Timnath Town Council calls on EPA, State of Colorado, and Weld County to "deny any and all permits" to Powertech Uranium Corp.
Fast-growing town just south of the Centennial project believes mining would do irreparable harm to its economy and environment
Posted March 4, 2008
In a unanimous 5-0 vote, councilmembers of the town of Timnath approved a strongly-worded resolution opposing Powertech Uranium Corp.'s proposal to mine uranium just north of the town. The southernmost mining area would be only 10 miles from the center of Timnath.
The resolution calls on "all county, state and federal agencies involved in the permitting process... to deny any and all permit applications" for the project "because it may well be injurious to the health, safety and/or welfare" of town residents and because it may "do irreparable harm to the economic and environmental well-being of the Town."
The council's resolution follows on the heels of the December 4 unanimous vote of the Fort Collins City Council on a resolution which also urges permitting agencies to deny all permits. Both resolutions speak to the proposed mining project's close proximity to growing residential and commercial areas.
In an earlier posting, I gave an overview of the Town of Timnath's efforts to expand the northern boundary of its Growth Management Area. The new GMA, if approved by Larimer County, would be only 3.5 miles south of the Centennial project. The City of Fort Collins has concerns about Timnath's proposed GMA. What is clear is that this area just east of the Anheuser-Busch brewery will soon be included in the GMA of either Timnath or Fort Collins. My earlier posting:
The Town of Timnath has published a map of its Growth Management Area and is in the process of seeking approval of the GMA by the Larimer County Commissioners as part of the proposed Larimer County/Town of Timnath Intergovernmental Agreement. On Wednesday, January 30, 2008, the Larimer County Board of County Commissioners will hold a public hearing to consider adoption of the IGA.
The northeastern corner of the GMA is at the intersection of Larimer County Road 52 and the Larimer/Weld county line (WCR 13). This point is a mere 3.5 miles from the southernmost section of land slated for uranium mining by Powertech, and only 4 miles from the actual uranium ore body. The uranium deposit is relatively shallow (80-125 feet below the surface), and lies above the water table. The only proven method to extract this uranium is by open pit mining, although Powertech officials insist they are devising some new way of mining this deposit that is less environmentally-objectionable than digging an open pit.
The Town of Timnath is planning for residential, commercial, and/or industrial development to occur within its GMA, and Powertech apparently believes it is politically and economicaly feasible to conduct uranium mining four miles from such planned urban density development. A map of the proposed Timnath GMA is here.
JW
