CANON CITY, Colo.—A Denver District Court judge has ruled that the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment followed proper procedures setting bond for the cleanup of the Cotter Uranium Mill.
The judge said Tuesday that opponents, who claimed radiation control regulators ignored state law, were wrong when they said the department did not set the bond high enough.
Cotter officials said the ruling shows confidence in state regulators.
Under the agreement, Cotter must provide nearly $7 million in financial assurance for ongoing cleanup operations. That’s on top of a $21 million financial assurance to cover termination of its radioactive materials license.
The agreement would allow financial penalties on Cotter if deadlines are missed for installing new monitoring wells and ditch linings in Lincoln Park, a system for flushing and treating contaminated groundwater near the site and a new trench system to collect contaminated groundwater within the mill site.
The lawsuit, filed in September 2010, alleged that the radiation control regulators at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment ignored state laws designed to ensure uranium cleanup accountability.
Sharyn Cunningham, co-chair of a group challenging the cleanup efforts, said that since the case was filed, the department has addressed some of the issues the group raised.
“It appears to us the judge has said he’s not going to interfere. We do feel like a lot of really positive things happened during these 2 1/2 years. The lawsuit at least brought a lot of concerns into the light of day,” Cunningham told the Canon City Daily Record ( ).
The mill and a portion of the neighboring Lincoln Park community have been a Superfund site since 1988.
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Information from: Canon City Daily Record,
