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Whose responsibility is it to notify prospective homebuyers when there is radioactive uranium mill tailings on a property? Erin Toll, director of Colorado's Division of Real Estate, said it's the responsibility of real estate agents. The Division of Real Estate is the licensing, regulation and enforcement agency for the real estate industry in Colorado. Mill tailings are "absolutely an adverse material fact that brokers would be required to disclose if they knew about it," Toll said. And if they don't know they should, Toll said. "Most brokers are aware of environmental impacts of the region they serve, even without the training," that the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is currently conducting, Toll said.

Whose responsibility is it to notify prospective homebuyers when there is radioactive uranium mill tailings on a property? Erin Toll, director of Colorado's Division of Real Estate, said it's the responsibility of real estate agents. The Division of Real Estate is the licensing, regulation and enforcement agency for the real estate industry in Colorado. Mill tailings are "absolutely an adverse material fact that brokers would be required to disclose if they knew about it," Toll said. And if they don't know they should, Toll said. "Most brokers are aware of environmental impacts of the region they serve, even without the training," that the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is currently conducting, Toll said.

"Energy Fuels Inc.'s $150 million uranium mill could be operating in early 2012, perhaps as prices for uranium begin to rise again, Energy Fuels President George Glasier said Saturday. "Uranium is back in favor," Glasier told the Colorado Plateau Section of the Society of Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration Inc. Energy Fuels' Piñon Ridge mill in the west end of Montrose County is being evaluated by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Energy Fuels also is looking to establish long-term contracts that will help it to establish the revenue stream needed to gain financing for the mill, Glasier 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."

Federal researchers have begun a public health review in Cañon City amid renewed concerns about pollution from a closed uranium mill. The study, by the Health and Human Services Department, is examining potential exposure to pollution from the Cotter Corp. mill and the possible health risks. "We're not saying these (potential health impacts) were caused by the contamination," said environmental scientist Teresa Foster. "We're not at the point where we can make that determination. We're taking the community's concerns very seriously."

Uranium Watch works to educate and advocate for protection of public health and the environment from past, current, and future impacts of uranium mining, uranium milling, nuclear waste disposal at uranium mill sites, and other impacts of the nuclear fuel cycle. Uranium Watch is encouraging and facilitating public participation in state and federal regulatory decision-making processes related to the uranium industry. The Uranium Watch Web Site was developed to provide citizens with news, information, and resources about current and historic uranium mining and milling activities and issues.

MONTICELLO - Cancer victims and their families here have launched a new phase of their campaign for recognition of the cruel legacy left by a government uranium mill. Steve Young, organizer of the Monticello Victims of Mill Tailings Exposure, encouraged his neighbors to push the federal government for a long-term program that would help pay for cancer screening and expenses related to the old mill.

The B.C. government moved one step closer Monday to becoming the de facto operator of the Mackenzie pulp mill by extending an emergency environmental order indefinitely. The new order replaces a Jan. 25 order under the Environmental Management Act that permitted the government to run the mill temporarily to prevent an environmental disaster. The new order goes into effect at midnight Monday.

- Montrose County Planning Director Steve White said Thursday that he would not postpone a May 19 Montrose County Planning Commission public hearing on the Energy Fuels Pinon Ridge uranium mill special use permit. White received a request for hearing postponement and permit denial from the Durango-based Energy Mineral Law Center (EMLC). EMLC attorney Travis Stills, on behalf of mill-opponents Paradox Valley Sustainability Association, e-mailed White a letter on May 13 requesting the action and stated that,"in addition to the milling facility, the special use permit under consideration could allow a series of specially designed byproduct disposal impoundments for purposes of perpetual disposal and storage of hazardous radioactive wastes, a use which is explicitly prohibited in the Agricultural Zone."

Crews have taken the first bites out of the old uranium mill-tailings pile in Moab, Utah, beginning a yearslong process of transferring it far from the Colorado River. Abut 630,000 tons will have been moved from Moab to the disposal cell near Crescent Junction by year's end, said Wendee Ryan of the U.S. Department of Energy. The Energy Department and its contractor, Energy Solutions Corp., began moving the tailings pile this year. Moab residents and downstream water providers lobbied for years to have the 16-million-ton pile of mill tailings moved from its spot along the north bank of the Colorado River to a cell up against the Bookcliff Mountains at Crescent Junction that is deemed less likely to contaminate the river. The pile is being moved by train from Moab to the disposal cell 30 miles north.

Crews have taken the first bites out of the old uranium mill-tailings pile in Moab, Utah, beginning a yearslong process of transferring it far from the Colorado River. Abut 630,000 tons will have been moved from Moab to the disposal cell near Crescent Junction by year's end, said Wendee Ryan of the U.S. Department of Energy. The Energy Department and its contractor, Energy Solutions Corp., began moving the tailings pile this year. Moab residents and downstream water providers lobbied for years to have the 16-million-ton pile of mill tailings moved from its spot along the north bank of the Colorado River to a cell up against the Bookcliff Mountains at Crescent Junction that is deemed less likely to contaminate the river. The pile is being moved by train from Moab to the disposal cell 30 miles north.

Denison Mines (DML.TO) said on Tuesday it will suspend the McClean Lake uranium processing mill in mid-2010, following the halting of nearby uranium projects that were destined to supply it with ore. The mill -- a joint venture of Canada's Denison and France's Areva (CEPFi.PA) -- will continue to process stockpiled uranium until it closes, and should produce 1.86 million pounds of uranium before it goes on "care and maintenance" in July, Denison said.

Denison Mines (DML.TO) said on Tuesday it will suspend the McClean Lake uranium processing mill in mid-2010, following the halting of nearby uranium projects that were destined to supply it with ore. The mill -- a joint venture of Canada's Denison and France's Areva (CEPFi.PA) -- will continue to process stockpiled uranium until it closes, and should produce 1.86 million pounds of uranium before it goes on "care and maintenance" in July, Denison said.

"Seeking to alter opaque, unresponsive corporate culture Sharyn Cunningham and her family bought five acres in Cañon City's Lincoln Park neighborhood in 1994, and for eight years they used a drinking water well contaminated by the nearby Cotter uranium mill. Drums of uranium mill concentrate. They only discovered the toxic minerals in their drinking water after Cotter was purchased in 2000 by General Atomics - makers of Predator drones and a major player in the nation's nuclear industry - and promptly announced plans to begin storing radioactive waste from an EPA Superfund site in New Jersey. Cunningham says she and her family suffered various illnesses resulting from the contamination of their well but decided not to sue, even as other area residents fought Cotter in a pair of class-action lawsuits. She refuses to discuss her health problems because she wants to focus on legislatively changing Cotter's corporate culture."

"$10 to $15 million spent on work since 2006 Cotter Corp. continues to make efforts to clean up environmental damage caused by its operations during the last 50 years. John Hamrick, vice president of milling, said the company has spent between $10 and $15 million on clean-up efforts since the mill shut down operations in 2006. However, continuous efforts were taking place at the mill while operations were under way, he said. House Bill 1348, also known as the Uranium Processing Accountability Act is currently working its way through the Colorado General Assembly. The bill is sponsored by Rep. Buffie McFadyen and Sen. Ken Kester and was developed by Colorado Citizens Against ToxicWaste and Environment Colorado. According to those groups, the bill would "hold the uranium industry accountable for its own mistakes and ensure Colorado does not subsidize those companies through tax dollars or incentive pollution by saying actions do not have consequences." "

About 16 million tons of mill tailings abutting the Colorado River near Moab will be moved by rail to a permanent disposal site, the Department of Energy said Tuesday, reaffirming a decision not to ship the contaminated uranium mill tailings by truck along rural roads. "After evaluating the alternatives for safely transporting the mill tailings from Moab and considering input received from citizens in the Moab community and surrounding areas, [the Department of Energy] has decided to ship the tailings using the existing Union Pacific Railroad track," Assistant Energy Secretary for Environmental Management James A. Rispoli said in a news release. "We believe our decision will be most protective of the community over the long term."

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), with the cooperation of the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, Land Quality Division, is issuing for public comment a Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement (Draft GEIS) that identifies and evaluates on a programmatic basis, the potential environmental impacts from the construction, operation, aquifer restoration, and decommissioning at in-situ leach (ISL) uranium milling facilities located in particular regions of the western United States. The Draft GEIS addresses environmental issues common to ISL milling facilities to aid in making more efficient environmental reviews of individual site-specific ISL license applications.

DEVELOPMENT: A Utah uranium mill is cranking out yellowcake. WHAT IT MEANS: Thanks to rising prices, uranium claims are booming on the Colorado Plateau. But actual mining has been hampered by a lack of mills to process the ore. Until now, that is. The White Mesa Mill in southeastern Utah has opened its doors to uran

NORWOOD - The San Miguel County Commissioners and approximately 40 members of the public had their first eye-opening glimpse of the proposed Piñon Ridge Uranium Mill in the Paradox Valley in the West End of Montrose County. The mine could come online as soon as 2010.

PARADOX VALLEY - While Energy Fuels Inc. continues toward its application process to build the proposed Piñon Ridge Uranium Mill in the Paradox Valley, an effort to save the valley from the mill is already underway.

Two American Indian tribes say their pleas to have the federal government remove medical, uranium and other radioactive waste from their land near Tuba City have been ignored, and they want it cleaned up. Navajo and Hopi officials say the waste is contaminating the land and threatening water supplies. The Hopi Tribe has put the federal government on notice that it plans to sue over the cleanup. On May 26, the Navajo Nation filed a motion to intervene in a 2007 lawsuit that was brought against the federal government by the operator of a uranium mining mill where some of the waste originated. "I think everybody is starting to come together to accept the conclusion that there are contaminants affecting the shallow groundwater," said Stephen Etsitty, director of the Navajo Environmental Protection Agency. "But we still have differences in what the tribes believe and what the U.S. government is willing to accept, how grave the situation is and what the remedy should be in the end." El Paso Natural Gas Co. claims that the federal government is responsible for the cleanup of the mill, the Tuba City open dump and another landfill north of U.S. Route 160. The mill and the U.S. 160 landfill are on Navajo land. The 30-acre Tuba City dump is on Navajo and Hopi land.

The Uranium Mining Subcommittee's approval Thursday of the final draft of a study to determine whether uranium can be mined and milled safely in Virginia drew a variety of reactions from local opponents and a supporter. "We're very gratified," Patrick Wales, geologist and spokesman for Virginia Uranium Inc., said Friday. "An independent study of uranium mining and milling has been the one thing we've been proposing since the inception of our company." VUI seeks to mine and mill a 119-million-pound uranium ore deposit at Coles Hill, about six miles northeast of Chatham. Virginia currently has a moratorium on uranium mining.

"The city of Grand Junction and private property owners are not held to the same regulations regarding the removal of uranium mill tailings uncovered during construction projects. FCI Constructors Inc. is dealing with radioactive waste as they dig up Main Street for the Downtown Uplift restoration project. The sand-like mill tailings were widely used in the Grand Valley during the 1950s and 1960s as fill dirt until federal officials halted the practice, citing health risks from exposure to gamma radiation and radon gas. FCI employees have hauled nearly 500 cubic yards of tailings to the temporary storage facility at the city yard along West Avenue, where the material awaits permanent disposal at the Cheney disposal cell, south of Grand Junction. "