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Agriculture:
Mining Reclamation Standards

Our Position: support
Bill Number: HB1165
Sponsor: Representative Fischer and Kefalas and Senator Shaffer
Legislative Session: 2008

The Bill died in Committee

This bill would have required the mining land reclamation board to take human health and environmental issues into consideration in the permitting process, to regulate mining operations to prevent adverse environmental impacts, to recognize the established principle of reasonable accommodation, and to protect public health, safety, and welfare as well as the environment and wildlife resources. This bill would have made all mining information submitted to the board a public record except for specifics relating to the location, size, or nature of an ore deposit. It would have established that funding for reclamation be proved prior to gaining a permit and that the calculations be done to reflect the anticipated costs at the future date of the reclamation. It also would have established fees for in-situ leach mining and authorized the board to take emergency action. In addition, the board would have been increased to 9 members and the time to object or support an application for a permit will be increased to 45 days and the time to file an appeal to 60 days.

Status

01/16/08 The bill has been assigned to the House Agriculture Committee

04/02/08 Bill Postponed Indefinitely by Agriculture Committee

Action Needed

Background

Mining is always hard on our environment and in-situ mining can be particularly bad for our water quality. The extraction of uranium involves a process which puts water in the local aquifers at risk of contamination from toxics and heavy metals. The local people and animals then drink the water and become at risk for many health problems. In addition, contaminated water can spread to other aquifers and if animals are exposed, the effects could be passed on through dairy and meat production. In other words, and in many other ways, water isn’t the only thing at risk, so are wildlife, air quality, land, and people widespread. For example:

The 1992 Summitville mining disaster was Colorado's worst-ever toxic mining spill, killing over 17 miles of the Alamosa River. This one mine has reached more than $200 million in tax-payer funded clean-up costs and counting. Past uranium mills account for numerous toxic Superfund sites in Colorado.

- From the Colorado Environmental Coalition

Many other states have banned uranium mining because of the adverse effects that it brings. This bill wouldn’t ban the mining from occurring in Colorado, but it would enable local governments to see that it is regulated and if need be prevented if a company isn’t capable of taking the proper precautions. Instead of just cleaning up the problems after they occur, of which success is questionable, we need to prevent such disasters from occurring in the first place.