Nuclear
Nexus Project of the Rocky Mountain Peace & Justice Center complete story:
The
Nuclear Nexus Project of the Rocky Mountain Peace & Justice Center was
asked by Rep. McKinley to review the independent laboratory's findings.
RMPJC researched uranium levels considered naturally occurring around the
world, and compared the findings to another radioactive site in Colorado
where uranium in surface soils is considered a public health and environmental
threat.
According
to the independent lab analyses, the surface soils collected and analyzed
for uranium ranged from a low of 47.23 mg/kg (milligrams per kilogram) to
a high of 61.12 mg/kg. An average of 4 soil samples collected was 54 mg/kg.
All samples of all media also evidenced detectable levels of toxic metals
cadmium, chromium and lead. The samples of surface soil, water and plant
tissue submitted were analyzed by Olsen's Agricultural Laboratory, Inc.
in Nebraska.
In
searching for comparisons for uranium contamination in Colorado, RMPJC found
that the Colorado Department of Health and Environment has required a clean-up
remediation level of 27 mg/kg for radioactive, uranium-contaminated soils
at the Cotter Corporation's uranium milling site in Canon City, Colorado,
with an adjacent neighborhood, Lincoln Park, designated as Superfund site
by the Environmental Protection Agency. RMPJC found that the uranium detected
in surface soil on the Army's Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site - on average -
were double the levels the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
requires for clean-up at the radioactive uranium milling site in Canon City.
"Clearly,
the levels detected are many times those considered to be within the range
for naturally occurring uranium, as measured at locales around the globe,
and are twice as high as the uranium levels considered a contamination threat
at the Cotter Corporation's uranium mill in Colorado, where questions of
serious public health problems have been at controversy among neighboring
residents for years," said Adrienne Anderson, Coordinator of RMPJC's
Nuclear Nexus Project, who has investigated a number of radioactive sites
in the Rocky Mountain region over the last two decades.
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