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| 4/3/2008 3:05:00 PM | Email this article • Print this article | Opposing sides meet over uranium
75 turn up for meeting on possible uranium mining
Mike Potter
Staff Writer
Bill Wilson, President of Horizon Nevada Uranium Inc, said he doubts he changed anybody's mind at the April 2 meeting in Fairplay regarding possible uranium exploration and mining near Hartsel.
The meeting, hosted by the Headwater Authority of the South Platte River, brought together Wilson, Jeff Parsons of the Western Mining Action Project, James O'Brien, a geologist and professor for the Colorado Mountain College, and Jim Culichia, attorney for the Central Colorado Water Conservancy District.
Wilson said after the meeting that many landowners he spoke with on the phone had similar concerns, but the meeting seemed to increase the residents' anxiety.
"Of the calls I received, these comments [from the meeting] were not typical," he said.
The majority of the questions that night were directed toward Wilson and Parsons.
Wilson and his company were also the subject of a number of statements from attendees, almost all opposing any mining operations.
Parsons, whose organization opposes in-situ mining, told The Flume after the meeting that many of the concerns residents expressed were typical questions property owners have when they first hear of a possible in-situ recovery uranium mine in their neighborhoods.
In-situ recovery mining involves the extraction of uranium from an aquifer by pumping chemicals into the water body, releasing the uranium and other heavy metals.
The biggest concern with the process has to do with groundwater, Parsons said, and a mining company's ability to restore the aquifer to a useful condition.
"To my knowledge, there has never been an aquifer restored," Parsons said.
There are some aquifers labeled as restored, he said, but that's because the Nuclear Regulatory Agency or the state lowered the standard for water restoration.
Wilson disagreed with Parsons' claim that no aquifer had been restored, but said he couldn't comment as to the number that had been restored because he didn't have the data.
Charlie Spielman, a former Park County resident and also the chairman for Action-22 Energy Committee, attended the meeting and told The Flume that he had worked on in-situ recovery uranium projects in the late 1950s and early 1960s in Wyoming.
"At the time I was involved in solution mining of uranium, we were not very concerned about the aquifer recovery," he said.
Action-22 is a coalition of the 22 southeastern Colorado Counties, which includes Park County.
Spielman said at the meeting there would be a great need for alternative energy sources in the future, and nuclear power might be the best option.
"This country is in an energy emergency," he said.
The 40-year veteran of mining questioned the timing of the meeting and whether it was being held too soon, as Horizon Nevada is only in the starting stages of the mining operation.
"I think these people are getting way ahead of themselves," Spielman said.
There was evidence of this when Wilson said he couldn't answer a number of questions from the crowd seeking specific answers about this specific project.
"A lot of the questions that I've been asked tonight, I've tried to answer as honestly as I can," Wilson said.
But many of them were hypothetical and Wilson didn't have any specific information about the possible mine sites in Park County.
He said more information would be available after this summer, when about 20 exploratory holes are drilled to determine the concentration and location of uranium deposits.
Dave Wissel, president of the Headwater Authority of the South Platte River, said the meeting was held to make information available, and he believes the mission was accomplished.
"Our goal was to arm our citizens with knowledge," he said.
A few people came up to him after the meeting and thanked him for helping organize the meeting, and he believes not all of them had already made their mind up about the possibility of mining in their back yard.
In response to Spielman's comment about it being too soon for a meeting, Wissel disagreed.
It's never too soon to make information available, he said. The meeting was designed to do just that.
"Hopefully it served its purpose," he said. "And I believe it did."
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