DENVER—U.S. Sens. Ken Salazar and Wayne Allard have teamed up on a proposal that could bring about $44 million to four western Colorado counties.
Salazar, Allard and Rep. John Salazar introduced a bill Tuesday concerning a trust fund to clean up an old oil shale research site.
Under the measure, the $88 million Anvil Points clean-up fund would be split evenly between the federal government and Garfield, Rio Blanco, Moffat and Mesa counties. The federal government would pay for the cleanup—which is now estimated to cost about $23 million—out of its half.
Of the $44 million that would come to Colorado, Garfield and Rio Blanco would each get a 40 percent share and Moffat and Mesa counties would each get 10 percent. In a joint statement, Sens. Salazar and Allard and Rep. Salazar said the money could be used to help the counties deal with the impacts of oil and gas development.
