[Denveraudubon] HB 1161 - Please call your Senator

[Polly P. Reetz]

House Bill 1161, which would require more stringent rules for uranium mining, is up for a vote on the Senate floor tomorrow, April 22.  In celebration of Earth Day, the recent full moon, or Texas Independence (April 21), please call your Senator and urge him or her, very simply, to vote for this bill.  
Recent plans to  carry out solution mining northeast of the city of Ft. Collins prompted the introduction of this bill.  It makes uranium mining "designated mining operations"  which involves a heightened standard of environmental protection, monitoring, and reclamation.  It also requires in situ mining operations to demonstrate that they can reclaim the aquifer to pre-mining conditions and, finally, requires the operator to notify the Division of Mining, Reclamation and Safety if anything goes wrong.
The mining proposed near Ft. Collins would be in situ mining - in which a solution is injected into the rock formation that holds uranium.  The solution dissolves uranium out of the rock, and it is then pumped above ground, where the resulting mix of chemicals is refined and the uranium removed.  The solution is then pumped back down.  As you can see, there is a great potential for chemical contamination of the various rock layers, including those that hold water (aquifers). In the affected area, well water from those aquifers supplies ranches, farms, and municipallities. Therefore the bill specifically addresses this.
Again, please call your Senator today and ask him/her to support HB 1161.  You can use email or leave a message on their phone - they will get it!   Call the capitol switchboard if you don't have their specific number:  303-866-2316.

_____________________________________________________________
Need cash? Click to get an emergency loan, bad credit ok
http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2121/fc/Ioyw6i3mKmyJV8IHXNfNRunv3EnvuEO2ONQxR3nVhjsAuqMthQukVA/
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://denveraudubon.org/pipermail/denveraudubon_denveraudubon.org/attachments/20080421/9e4448d2/attachment.html