Mining groups Tuesday claimed proposed rules allowing the public to weigh in on a company’s search for prospective uranium sites would kill incentives to search for the valuable ore.
“Time is money,” said Richard Clement, president and chief executive of Powertech USA, which has plans for a huge in-situ uranium mine in Weld County. “And unless you are Exxon Mobil and can stand five or six years of review on a project, most mining companies can’t tolerate that kind of delay.”
Clement spoke before the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board, which is considering rules for in-situ mining in Colorado. This week’s hearings are part of a year-long effort to frame mining regulations as stipulated by a law signed by Gov. Bill Ritter in 2008.
The law regulates pollution and reclamation for in-situ sites in the state. The in-situ process — considered controversial by opponents — injects water and chemicals to free the uranium, pumps out the fluid and collects the ore.
Public testimony on the draft rules is expected to go through today and maybe Thursday. The board is scheduled to produce a final draft of the rules in August.
Several groups lobbied the board Tuesday in hopes of influencing the final draft of the rules. Industry representatives said in-situ extraction is already safe and heavily regulated by federal and state agencies.
A proposed 10-working-day public-comment period about mining prospecting — as well as a review of those comments by the state Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety — would add another layer of bureaucracy that critics say could discourage any exploration for uranium.
“This is a very, very rocky road to go down,” said Dianna Orf of the Colorado Mining Association. “You start moving into comments, then appeals and then a chain of procedure that was not contemplated by the state legislature.”
However, in-situ opponents said the proposals are needed to ensure uranium mining won’t destroy groundwater and cause other environmental problems.
Jeff Parsons, an attorney representing several environmental groups, told the board the proposals will allay fears that nearby communities won’t have a say over nearby mining operations.
Before 2008, “a drilling rig could show up in your town, and you have the public asking what’s going on, and no one can tell them,” Parsons said. “This improves the public confidence in the process.”
Monte Whaley: 720-929-0907 or mwhaley@denverpost.com
