HB-1161 sails through House Appropriations Committee on 10-2 vote
Ground water protection bill sent to full House
Updated March 14, 2008
Uranium-accountability bill keeps moving at Capitol
Joshua Zaffos
Rocky Mountain Chronicle
March 14, 2008
A bill that will hold uranium mining
companies, namely Powertech, to their pledges not to contaminate
groundwater got
approval from the House Appropriations
Committee at the State Capitol today. The bill, HB-1161, is now up for a
vote by the entire House and would then move on to the Senate from
there.
For some background on the bill, I wrote a
column a few weeks ago on the topic. And for the skinny on
Powertech's radioactive plans for Northern Colorado and why people are
building up opposition, check out the
Chronicle's
feature
from last November.
Uranium-accountability bill keeps moving at Capitol - Joshua Zaffos
Rocky Mountain Chronicle - March 14, 2008
House Appropriations Committee Approves House Bill 1161
March 14, 2008.
This morning, the House Appropriations Committee voted 10-2 (one member excused) to approve House Bill 1161. The bill now moves on to the full House for a final vote. Sponsored by Rep. John Kefalas (D-Fort Collins), Rep. Randy Fischer (D-Fort Collins), Sen. Steve Johnson (R-Fort Collins) and Sen. Bob Bacon (D-Fort Collins), HB 1161 would provide protection for ground water impacted by in-situ leach uranium mines.
The support for HB 1161 has been massive in the region. The Fort Collins Coloradoan and the Greeley Tribune have both endorsed the bill. The City of Fort Collins and the City of Timnath have adopted resolutions against uranium mining. The Larimer County Medical Society and the Colorado Medical Society have adopted similar resolutions. More than 8,000 individuals have signed petitions and over 60 businesses and organizations have signed resolutions to protest the proposed mining.
The passage of HB 1161 is critical to safeguarding our water from the potential impacts of in-situ uranium mining. Please let your state representatives know that you support this bill and urge them to do the same. For email and phone numbers of your representatives from northern Colorado, click here. To see the contact information for all representatives, click here.
http://www.nunnglow.com/latest/house-appropriations-committee-approves-house-bill-1161.html