whats the go kevdog?, page-2

I was unable to attend the meeting on Tuesday. I have not had a chance today to talk with anyone that attended. However, here is what was reported in the Pueblo newspaper.

Fremont board delays uranium mining vote

Australian firm seeks to expand exploration in western part of county.

Fremont County commissioners on Tuesday again put off making a decision on a proposal to expand uranium exploration in the Tallahassee Creek area so that they can have time to digest information provided by an independent water expert.

The commission heard more than four hours of testimony on Australia-based Black Range Minerals' request to expand exploration on an additional 2,220 acres of property known as the Hansen Deposit, believed to be the largest uranium deposit in the district, according to Michael Haynes, managing director of Black Range.

Black Range initially received permission from the commission in June 2008 to resume Taylor Ranch area exploration after it had started in 2007 without a permit. The company is working to determine whether or not it would be economically viable to commercially mine for the ore both on the ranch and to the south of it.

Western Water and Land water expert Bruce Smith testified that in looking at private drinking wells, "There are some wells out there above the standard for drinking water for uranium. Eleven of 40 wells exceeded the standard and eight of those exceeded it every time."

"What is the source ? it could be natural background, it could be in the rock itself the well is drilled in. Of course, it is always possible it comes from the old Cypress exploration wells or the new Black Range exploration wells," Smith said.

"But there is no data so far to suggest the Black Range wells are the source because there are not plume-like behaviors," Smith said.

Smith said he needs more time to analyze the data he has received.

Hydrogeologist Tim Decker, speaking on behalf of the Tallahassee Area Community, which is opposed to the exploration, agreed that more data is needed.

"We don't know what's out there. We have not seen a comprehensive geological map to help determine what affects groundwater flow," Decker said.

He also suggested monitoring wells, other than private drinking wells, is "extremely important." He also urged the commission to continue to require quarterly well-monitoring rather than the annual monitoring as suggested by Black Range.

"We fully intend to drill monitoring wells," said Ben Vallerine, exploration manager for Black Range. "We have only done six drills out of 800 and it was always our understanding it would be done as a part of the exploration process."

After several Tallahassee-area residents requested more time to comment, the commission voted to extend the written public comment deadline to Oct. 12 and the commission set a vote on the matter for Nov. 9.