Ritter signs uranium bill

Posted by egable on May 20th, 2008 filed in Water, Mining

Gov. Bill Ritter (D) today signed into law a measure that will increase protections for water quality and toughen requirements for reclamation for in-situ leach uranium mining, a process that uses high-pressure water injection to extract uranium from the ground.

House Bill 1161, which was sponsored by Reps. John Kefalas and Randy Fischer and Sens. Steve Johnson and Bob Bacon, stems from a proposal by a Canadian-based company to begin in-situ leach mining in Weld County.

The legislation also strengthens reclamation requirements and notification requirements to nearby landowners. The legislation also:

* Requires mining applicants not have any existing violations to the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Act or analogous acts issued by other states or the federal government.

* Requires mining companies describe at least five similar operations that demonstrate that the proposed operation will not contaminate groundwater outside the permit area.

* Requires a baseline site characterization and monitoring plan.

* Outlines the criteria for the Mined Land Reclamation Board to deny or revoke a permit for in-situ leach uranium mining.

* Defines all uranium mining operations as “designated mining operations” and requires existing permitted conventional operations to develop environmental protection plans and contingency plans for possible failures at their sites.

* Expands oversight by the state Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety during construction.

There are 32 permitted conventional uranium mining operations in the state — three of which are in production.