Cotter Corporation NSL Cañon City, Colorado

Rachel Alexander

The Daily Record

Citizens received an update on progress at the Cotter Corp. site at the monthly Community Advisory Group meeting Thursday.

Steve Tarlton, of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, said several decommissioning projects have been completed, though two projects expected to be complete by Jan. 1 — removal of four historic ore pads and removal of the soil from below the CCD tanks — were only partially completed.

Work already has been done on projects scheduled for completion this summer.

“There’s still (buildings) out there,” Tarlton said. “Right now, they’re tearing down as much as they can.”

The ore pads are believed to contribute to relatively elevated gamma radiation levels along the road into the facility and were also suspected and later ruled out as sources for the contamination in ground water below Shadow Hills Golf Course.

Tarlton also discussed the Dam to Ditch Project.

The project is studying the reason contamination in the ground water between the SCS dam and the DeWeese-Dye Ditch, seems to have stagnated.

“We’re trying to figure out why that is,” Tarlton said.

He said hydrogeologists have determined that groundwater levels in the area used to be higher than they are now.

He added it is possible the contamination has seeped into the rock and soil in the area and only comes out when it is wet, thus perpetuating the groundwater contamination.

The next CAG meeting will be 6 p.m. Feb. 24 at Garden Park High School.