Public to weigh in on uranium mill permit

Comment: does the nuke people see things different than most folks, yes they only see money, greed and love to ruin people lives and land!!!!!

Public to weigh in on uranium mill permit
Montrose County to hold public hearing for Energy Fuels
Published: Wednesday, May 13, 2009 11:07 AM CDT
D. Dion

‘Speak now or forever hold your peace’ is the traditional line from a wedding ceremony, and as Montrose County braces for its possible marriage with a uranium mill that will affect the land for generations to come, it is time for citizens to speak their minds about the proposed project.

The public hearing on May 19, from 5-10 p.m., will be the first opportunity residents have to express their opinions about the mill to local officials. The meeting will start with a report by Montrose County planning director Steve White, followed by a presentation by Energy Fuels about the project, after which the public will be heard. This hearing in front of the planning commission is just an initial step in the process, before the commission makes a recommendation to the Montrose County Board of Commissioners. There will be another public hearing at which the commissioners will render a decision about the mill’s permit.

“This is the first of the public hearings,” says White. “It has to go to the county commissioners after the planning commission makes a recommendation.”

The West End Advisory Planning Committee is serving in an advisory role to the planning commission through the permit application process. The committee has members who live in the Paradox area where the mill is being proposed, and will help represent the western end of Montrose County.

There is a sharp division in local sentiment about the proposed mill. While some people are anxious for the creation of jobs and the economic boost promised by Energy Fuels, others are wary about the environmental effects. The project, located east of Bedrock and west of Naturita, is just a few miles from the old Uravan site. Uravan was a relic of the Manhattan Project, and the conditions at the mill in the middle part of the last century caused chronic and fatal illnesses in workers and left toxic waste that took decades to recover. There is a petition circulating among people who oppose the project, asking officials not to grant the permit.

White said that he is still working on his report, and that he has not decided whether or not he will recommend that the commission grant the special use permit. He said that whatever recommendation he makes, it will come with a list of conditions, the most important of which is that the mill meet all of the specifications set by the state regulators, the Colorado Department of Health and the Environment. White said that given all of the issues to be discussed, the meeting is likely to be continued to a second date before the commission’s conclusion.

“It’s a complicated enough area of issues that it probably will be continued,” said White. “But [the commission] does have the right to take action that night.”

http://www.telluridenews.com/articles/2009/05/13/norwood_post/news/doc4a0aee51dbdda560089805.txt