Fremont County Independent Outreach Committee

Closed mine hikes uranium levels near Denver

Cotter given until Monday to present clean-up plan

Rachel Alexander

The Daily Record

Cotter Corp. has until Monday to present the state with alternatives for remediating uranium contamination in a creek near its closed mine in Jefferson County.

Groundwater near the Schwartzwalder Mine contains uranium levels that are 1,000 times higher than the human health standards, according to an Associated Press article. The contaminated groundwater is near Ralston Creek, which flows into Ralston Resevoir. The resevoir supplies water to Denver and Arvada.

John Hamrick, Cotter’s vice president of milling, said the company had been working with the Department of Reclamation and Mining Safety to address the issue.

“We have a plan that is due to them Monday about different remedial alternatives,” Hamrick said.

The mine is located north and west of Golden. Hamrick said it started operations in the 1950s and was closed in 2000.

He said there were three parts to the mine when it was in operation: the underground mine, an ore sorter and a water treatment plant for water used in the mining operation.

The company has a license through the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment for the ore sorter and water treatment plant.

“We’re in the final process of terminating that license,” he said.

The company will have contractors on the site removing materials in June.

Hamrick said the groundwater flow from the creek goes through waste rock from the mine and that is probably where it is picking up uranium.

While the mine itself has water in it, that water level is steady.

“We do not think that the mine water is getting into the creek,” he said.