything from local property values and property rights to the safety and security of fragile water resources and air quality. (In September I posted a fabulous op-ed by State Reps. Randy Fischer and John Kefalas.)
With a standing-room-only crowd that had just spent one hour testifying, the council took the bold leadership step of helping to secure the future of northern Colorado's economy and environment. Amidst hoots, hollers and eruptive applause, Fort Collins became the first Colorado city to pass a resolution against uranium mining in the northern part of our state.
Councilmember Lisa Poppaw introduced the resolution - it passed with a 6-0 vote with one member abstaining.
The threat in northern Colorado comes from a proposed project - the Centennial uranium mine - near the town of Nunn and just seven miles from Fort Collins. The mining company - a Canadian corporation named Powertech - is proposing an in-situ leach mining operation that will pump chemicals into the groundwater to leach out the uranium, and then pump the groundwater to the surface to chemically extract the uranium from the water. In addition, the mining company has not ruled out the possibility of digging a massive open-pit mine to extract the uranium by mechanical means.
With both the Larimer County Medical Society and the Colorado Medical Society standing in opposition to the mine, and with available knowledge of the disastrous effects uranium mining has had on air and water quality -- with mining companies leaving the mess for the taxpayers -- Fort Collins stood on firm ground in opposing the mine. This in despite of the confused crabbing from Vince Carroll that a city council should only follow where its staff lead.
Last month, the New York Times ran a garbled article on the mine's opposition, by casting for its readers some sort of esoteric "debate" in agonized terms that did more to betray the author's sense of dilemma than it did the reality of a threat. With the clear and present threat to the region's underground water supply, air quality and local economic well-being from uranium mines -- in Fort Collins one never hears some moaning debate about whether a threat to a region's existence is somehow a rational tradeoff to nuclear plants' zero carbon emissions...simply because such a debate would be utterly stupid on its face. Consequently, while the Times brought national attention to the issue, much of the piece made little sense.
On the other hand, the Rocky Mountain Chronicle recently did a set of pieces on the issue. "Glow or Grow?" by Josh Zaffos focuses on the glaringly obvious issue -- where the New York Times essentially missed the boat:
About three hundred thousand people live within thirty miles of the proposed uranium mining. And, as of 2001, 33,700 wells pull water from the Laramie-Fox Hills aquifer, which is the formation that would be mined per the Centennial Project.
As in much of Colorado politics, the overriding issue: water. And an in situ uranium mine in Northern Colorado would specifically mine the rock in which the Laramie-Fox Hills water sits, stripping out the uranium before returning the waste water it extracts back into said aquifer. Hence, the very structure of the aquifer itself is impacted, while the water it holds is irradiated and then pumped back into the ground. (Click on the image or here to see full size.) Zaffos continues:
When the Corpus Christi Caller-Times reviewed 32 in-situ-leaching uranium mines in south Texas in November 2006, the investigation found that the state had relaxed groundwater standards because companies couldn’t restore resources to pre-mining conditions. In every case, mining companies left behind uranium, radium, selenium or molybdenum at elevated levels.
One of the biggest health and environmental risks is to groundwater. The groundwater aquifer that Powertech will inject chemicals into feeds a huge network of drinking-water wells in northern Colorado, and also provides water for livestock and crop irrigation. Unfortunately, the track record of in-situ leach uranium mining is littered with groundwater pollution, spills, mistakes and clean-up problems that are left wanting for both money and often a government bailout.
The economic risks were also highlighted at the meeting when a local real estate agent described a potential buyer immediately backing out of a potential sale upon learning that the property was in the vicinity of the proposed mine. The bottom line: Nobody wants to live near a uranium mine. Risks to property values - even seven miles away in Fort Collins - are a serious concern.
As if the threat to groundwater wasn't enough, Powertech has made noises about also performing open pit mining operations!
On a 6-0 vote -- with Councilmember Wade Troxell refusing to support the resolution against uranium mining mere miles from his city -- the Fort Collins City Council has made clear that it stands shoulder to shoulder with the broad coalition in Northern Colorado that has developed in opposition to Powertech's plans.
It is important that the rest of the state of Colorado takes note, both because this particular mining scheme has statewide implications, and because there may very well be a scheme like this coming soon to your city or town.
On Dec. 4th, the city of Fort Collins made history by opposing this mine, but what it also did was help write a new history of Colorado. Instead of the history our generation inherited - one dotted with mines, endless pollution and endless Superfund clean-up costs - the next generation might inherit a cleaner, greener Colorado, one that protects both the economy and the environment.
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