From The Pueblo Chieftain (Tracy Harmon):
Cotter Corp. Uranium Mill officials want to get back to work at the now-defunct mill site and have asked the state health department to allow it. The mill site and a portion of the neighboring Lincoln Park community have been an EPA Superfund site since 1988 due to uranium and molybdenum contamination in groundwater and soils. Mill Manager John Hamrick said most work at the mill has been paused by the state health department to allow for decommissioning planning. “In recent meetings with the state and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cotter has been directed not to conduct any activities that could be considered clean-up,” Hamrick wrote in a letter to the state Monday.
Hamrick said Cotter was able to remove ore from a storage pad at the mill and ship it to the White Mesa Mill in Blanding, Utah. Now he would like the staff to excavate the ore pad area to remove uranium contamination and place fill material over the dried-out primary impoundment to reduce radon emissions. “Short-term (radon) control measures currently in place are adequate. However, the long-term presence of these materials is not in keeping with standards,” Hamrick wrote.
Hamrick said he believes the pad clean-up falls under “any steps necessary to control contamination or provide worker and public health protection.” But he pointed out that Cotter is in the midst of “regulatory uncertainty” as work is paused.
More Lincoln Park/Cotter Mill superfund site coverage here and here.