From The Telluride Daily Planet (Heather Sackett):
The county’s four issues are: Whether the claimed socio-economic benefits of the project would outweigh the negative socio-economic impacts; if the milling and mining would result in the accumulation of airborne radioactive contaminants in the surrounding high mountain basins; if the company would be able to cover the cost of decontamination, decommissioning, reclamation and long term monitoring of the facility and whether the company could protect the public from the hazards of accidents when hauling radioactive yellowcake on Highway 141…
County commissioner Art Goodtimes said air quality is a concern since Telluride and much of San Miguel County is downwind from the proposed mill site. But Goodtimes said the mill itself is not as much of a concern to him as the many mines from which the mill will get its uranium.
“The mill can operate without bringing a large amount of dust into the air, but when you have a lot of different mines, the small outfits may or may not have sufficient controls to control dust,” Goodtimes said. “The regulatory agencies don’t consider that when licensing a mill like this.”
In anticipation of Piñon Ridge becoming operational, the county has begun collecting snow samples from near Alta Lakes, Ophir and Telluride Ski Resort to get baseline data about radioactive particles in the area.
