The Cotter Files - Read All About It!

 

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FACTS

Did you know that Fremont County issued Cotter a Certificate of Designation in 1979, and in 23 years it’s never been reviewed or amended? Cotter’s license renewal application every 5 years states that they have a current Fremont County Certificate of Designation.

Did you know that Cotter operated, and made substantial changes to their business, on a license that expired in 2000, when it went into a renewal process. The license is supposed to be renewed every five years.  This time around the renewal process itself took seven years.  The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) allows them to operate under the old license conditions until Cotter has satisfied all their licensing requirements.  If you look backward and forward, this means that Cotter actually renews their license about every 10-12 years.       

Did you know that Cotter’s attorney in 1979, Ed McGrath, said that Cotter had no future plans for shipping waste into its impoundment from out-of-state, but that the Department of Energy had been talking to Cotter about this since 1973? (Canon City Daily Record, 5-2-1979).

Did you know in 1979 former Cotter official Dave Marcott said "the company had no plans to accept wastes from out-of-state" (Gazette Telegraph, 3-6-2002).

Did you know on September 21, 1984, Lincoln Park and Cotter’s Canon City mill site was placed on the EPA’s Superfund (National Priority List)? The groundwater and surrounding soil areas were severely contaminated. Almost 20 years later, the groundwater is still contaminated, and the Environmental Protection Agency has stated, "The preferred alternative was for no further action" (EPA, Record of Decision, 1-3-2002).

Did you know that Cotter was aware of contaminants migrating from their property as early as the late 1960’s? In the 1972 Wahler Report, engineers Hershey-Wooderson notified Cotter that contaminants were migrating from the property, and Cotter did nothing.

Did you know in 1983, a letter reveals that investigators from Los Alamos advised residents of Lincoln Park that produce was contaminated?

Did you know up to 1990, Cotter had been cited over 100 times for contamination by both federal and state government agencies? (Daily Record 11-26-1990).  Between 2000 and 2007, Cotter racked up another 90 or more violations.

Did you know, according to an EPA letter from 1979, Cotter built the largest lined tailing impoundment in the WORLD? It covers 145+ acres.  That's a big pond that can't be seen off-site.

Did you know that 60% of Cotter’s facility and the impoundment ponds are underlain and honeycombed by the abandoned Wolf Park Coal Mine shafts, which overlap the Chandler Coal Mine shafts? (Remedial Investigation Feasibility Study, 1986).

Did you know the deepest coal mine shaft in Colorado, the Wolf Park Coal Mine shaft that is 1,084 feet deep, is beneath Cotter’s facility? In 1985 this shaft had water within 135’ of the surface and was rising yearly, and was a major pathway for contaminant migration off Cotter’s site (Remedial Investigation Feasibility Study, 1986).

Did you know the second deepest shaft in Colorado is the Royal Gorge shaft at 1078 feet, underlying Wolf Park Subdivision, from the King Coal Mine. The Royal Gorge shaft was closed by flooding from the Wolf Park shaft, according to reports.

Did you know that Molybdenum and Uranium contamination are in a water plume less than a mile, and upgradient, from the Arkansas River. Over 300,000 commercial rafters go through this section of river yearly, and the area from Buena Vista to Canon City is the most commercially rafted river in the WORLD (CDPHE website).
 
Did you know that more than 68 holes and tears were reported in the Hypalon liners of Cotter’s primary and secondary impoundments between 1980 and 1984 alone, after the impoundments had been placed into service with water covering the old tailings from the old pond? The impoundments leaked, installation procedures were questionable, and there was doubt about the integrity of the liners (Remedial Investigation Feasibility Study, 1986).

Did you know that groundwater springs were encountered when the impoundment was excavated? When choosing a site for an impoundment pond, groundwater should be many, many feet below the liner.
 
Did you know Cotter has permits to store 3,300,000 gallons of hydrochloric acid per year, and permits to store another 545,900 gallons of sulfuric acid? Yet, Cotter is exempt from the Environmental Protection Agencie’s RCRA, oversight regarding hazardous chemicals and emissions, because they are classified as a "Small Quantity Generator," which is assumed to have small amounts of hazardous chemicals and releases. They also have no Hazardous Waste License from the Colorado Department of Health (CDPHE records, and EPA RCRA website).

Did you know that Cotter can release 23.5 tons of sulphuric acid, and 660 lbs. of radionuclides into the air each year?  That's allowable emissions of radioactive dust (CDPHE Construction Air Permit).

Did you know that Cotter is allowed to emit 20 pci/m³s of Radon annually? The Environmental Protection Agency has evaluated 4 pci/m³s as an action level with a risk level of 7 in 100 for cancer. (CDPHE records).

 Did you know that EPA was supposed to evaluate radon emissions from tailings and revise the standard for emissions mentioned above about seventeen years ago, but they haven't done it.
 
Did you know Cotter anticipated using 394,200,000 gallons of water a year for operations, more water than 1/3 of all residents in Canon City will use in a year? (According to Cotter Corporation’s Zirconium plan application to CDPHE).

Did you know the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (10 CFR 40, Appendix A,I) states that an existing tailings pond chosen for disposal of waste should be remote from a populated area? Cotter’s tailings pond impoundment is less than a mile from a large housing development, and the mill borders the city limits of Canon City on the west side of its property.

SHOCKING FACTS ABOUT MAYWOOD and LI TUNGSTEN

Did you know that the "Maywood informational meeting" given by Cotter on March 5^th , 2002, at the V.F.W. was supposed to be "BY INVITATION ONLY"? (Gazette Telegraph, 2-26-2002).

Did you know in a letter written Sept. 29, 2000, Governor Owens stated, "Under my term as Governor, Colorado will not become a national or international repository for nuclear waste"?

Did you know that the amount of "dirt" that is supposed to come from the Maywood Superfund site in New Jersey (470,000 tons) would fill Citizens Football Stadium to the height of a 9 story building?

Did you know the number of cases of brain/CNS cancer in women who lived near the Maywood Superfund site was double the expected number? (Cancer Incidence in Three Communities Near the Maywood Area Superfund Site, March 1998, Dept. of Health and Human Services, Agency for Toxic Substances, Atlanta, GA.).

Did you know that Cotter claimed in their Materials Acceptance Report, Maywood Chemical Works (March 9, 2002) that there was no evidence that hazardous wastes had ever been produced, treated, stored or disposed on the sites, and that chemical contaminants are not considered contaminants of concern"? But, the Environmental Protection Agency states in their Site History that the principal products manufactured by MCW were chemicals used in the pharmaceutical [quinine, cocaine, etc.], food, glass, soap, and metals industries, as well as thorium extraction for mantles. MCW produced alkaloids, essential oils, lithium chloride and lithium hydroxide, and performed protein extraction from leather digestion. The wastes from these processes were buried on site throughout its history. A mysterious "blue material" buried on the site turned out to be leather containing Chromium VI, a highly carcinogenic water-soluble chemical. Rare earths were also processed.

Did you know that originally only one soil sample for chemical analysis was taken at Maywood from the first shipment of 27,000 tons that was to begin arriving in Canon at the end of March? (Pre-Design, Stone & Webster, 2001). Waste has been slowly moving from Maywood to a disposal site in Utah; but, as of 2005, that 27,000 tons earmarked for Cotter was still sitting at the Maywood site.  The Army Corps wouldn't give a satisfactory reason as to why.

Did you know it will take 7-8 years for 470,000 tons of Maywood soil to be delivered? It will take approximately 4,500 train carloads, or 46 carloads per month. If other contracts are secured by Cotter, there will be more train carloads per month arriving at the same time.

Did you know the train tracks from the Arkansas River and south to Cotter are not made to carry 110 ton train carloads? Many homes are within 20-30 feet of the tracks.

Did you know that Cotter and the Army Corps of Engineers did not tell the people of Fremont County about the chemical contamination in the Maywood soil? A summary of soil samples for chemicals lists Arsenic, Cadmium, Chromium, Lead, Mercury, Zinc, Benzene, Xylenes, Toulene, and more. Many are especially dangerous when air-borne, such as the heavy metals (Radioactive Waste Management, 2-19-1997).

Did you know that Cotter’s Material’s Acceptance Report, March 9, 2002, states they will control dust carrying contaminants by spraying railcars with water during unloading - when necessary? We have to trust they will not unload on a windy day. But, Stone and Webster have stated in their Master Construction Work Plan (Nov. 2001), for digging and loading in New Jersey, that they will keep all soil wet to a depth of 6 inches.  What's good for New Jersey should be good for the people where the soil is moved!

Did you know that 54 of the chemicals detected at the Maywood site are on the EPA-Community Right to Know List? That 46 of the chemicals appear in the EPA-Genetic Toxocology Program? That 32 of the chemicals are Confirmed Carcinogens?

Did you know that the Background Information (March 2002) handout on Maywood from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment at the VFW said Cotter could accept material from clean-up sites for mineral recovery as well as disposal? But, a letter from the EPA (8-31-2000) states that Cotter is only approved to receive Superfund clean-up material for disposal in the impoundments, and that they may not store or process this waste. CCAT confirmed with Terry Brown of the EPA Region 8 in Denver as of 4-19-2002.

Did you know a letter from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (1-31-2002) to Cotter reveals that Americium-241 and chemicals were found in the Li Tungsten waste? Am-241, a man-made Transuranic radioactive material associated with Plutonium, is not allowed for disposal at Cotter. All elements with periodic table numbers over 92 are man-made elements.  That is what Transuranic means. These elements are man-made from natural materials and thus enriched and
much more hazardous.

Did you know that a letter from the Environmental Protection Agency (1-16-2002) warns of the risks of potential failure of mill tailings impoundment ponds if hazardous chemicals are mixed with normal tailings? There are no risk assessments on the effects of mixing different types of waste. But, the CDPHE stated to a CCAT member on 4-27-2002 that Cotter did not need approval to take the TENORM waste from Li Tungsten, waste that is radioactive and mixed with chemicals and heavy metals.  In July 2003, CDPHE approved Cotter's plan to receive this waste.

Did you know that the Environmental Protective Agency has listed the waste type at Li Tungsten as: Arsenic, Lead, Radium-226, and Thorium-232? This facility operated as a metal processing plant from 1942 until 1985. The New York Department of Environmental Conservation determined the Captain’s Cove portion to be contaminated with radioactive and other hazardous waste. A former municipal landfill, it is believed to have accepted waste ore and other waste materials from the Li Tungsten facility (EPA, CERCLIS website).

Did you know that Cotter's renewed license, as of early 2007, does not give them approval to ship in and directly dispose of waste.  For now, or until Cotter can convince a Judge to change the license, Maywood is not coming.  Cotter filed a lawsuit in 2003 in an attempt to overturn this decision, and began pursuing this in the courts again in 2007.

Did you know that Cotter's renewed license, as of early 2007, does give them approval to process imported radioactive waste (known as "alternate feed") with a case-by-case determination for approval by CDPHE.  It could come from cleanups of nuclear fuel facilities, metal manufacturers, power plant baghouses, and much more.  To prevent this, when Cotter applies for such waste, citizens must stay vigilant for many years.

Colorado Citizens Against ToxicWaste, Inc.
PO Box 964
Canon City, CO 81215-0964

(719) 275-3432   or (719) 275-4010

 

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