From the Fort Collins Coloradoan (Bobby Magill):
Powertech USA President Richard Clement said the company is on track to file a permit application in 2011 for its Centennial Project uranium mine northeast of Fort Collins despite the lawsuit. “What we’re doing by filing (the lawsuit), there’s a number of issues there that we felt were inappropriately dealt with, but the rules themselves, we feel the rules are livable and we can work within the rules,” Clement said. Some provisions of the rules, he said, didn’t conform to the 2008 state law requiring Powertech to keep the groundwater clean…
Clement said earlier this year that the one provision in the rules, which requires companies to establish baseline groundwater purity before they even start looking for uranium underground, would be “fatal” to all future in situ mining operations statewide. “This is a suit on behalf of industry, not just Powertech,” he said Tuesday…
Jeff Parsons, senior attorney at the Western Mining Action Project, which represents local residents opposed to the mine, said it’s difficult to gauge the possible success of Powertech’s lawsuit, but it’s hard to imagine the company submitting its Centennial Project permit application to the state while the suit is making its way through the courts. “They previously said they plan to file their application for the Centennial Project by the end of the year, and now they’re suing,” Parsons said. “That raises the questions about what their timeline is for this project. This litigation can last years.” He said it would be awkward for Powertech to be legally challenging regulations they say they can comply with in their permit application.
More coverage from David O. Williams writing for the Colorado Independent. From the article:
Two uranium mining companies have filed lawsuits against the state this fall, challenging rules requiring cleanup of existing uranium mines and mandating water reclamation at a proposed mining site. Conservationists say the recent lawsuits filed by the Cotter Corp. and Powertech USA demonstrate the industry isn’t serious about a higher level of environmental protection in a new uranium mining boom…
An executive for Uranium One, a Canadian company with Denver offices, told the Colorado Independent (TCI) in October that his company is divesting itself of Colorado mine holdings in part because of the cost of increased environmental scrutiny and state regulation. But a Powertech attorney last week told TCI that his company’s lawsuit is less about money and more about reducing regulatory hurdles.
“No, it isn’t a fiscal issue at all,” said John Fognani of Fognani and Fought law firm. “If you want to narrow it down, it’s a resource issue in terms of utilizing more water resources to make sure that you meet the mandate and bring water quality back to background or better, which is what the rule states, and of course that’s what the legislation states. At the end of the day it’s really the water resource issue.”
More nuclear coverage here and here. More Powertech coverage here and here. More HB 08-1161 coverage here.