A Canadian company, Powertech, is planning to mine uranium just six miles northeast of Fort Collins on 6,880 acres of private land. The company has bought mineral rights and continues to drill test holes. Powertech is proposing an in-situ leach mining operation that will pump chemicals into the groundwater to leach out the uranium, and then pump the groundwater to the surface to chemically extract the uranium from the water. In addition, the mining company has not ruled out the possibility of digging a massive open-pit mine to extract the uranium by mechanical means.

Both types of mining - in-situ leach (ISL) and open pit (OP) - pose serious health risks for local residents, and create drastic environmental and economic risks for Fort Collins and northern Colorado. The Larimer County Medical Society, the Colorado Medical Society, and even the City of Fort Collins passed resolutions against the mine. Elected officials from both political parties, farmers and ranchers, medical professionals, real estate agents, and environmentalists have taken a stand against the mine.

What Does this Mean for Fort Collins and Northern Colorado?

Uranium mining is dangerous and poses serious risks to public health and to the economy.

• Spills, leaks, mechanical failures, and transportation accidents are common with ISL mining.
• Open pit uranium mining creates radioactive tailings and dust.
• One of the biggest health and environmental risks is to groundwater. The groundwater aquifer that Powertech will inject chemicals into feeds a huge network of drinking-water wells in northern Colorado, and also provides water for livestock and crop irrigation.
• Scientific studies show that people living near uranium mines are at a substantially higher risk of developing serious health problems.
• The economic risks are even worse: nobody wants to live near a uranium mine, nearby landowners can't sell their property. Risks to property values - even seven miles away in Fort Collins - are a serious concern.
• Uranium mining in northern Colorado poses additional risks including decreased tourism and sales tax revenues, increased dust emissions and air pollution, and a host of other legal, technical and political problems.
• Powertech is buying up mineral rights under residential homes between Wellington and Nunn. Even though the residents own this property, they have no say in what will be going on right below their homes!

Uranium Mining Can't Wait - So Neither Should You!

In the last three years, thousands of uranium mining claims have been filed in Colorado, including claims just a few miles from the heavily populated areas of Fort Collins and Greeley. Companies are aggressively exploring for uranium and drilling test holes in many areas of Colorado.

These uranium mines will be either in-situ leach or open pit mines - both are very dangerous. In-situ leach uranium mines pump dangerous chemicals into the aquifer and groundwater to leach out the uranium, and then pump the groundwater to the surface to chemically extract the uranium from the water. Open pit mines involve digging massive open pits that extract uranium by mechanical means.

Colorado needs to enact stringent regulations to protect citizens and property owners from the dangers of uranium mining. In a few months the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board will be changing the rules on uranium mining to make them comply with laws passed by the legislature in 2008.