DENVER—A citizens group has filed a lawsuit accusing Colorado regulators of failing to require Cotter Corp. to set aside enough money to clean up its uranium mill in Canon City.

Colorado Citizens Against Toxic Waste filed the lawsuit in Denver District Court against the state health department and others.

It says the department has estimated it will cost at least $43 million to decommission and decontaminate Cotter's mill, which is a Superfund site, but the state let Cotter set its financial surety at just $20.2 million.

The health department had not officially been served with the lawsuit as of Wednesday morning and had no comment.

A Cotter representative did not return a phone message Wednesday seeking comment.

On Thursday, the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry is holding meetings for the public to comment on its recent report of potential health effects of living near the mill.

The report, released earlier this month, said that while most residents use the public water supply, people drinking from private wells with high molybdenum contamination could be at higher risk for gout-like conditions.

It also said people who, every day for 30 years, eat a higher-than-average number of fruits and vegetables irrigated with the well water could have a slightly higher risk for developing cancer.

Cotter has another uranium site—the defunct Schwartzwalder mine west of Denver.

Advertisement
The Denver Post reports that Cotter faces at least a $55,000 fine for failing to clean up that site.

Since April, Cotter has faced repeated state orders to pump and treat toxic water filling the mine along Ralston Creek, which flows into a Denver Water reservoir that provides drinking water.

The creek contains uranium levels as high as 310 parts per billion, which is more than 10 times the 30 ppb health standard for drinking water.

Cotter contends the water in the mine shaft is not connected to groundwater, but state mining regulators disagree.

Cotter Vice President John Hamrick declined to discuss the conflict with The Post, saying "Cotter has not changed its position." He told the newspaper that a pumping operation begun in July removes contaminants from surface alluvial ponds along Ralston Creek, but water in the 2,000-foot-deep mine shaft is untouched.

For now, drinking water delivered to 1.3 million metro area residents continues to meet drinking-water standards, said Denver Water spokeswoman Stacy Chesney.

———

Online:

http://bit.ly/csam0R

http://bit.ly/cqrPaN