CAÑON CITY — The state has cited the Cotter Corp. uranium mill for radioactive contamination at an adjacent golf club, but a state health official said there is no health threat.
The Superfund cleanup site has long been connected with nearby groundwater contamination, but this time contamination has been traced to operations after 1979, when the mill was rebuilt.
Recent tests by the state found uranium levels in groundwater from 110 to 150 micrograms per liter in most locations, though one test showed a level of 2,600, The Gazette of Colorado Springs reported Wednesday. The federal standard is 30.
The state sent Cotter a notice of violation July 25. The company has 60 days to submit a cleanup plan.
Steve Tarlton, head of the Radiation Management Unit at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, said there is no health threat because the Shadow Hills Golf Club uses water from treated municipal sources for grass, water hazards and other operations.
Golf course director of operations Greg Dillon said it is business as usual at the course for now.
The citation comes as Cotter officials, spurred by high uranium prices, consider building a new facility and resuming operations at the site.
The mill operated from 1958 to 1979, then intermittently until 2006.
The mill site was placed on the National Priorities List of Superfund sites in 1984 after contamination from unlined tailings ponds seeped into the groundwater.
This time, state officials suspect contamination came from leaking storage tanks of contaminated water.
John Hamrick, Cotter vice president of milling, said the company was investigating. He said the contamination also may have come from the improperly stored tailings or the former mill facility itself.
Sharyn Cunningham, co-chairwoman of the residents group Colorado Citizens Against Toxic Waste, said the latest contamination shows uranium can’t be processed safely so close to a population center.
Her group opposes Cotter’s reopening.
Cotter officials would need state approval to resume operations.
