Uranium mining still a worry for residents

February 10, 2009

BY KEVIN DUGGANKevinDuggan @coloradoan.com

Relative quiet has settled over a proposal to extract uranium ore from beneath the prairie east of Wellington, but that doesn't mean the matter is settled.

Powertech (USA) Inc., which hopes to tap into more than 4,500 tons of uranium believed to be under the surface, expects to apply for local, state and federal permits for the operation by the end of May, said Richard Clement, company president and CEO.

The company wants to use chemically treated water to dissolve the ore and pump it out for processing into fuel for nuclear power plants. The mining process is known as in-situ leaching.
If permits are issued for the company's Centennial project, construction of mining facilities could be completed by late 2011, Clement said.

Recent drops in spot prices for uranium tied to the worldwide economic recession are not likely to affect long-term contracts for uranium, he said. Reactors in the United States need a steady supply.

"There is significant interest in domestic production," he said. "We're sure the market will stay strong."

Local residents opposed to the mining operation are keeping an eye on the company and the project in hopes of keeping the mining from getting started.

With little news about the project through the end of 2008, some people believe the Centennial proposal is dead, said Jackie Adolph, outreach manager for the anti-uranium mining group Coloradoans Against Resource Destruction, or CARD.

"It's not over," she said. "We're picking up our efforts to let people know what's going on."

State officials have begun the process of drafting rules for in-situ mining as called for by state legislation passed last year.

The law requires a mining company to prove it can restore the quality of groundwater at in-situ sites to levels that are the same or better before the start of mining.

CARD members want to make sure the rules meet the letter of the law, Adolph said.
Powertech is wrapping up the process of establishing environmental background levels on the 5,700-acre Centennial site, Clement said.

The state's new law, which is known as House Bill 1161, is not likely to impede the company's operations at Centennial, Clement said.

Its standards are similar to what is already required by federal regulators, he said.

But in-situ leaching projects elsewhere in the country have wound up contaminating groundwater, said Jay Davis, a CARD member who lives near a section of the Centennial project.
Mining companies have not been able to restore groundwater to its pre-mining condition, he said.

"We are keeping a close eye on what's going on elsewhere," he said. "We think the rules enforcing 1161 will have a significant impact."Additional Facts