Colorado Springs Gazette May 10, 2002
By Barry Noreen The Gazette
State regulators found 16 alleged radiation-related violations at Cotter Corp.'s mill in Caņon City, and are awaiting a response from the firm about how it plans to correct the problems.
Inspectors visited the mill in April and, using Cotter's own records, found that a worker's urine sample revealed dangerously high uranium levels. In an apparent violation of regulations, the worker was never retested and no follow-up actions were taken to ensure the worker's exposure to radioactivity was reduced.
In another incident, the inspectors couldn't tell whether tests on a pregnant Cotter worker were performed adequately. Regulations governing allowable radiation levels in a fetus are more strict than for adult radiation workers.
The state demanded more documentation in that case and Cotter has until May 23 to answer the state's notice of violation, which was sent April 23. In it, Jake Jacobi, program manager for the state's Radiation Services Division, wrote, "The number and type of violations identified in this inspection indicate a serious and substantial breakdown in the management oversight of this facility."
Many of the violations allege shoddy record-keeping about radiation levels, and in some cases failure to monitor radiation. Some violations are linked to a lack of control over the movements of visitors to the mill, such as delivery people, and a lack of control over the contents of vehicles leaving the site.
If Cotter does not address the violations, it could be subject to civil penalties. But the resulting fines would be nominal, in the hundreds of dollars.
The violations come at a bad time for Cotter, which hopes to accept more than 400,000 tons of radioactive waste from a federal Superfund site in Maywood, N.J.
Thursday in Caņon City, Cotter held the first of two informational meetings on the Maywood shipments, which would come by rail during a five-year period.
The meetings are required by a new state law passed in the wake of controversy over the Maywood cleanup proposal. Because of federal laws, the state cannot forbid the shipments and Caņon City residents who oppose the shipments have little recourse.
Regulators from Colorado's Radiation Services Division, however, conceivably could make life difficult for Cotter later this year, when the company's five-year license to operate comes up for renewal.
Asked Thursday if there is any connection between the inspection and the Maywood radioactive waste Cotter hopes to profit from, Jacobi said, "overall, to make sure they're doing all the monitoring they're supposed to."
Jacobi stopped short of saying the state is turning up the heat on Cotter, declining to characterize the inspection as a special one. But he acknowledged the visit followed up a previous inspection and that problems found earlier had not been resolved.
Rich Ziegler, executive vice president at Cotter, declined to address specific violations, saying the company has not yet drafted its written response to the state.
Of the violations in general, he said, "We agree with some and disagree with others."
Sharyn Cunningham, co-chairwoman of Colorado Citizens Against Toxic Waste, said the alleged violations raise serious questions about whether Cotter should be allowed to receive more radioactive waste.
"I'm supposed to trust how they're going to take care of the new stuff?" she asked rhetorically. "It's a reflection of how poorly they're managing and how they're failing to follow regulations."
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