Cotter Corporation NSL Cañon City, Colorado

By TRACY HARMON | tharmon@chieftain.com | 0 comments

CANON CITY — Members of Colorado Citizens Against Toxic Waste voiced disappointment in a recent health assessment relating to exposure to Cotter Uranium Mill contamination.

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a division of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, delved into health concerns for residents living near the Lincoln Park/Cotter Uranium Mill Superfund site and issued its findings Friday.

The mill processed yellowcake uranium from 1958 to 1987. In 1988, the mill was identified by the Environmental Protection Agency as a Superfund cleanup site.

In 2004, local physicians asked the EPA for epidemiology studies to confirm or refute suspicions that illnesses associated with uranium processing contamination exist. The CDC was asked to help.

The study found that long-term ingestion of contaminated private well water may have put some people in the Lincoln Park neighborhood adjacent to the mill at risk for health problems.

Most neighborhood residents use the public water supply and are not exposed to the contaminant, according to the report.

"I'm disappointed that the agency ignored our local doctors’ request," said Carol Dunn, co-chair of Colorado Citizen Against Toxic Waste. "Instead of recommending a study of real people with real health problems, they studied the Cotter Mill's self-sampling data to see if there was a risk to our health.

"This is the unfortunate outcome at most contaminated uranium sites," Dunn said.

The opponents point out that action plans and recommendations are lacking to further study the impact, clean up the contamination or acquire missing information.

"The agency's conclusion that health hazards exist, tells us nothing new," said Sharyn Cunningham, co-chair for the citizen group. "We hoped for solutions, instead they place the responsibility squarely on the shoulders of citizens, offering a short-term education on how to live with a long-term hazard."

The agency will host two open houses to present findings from noon to 2 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. Sept. 23 at the Holy Cross Abbey, 2951 E. U.S. 50. Written public comment on the report will be accepted until Nov. 9