DENVER—A Colorado lawmaker says high levels of uranium have been found in soil samples he took from an Army training site in southeastern Colorado.
Rep. Wes McKinley, D-Walsh, said Wednesday he collected seven samples during a tour of the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site and had them analyzed by an independent laboratory in Nebraska.
According to the report from Olsen’s Agricultural Laboratory, Inc. in McCook, Neb., the lab also found detectable levels of the toxic metals cadmium, chromium and lead.
McKinley said the samples were collected over two thirds of the 368-square-mile site in May 2007 with the permission of the Army during a tour for state officials.
Post spokeswoman Karen Linne said they had not seen the lab results or uranium report cited by McKinley. Linne said no weapons that would use depleted uranium are fired at the site.
McKinley said he’s concerned because a 48,000-acre wildfire is burning on the training site. It wasn’t clear if the fire, which was 85 percent contained Wednesday, was burning in areas where the uranium was found, but McKinley said he has been unable to get answers from the Army.
McKinley said the samples showed uranium levels as high as 60 parts per million. He said the state had required a Cotter Corp. uranium mill in Canon City to clean up its site when uranium levels there reached 27 ppm. Nearby neighborhoods were designated a Superfund site in 1984.
McKinley said Colorado’s normal background radiation level is 5 to 6 ppm. He called on the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to demand a federal cleanup at Pinon Canyon.
Health department spokesman Mark Salley said the contamination was confined to a remote section of Colorado and did not pose a public health risk. Salley also said that the department has no authority over federal land.
Adrienne Anderson, nuclear coordinator for the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center, which opposed work at the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant for decades, said the contamination does pose a health risk.
“Clearly, the levels detected are many times those considered to be within the range for naturally occurring uranium, as measured at locales around the globe, and are twice as high as the uranium levels considered a contamination threat at the Cotter Corporation’s uranium mill,” Anderson said.
McKinley said he’s concerned about potential health risks to soldiers who use the training site for tank maneuvers.
“You don’t want your son out there training when there’s a danger,” McKinley said.
The Army wants to expand the Pinon Canyon to nearly 1,000 square miles, citing changing needs and expanding troop numbers at Fort Carson. McKinley said he waited more than a year to release the findings while he repeatedly asked the Army to discuss the expansion.
