The
Cotter Files - Read All About It!
C.C.A.T. |
Colorado Citizens Against ToxicWaste |
contact us |
The
Cotter Files - Read All About It!
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OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND The aerial photos on this page give a view of the Cotter Corporation's Uranium Mill facility, and their tailings ponds which cannot be seen from ground level. The impoundment ponds are up-gradient from surrounding roads, ringed by earthen berms, and not visible to passersby. Few people in Canon City, Colorado, realize how large this facility is in comparison to our surrounding community, because it is so well hidden. In these pictures you are looking at 144 acres of highly radioactive and toxic water, poised above our community. We are protected from flooding by torrential rain only by the earthen dam. Cotter's mill facility and tailings ponds cover almost all of Section 16, which sits above abandoned coal mines and the major source of groundwater from the mountains. |
We apologize for the time involved in viewing the large versions of the photos below but feel they are well worth the wait!
Photo taken December 21, 2002. Cotter's
Secondary Pond (approx. 44 acres) by Consent Decree Order and
Remedial Action Plan is supposed to be covered with at least one foot
of water. This photo shows that tailings are rising above the
surface of the pond. It appears that a portion of the south side of
the pond is not in compliance of this requirement. |
Photo taken December 21, 2002. The Primary Pond
(approx. 91 acres) has been allowed to evaporate extensively during
2002, exposing radioactive tailings to the elements such as Radon Gas
and fugitive radioactive dust. The Colorado Department of Public
Health and Environment sent Cotter a "Notice of Violation" on
December 12, 2002, noting their independent testing shows that Cotter's
method of stopping hazardous releases to the air from the exposed
tailings is not effective.
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| the Cotter ponds | ||
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Citizens Against ToxicWaste
PO Box 964
Canon City, CO 81215-0964
(719) 275-3432 or (719) 275-4010
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| COTTER ALERT | FACTS | NEWSLETTER | LINKS | ADDRESS LIST |
