Uranium boom suffering setback

Four Corners residents troubled by the resurgence in uranium mining got two pieces of good news this week. First, the decades-old effort to remediate uranium mill tailings in Uravan, located west of Durango, has finally been completed. Second, the national and global economic slowdowns could mean that more Uravans are not in the future.

Uravan, located along the San Miguel River north of Dove Creek, represents a storied chapter in the history of radioactivity. Madam Curie pioneered much of her research on radiation there in the 1920s. In 1942, the U.S. government built facilities there to process uranium ore for the Manhattan Project, which resulted in the atomic bombs dropped on Japan in 1945. Later still, uranium was produced at Uravan to fuel nuclear power plants.

However, that production also came at a price, and high radioactivity levels throughout the thriving community led to its designation as a Superfund site in 1986 and eventually the dismantling of the entire town. In the more than two decades since, millions of tons of dirt have been cleansed of radioactive material or consolidated and capped. The total cost of clean-up was pegged at $120 million, and most of that was picked up by Dow Chemical.

Despite the milestone, concerns about the legacy of uranium and the future of mining remain. A new mill to process ore from thousands of patented uranium claims on the Western Slope has been proposed in the vicinity of Uravan. Writing in theTelluride Watch, San Miguel County Commissioner Art Goodtimes questioned whether it really has a place in the region. Citing the example of Uravan, he charged that uranium mining does not pay its way in the region. Area governments are requesting a $1 million up-front payment for the mill, but Goodtimes argued that does not begin to scratch the surface in a project that could be toxic for more than 1,000 years.

Meanwhile, opponents of the uranium boom have gained an unusual ally – the troubled economy. Last week, Bluerock Resources Ltd. announced a two-week shutdown of its U.S. operations and the J-Bird Mine, located just west of Uravan. The J-Bird is a strong prospect for the Canadian company. In the first two weeks of September, the mine produced 240 tons of uranium ore which were shipped to the White Mesa Mill in Blanding.

The stall in operations is to ensure Bluerock can obtain adequate capital to allow for continued development and production. Michael Collins, Bluerock CEO, noted that the company is recapitalizing its operations as it moves forward with “its plan of becoming a significant uranium producer in the U.S. Southwest.”

Travis Stills, of the Durango-based Energy Minerals Law Center, noted that J-Bird’s efforts to recapitalize could be a sign of the times. Stills commented that a tighter credit market is expected to be devastating for smaller uranium mining companies. Most significant, however, is whether these active mines will be safe during the expected shut-downs and whether the Bureau of Land Management takes steps to ensure that they are.

“An important question is whether Bluerock has sufficient working capital to stabilize the J-Bird mine site during shutdown,” he said. “Similarly, will BLM do what is necessary to ensure the mine site is stable during shutdown?”

Report alleges state election fraud

The Centennial State is in for fraudulent election, according to a recent report by theNew York Times. On Oct. 8, the paper revealed that tens of thousands of eligible Colorado voters have been removed from the rolls or blocked from registering. However, the mistakes do not appear to be deliberate, according to the report, but the result of mishandling.

The 2002 Help America Vote Act was intended to clean up voter rolls by removing ineligible voters. However, after a review of state records and Social Security information theTimesfoundthat an excessive number of voters have been purged from the Colorado rolls. The paper goes on to report that Colorado has violated federal law by removing voters within 90 days of the election, which is only permitted if voters die, move out of the state are declared unfit to vote.  

In addition, the number of Colorado voters purged since Aug. 1 “far exceeds the number who may have died or relocated during that period,” according to the story. The numbers also contradict massive voter registration efforts throughout the state and a significant population increase since the last election. Nonetheless, Colorado has recorded a net loss of nearly 100,000 voters from its rolls since 2004.

Following the story, Colorado Secretary of State Mike Coffman brushed off the concerns.

“Colorado voters can rest assured that our county clerks take every precaution in maintaining our state’s voter rolls,” he said.

In contrast to theNew York Times numbers, Coffman reported that only 14,049 voters have been purged from the rolls since July 21, and most of them moved out of the state.

Compostable trays land at FLC

A Durango company and Durango’s institution of higher learning are partnering toward a more sustainable future. New Ice Inc. has released a line of fully compostable trays for food service operations, and Fort Lewis College has selected the Verdepack tray for use in the college’s food service.

Verdepack was designed to answer the call for sustainable alternatives in food service operations, quick service restaurants and events/festivals. The trays can be composted along with food scraps, which reduces water and energy usage from washing and eliminates a major source of waste.

 “We think we’ve got it right,” explained New Ice Founder Giles Instone. “We recently previewed Verdepack at the Sustainable Packaging Forum in Denver where people who follow environmental developments were genuinely excited.”

New Ice has been developing Verdepack for six years. The trays, manufactured in the United States, are made from sustainable materials. Verdepack products are a mixture of renewable waste stream and industrial starches along with cellulose.

FLC will use Verdepack trays at several serving stations in the Hungry Hawk Café during the 2008-09 school year. The move follows a successful pilot over the summer in which both waste food and trays were processed at the on-campus composting facility.

Lake Nighthorse nears completion

An invitation-only event commemorated the near completion of the Animas-La Plata Project last week. On Oct. 9, dignitaries from the Bureau of Reclamation and State of Colorado observed the coming first fill of Lake Nighthorse.

Located just southwest of Durango, the $500 million A-LP will siphon water from the Animas River and suck it upstream for storage in Ridges Basin The project is the result of the Colorado Ute Settlement, which repatriated water rights to the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain tribes.

The Bureau of Reclamation expects the first fill of Lake Nighthorse, named for former U.S. Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, a longtime champion of the project, to be next spring. Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Robert W. Johnson, Gov. Bill Ritter, U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar and U.S. Rep. John Salazar were all on hand last Thursday to mark the coming event.

“The event will serve as a benchmark to recognize all of the construction efforts since the settlement was signed into law, and to signify that overall completion of the project is in sight,” a press release on the celebration stated.

– Will Sands