May 20, 2010 · The Denver Post
By Bruce Finley, Denver Post Staff Writer
Environment, Land, Pollution, Water
Denver-area water providers are pressuring state mining regulators to force Cotter Corp. to clean up a defunct uranium mine contaminating groundwater and a creek that flows into a major reservoir.
The latest water-quality tests showed that Ralston Creek below Schwartzwalder mine carried as much as 390 parts per billion of uranium, which is 13 times higher than the 30 ppb health standard. Contamination of groundwater at the source — inside the mine — exceeded the standard by 1,000 times.
Drinking water remains safe, authorities say, because uranium is removed from Ralston Reservoir water by municipal water treatment plants.
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April 16, 2010 · The Denver Post
By Bruce Finley, Denver Post Staff Writer
Environment, Land, Pollution, Water
A defunct uranium mine in Jefferson County is contaminating groundwater near a reservoir, but government regulators and mine executives have yet to settle on a plan for cleanup.
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October 27, 2009 · The Denver Post
By Bruce Finley, Denver Post Staff Writer
Environment, Pollution
A Canadian company’s push to build the United States’ first new conventional uranium mill since the Cold War has cleared local hurdles — despite environmental concerns — and won wary high-level support. Many residents of the economically bereft western Colorado area around Nucla and Naturita (approximate population 700 each) now count on the Energy Fuels Inc. project to bring back Atomic Age prosperity. Beyond the mill, they envision uranium mining jobs as part of a national nuclear renaissance that could spur homebuilding, better schools, restaurants and recreational amenities. “Nothing’s going to happen without a mill,” said Mike Thompson, 25, board member of the Naturita-based Western Small Miners Association. “Right now, we can’t support 18- to 30-year-olds because we just don’t have the jobs.”
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August 25, 2009 · The Denver Post
By Bruce Finley, Denver Post Staff Writer
Environment, Pollution
Sens. Mark Udall and John McCain strolled somberly through a meadow in Rocky Mountain National Park Monday inspecting beetle-killed pines, lamenting the damage of global warming and pledging their bipartisan support for nuclear power as part of the solution.
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May 3, 2009 · The Denver Post
By Bruce Finley, Denver Post Staff Writer
Environment, Pollution
Many around Cañon City oppose processing uranium again.
While their plant officially remains an environmental disaster, owners of a Cañon City uranium mill are pursuing a plan to reopen for nuclear business by hauling 12.5 million tons of ore by train from a protected mountain in New Mexico to refurbished facilities along the Arkansas River. Cotter Corp. executives have informed state officials they will crush and chemically leach 500,000 tons of uranium per year for 25 years — starting as soon as 2014 — “dependent upon market forces.” Yet Cotter’s latest data indicate groundwater contamination from Cold War uranium-processing still is spreading unchecked toward Cañon City (pop. 15,850). And federal investigators still haven’t completed a required comprehensive look at whether contamination could be causing cancer and other health problems. Local leaders who long tolerated the contamination — it’s been 25 years since the Environmental Protection Agency ordered a Superfund cleanup — now oppose any project until the cleanup is done.
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October 26, 2008 · The Denver Post
By Bruce Finley, Denver Post Staff Writer
Environment, Pollution
Rural counties struggle to respond to calls, and cleanup often is left to the polluters.
Hazardous-waste spills and discoveries reported to Colorado authorities nearly doubled over the past decade, from an average of 561 a year from 1998 to 2000 to an average of 1,035 from 2005 to 2007. Population growth, carelessness, and the boom in oil and gas drilling are largely to blame. Much of the increase comes from rural Colorado, where towns often lack equipment and training to deal with the growing number of incidents. Some count on volunteers, or Colorado State Patrol troopers, who respond as soon as possible to contain spills yet lack resources for actual cleanup.
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October 19, 2008 · The Denver Post
By Bruce Finley, Denver Post Staff Writer
Environment, Pollution
Uranium mill
The federal government has begun a required but long-delayed comprehensive review of public health in Cañon City as newly found toxic pollution spreads from a shuttered uranium mill. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry launched the review in response to new data and community concerns that pollution may contribute to unexplained ailments including cancer, miscarriages and neurological problems. Cotter Corp. officials have been contemplating a reopening of their plant to provide yellowcake uranium for an expected national expansion of nuclear power plants. Since 1986, federal authorities have been required to conduct public-health assessments at every “Superfund” cleanup site.
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For 20 years, journalist Bruce Finley has investigated local, national and international issues with on-site reporting in more than 40 countries. A staff writer for 