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"A proposal to stiffen state requirements for cleaning up uranium processing facilities and notifying area residents of groundwater contamination passed on second reading in the state House Thursday. No one spoke in opposition to HB 1348, which will have its third and final reading on the House floor Monday, and two Republicans - Reps. Marsha Looper and Tom Massey - spoke in favor of the bill, which has bipartisan sponsorship and widespread support in the Arkansas River Valley and along the southern Front Range. Officials at the Cotter uranium mill in Cañon City, a facility with a history of water contamination violations, are considering refurbishing the plant to process ore from New Mexico beginning in 2014. Local activists want the EPA Superfund site fully cleaned up before such plans are considered. In other mining waste storage news, environmentalists Thursday condemned an Obama administration filing Tuesday supporting Bush administration rules allowing the mining industry greater latitude in disposing mining waste on public lands."

"Cotter Corp. has until Monday to present the state with alternatives for remediating uranium contamination in a creek near its closed mine in Jefferson County. Groundwater near the Schwartzwalder Mine contains uranium levels that are 1,000 times higher than the human health standards, according to an Associated Press article. The contaminated groundwater is near Ralston Creek, which flows into Ralston Resevoir. The resevoir supplies water to Denver and Arvada. John Hamrick, Cotter's vice president of milling, said the company had been working with the Department of Reclamation and Mining Safety to address the issue. "We have a plan that is due to them Monday about different remedial alternatives," Hamrick said. "

"A measure that would tighten environmental controls over a Fremont County uranium processing mill advanced in the state Senate on Tuesday. Pueblo West's Democratic Rep. Buffie McFadyen said her bill, HB1348, would require cleanup of contamination in Cañon City before the Cotter mill could expand its operations. Mill officials want to expand by refining uranium ore that is mined out of state."