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February 21, 2008. Denver. With overwhelming bipartisan support, the House Agriculture, Livestock, and Natural Resources Committee passed a bill to protect Colorado's environment and waters from unsafe uranium mining by an 11-to-2 vote.The bill was passed on to the House Appropriations Committee and will then go to the full House for the next vote. "This is a tremendous first step towards ensuring protection for ground water in Colorado from possible toxic and radioactive uranium mining pollution," stated Jackie Adolph, Outreach Chair for CARD. "The lopsided vote shows how important protecting water resources is to rural areas in Colorado," she concluded.
HB 1161 would require all uranium mines in Colorado to meet strong environmental and public health protections as a "designated mining operation" and require mining companies to restore the ground water quality of injection or "in-situ" uranium mining projects to the original, pre-mining condition. In addition to co-sponsor Rep. Randy Fischer (D-Fort Collins), other northern Colorado representatives on the House Agriculture Committee joined in voting in favor of House Bill 1161, including Rep. Jerry Sonnenburg (R- Sterling) and Rep. Cory Gardner (R-Yuma). "The lead House co-sponsors Reps. Kefalas and Fischer worked very hard to craft a sensible bill," stated Robin Davis, owner of Mustang Hollow Ranch, located at the mine site in rural Weld County. "And Rep. Sonnenburg and Rep. Gardner also deserve great credit for voting to protect northern Colorado's ground water-dependent rural agricultural communities," she continued. "Seeing a broad and united northern Colorado voice among elected officials at all levels is very encouraging. Now we need to follow through and pass the bill all the way through." The bill is sponsored by Fort Collins Democratic Reps. John Kefalas and Randy Fischer, as well as Sens. Steve Johnson (R-Larimer County) and Bob Bacon (D-Fort Collins) and comes in response to concerns that uranium mining in local ground waters will jeopardize health, drinking water, agriculture, and property rights. Colorado Republican Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave has also expressed her deep concern for protecting ground water and her opposition to the Weld County mining project. Additionally, Sen. Ken Salazar has worked to ensure that federal government agencies accord due protection to ground water resources. A broad range of groups support HB 1161, such as Colorado Counties Inc., the Colorado Environmental Coalition, the Colorado Medical Society, Environment Colorado, Information Network for Responsible Mining, the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, and citizen groups such as Coloradoans Against Resource Destruction, and Colorado Citizens Against Toxic Waste. The companion bill HB 1165 would ensure local governments retain control over what sort of mining is allowed in their communities and would remove the veil of secrecy around uranium mining exploration activities. CARD encourages all of its members and supporters to personally thank the bill sponsors and the committee members for their hard work on House Bill 1161, and to encourage all of their local representatives to also support House Bill 1165. CARD will continue to work hard in support of both House bills, recognizing that ultimate passage of the bills will require local citizens to remain active on an individual level in showing their strong support. For a news report on this story, click here. For more information about these bills, click here. |
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