Tallahassee area’s uranium exploration top story of year

Comment: The people in Tallahassee, CO are fighting Uranium Mining too, their web site:

http://www.taccolorado.com/portal/

Debbie Bell, The Daily Record, Publish Date: 12/31/08

Surrounded by opposition, the controversial Conditional Use Permit to allow uranium exploration in the Tallahassee area was approved unanimously by the Fremont County Commissioners in June.

Headquartered in Australia, Black Range Minerals faced heavy resistance from residents in its quest to test the area northwest of Cañon City for the economic viability of a full uranium mining and milling operation. The commissioners listened to almost seven hours of testimony from 70 people during a June public hearing and sifted through stacks of documentation before approving the permit.

The county pledged to be a strict watchdog to ensure strict compliance to a lengthy list of conditions. Black Range Minerals is paying for an independent, third-party water expert to monitor surface and groundwater throughout the exploration process.

That expert, hydrogeologist Bruce Smith of Western Water & Land Inc. in Grand Junction, hosted a public meeting in November to answer citizens’ questions. He told residents the exploration presents a low risk of aquifer cross contamination.

Tallahassee residents have openly scoffed at the wisdom of allowing exploration of uranium in the area, despite similar drilling about 30 years ago during the Hansen Project, a nearby uranium exploration project by Cyprus Mines Corp.

Black Range is in the process of drilling about 800 test holds on a 3,900-acre parcel of land, primarily on the Taylor and Boyer ranches. The targeted area lies generally south of CR 2 and west of the intersection of CR 2 and CR 21.

A lawsuit soon followed the county’s issuance of a CUP. Tallahassee Area Community Inc., a group formed solely to fight the exploration, and others filed a Rule 106 lawsuit to appeal the decision. Rule 106 is an avenue to appeal the decision of an administrative body, such as the Fremont County Commissioners.

The case has been assigned to District Judge David Thorson’s courtroom. No hearing date has been set.

Exploration actually began in late 2007, before the company realized a county permit was necessary. Fremont County is one of only a handful of counties in the entire United States that requires such a permit. The company voluntarily halted drilling when it realized a permit was needed and was allowed to resume following county approval.

The permit allows BRM only to drill to determine the economic viability of a new mine in the area, which has a long history of uranium mining. If feasible, the project to open a new mine would be a long and arduous one, with dozens of permits required from the state and the county.
If each step was successful, Black Range has pledged to invest time, money and effort to create the most technologically-advanced, state-of-the-art facilities possible, including its own mill to process the uranium.


However, in a county that is home to a Superfund cleanup site at Cotter Corp., Black Range’s assurances ring untrue to some residents. To many, the exploration means the certain return of uranium mining to the county along with a new host of issues.