 |
|
|
|
| 3/14/2008 1:30:00 PM | Email this article • Print this article | Staking claims for mines to begin soon
Mike Potter
Staff Writer
Staking for proposed uranium mines in a 4,000-acre area of land northeast of Hartsel will begin at the end of March and could last as long as a week.
Horizon Nevada Uranium Inc., the company that is proposing the mines, has 60 days to complete the staking process as of March 25, a process that is not expected to take long to complete. It would have until May 24 to complete the staking.
If a plot of land is selected for a proposed mine, the landowner would be compensated, said Bill Wilson, president of Horizon Nevada Uranium Inc.
The exact amount of compensation for a land lease or royalties for removing uranium from a site haven't been decided, but Wilson said it would be similar for every property owner who had a mine set up on his or her property.
Not all property owners who received a notice of intent to place a mine claim will have a mine on their property.
A map of the properties to be staked isn't available yet, Wilson said, because his company isn't done creating it.
Wilson said he intends to go in front of the board of county commissioners sometime in April with his plans and to answer questions, something he said he isn't required to do.
No county approval for the uranium mining is required, he said.
That meeting hasn't been scheduled yet, according to the County Commissioners Office.
Park County Commissioner John Tighe said the county is currently "auditing the situation" of the proposed uranium mines.
Tighe wasn't sure if the county could do anything to affect the progress of the mines, but he said he was speaking with Developmental Services Coordinator Tom Eisenman and County Attorney Lee Phillips to determine what power the county would have.
"The health, safety and welfare of the community is what we're looking at," he said.
Proposed Colorado legislation could place tighter restrictions on the mining process and give counties more control over what type of mining to allow.
House Bill 1161 would require the water quality in all uranium mines in Colorado to be returned to the pre-mining water conditions.
Mining uranium through the in-situ recovery method can release toxic metals such as arsenic, selenium and uranium, poisoning the groundwater and surrounding landscape.
"The uranium rush could trample our open spaces and poison our waters," Pam Kiely, legislative program director of Environment Colorado, said in a Feb. 20 press release.
Wilson was critical of the legislation, telling The Flume that in order to return the well to it's pre-drilling state, uranium would have to be pumped back down into the aquifer.
House Bill 1165 gives counties the right to control mining inside their boarders.
The in-situ recovery mining process involves injecting chemicals into an aquifer that contains uranium, then pumping out liquidized uranium.
Opponents to the mining process say that the process contaminates an aquifer to the point it can't be used for drinking water and that the contamination could be spread to nearby wells.
An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock from which water can be pumped.
The in-situ process creates minimal surface damage, but can destroy an aquifer.
Because of the uranium and other minerals already present in the aquifer, Wilson said, that water probably wouldn't meet the Environmental Protection Agency's standard for drinkable water, making it something called an exempt aquifer.
The exempt aquifer is below the aquifer that is used to supply drinking water. It is possible to drill through an existing aquifer, with clean, drinkable water, to the one below it without contaminating the upper level.
Although contamination is a risk, Wilson said safeguards are in place to prevent contamination.
Wells are pressurized and monitoring wells are drilled around the mining site. If contaminants are spreading, the monitoring wells detect the seepage and the pressure is adjusted, stopping the seepage, according to Wilson.
|
Article Comment Submission Form
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
The Web Site contains material which is protected by international copyright and trademark laws. No material may be copied, reproduced, republished, broadcast or distributed in any way or decompiled, except that you may download one copy of the materials on any single computer for your personal, non-commercial home use only, provided you keep intact all copyright and other proprietary notices. On-line publication, Copyright 2008,
The Park County Republican & Fairplay Flume.
Office: 5138 County Road 64, Bailey, CO
Mailing address: P.O. Box 460, Bailey, CO, 80421-0460.
Phone: 303-838-4423 or Fax: 303-838-8414
Web page design, Copyright 2008, Arkansas Valley Publishing.
Software © 1998-2010 1up! Software, All Rights Reserved
|
|
|
|
