Uranium mining plan causes concern

Uranium mining plan causes concern

It’s called the Centennial Project and its goal is to extract millions of pounds of uranium from the land in Weld County.

However, those living in the area are expressing concerns over how it will be removed.

A group of residents living in and around the town of Nunn are worried about groundwater contamination.

“We’re concerned about the heavy metals and the uranium, the radioactive elements getting into the water supplies,” said Robin Davis, who owns horses in Nunn.

The extraction process is called “in situ recovery” and it uses treated water pumped under high pressure to take out the materials.

Davis says the process has raised red flags across the country, including Goliad County in Texas.

Richard Blubaugh, vice president at Powertech Uranium Corp. ”“ the Canadian company in charge of the Centennial Project ”“ says the process is safe.

“Yes, it’s safe, absolutely. If it wasn’t safe, the regulatory agencies wouldn’t be licensing it,” said Blubaugh.

Powertech says it owns 5,760 acres of mineral rights in Weld County and plans to put in around 3,000 drill holes to extract the uranium. While it says the process is safe, it does add there is a degree of risk.

“There’s risk in everyday life. There are risks, but they’re vanishingly small,” said Blubaugh.

Those in Weld County have already held meetings on the matter and have contacted local lawmakers.

If you want to learn more, here are two Web sites you can visit:

The Web site for those in opposition to the project is www.nunnglow.com.

You can learn more about Powertech Uranium Corp. at www.powertechuranium.com.

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