CANON CITY, Colo.—A nonprofit group is withdrawing from a citizens advisory organization for the Cotter Corp. uranium mill Superfund cleanup site near Canon City.
In a letter Tuesday to the state health department, Colorado Citizens Against Toxic Waste Inc. called the citizens advisory group “an exercise in futility” that hasn’t allowed for public influence on state and federal regulators’ decisions on cleanup plans.
CCAT said it believes that’s due to regulators who are short-handed, underfunded and “short of desire” to consider community preferences. “This leaves us with the belief that budgetary considerations, among other things, are being placed ahead of the health, safety, and well-being of our community,” said the letter, signed by CCAT co-chairs Carol Dunn and Sharyn Cunningham.
Jeannine Natterman, a spokeswoman for the health department, said Thursday she hadn’t seen the letter but is disappointed CCAT is withdrawing. She said other community members remain part of the citizens advisory group.
Citizen advisory groups are common at federal Superfund sites to give community members a chance to present concerns in the decision-making process.
The Cotter mill next to the Lincoln Park community became a Superfund site in 1984 over the release of radioactive materials that contaminated soil and groundwater in the area.
Natterman said a five-year review of remedies at the site is nearing completion.
Cotter’s mill has been in standby mode, but last month, officials said they hope to refurbish it to process ore from a mine near Grants, N.M., possibly as soon as 2014. Cotter would have to receive regulatory approval before operations could begin, and the mine, which is now flooded, would have to be rehabilitated before mining operations can resume.
