City Council Opposes Uranium Mine

Fort Collins City Council adopted a resolution Tuesday that declares council’s opposition to a proposed uranium mine northeast of the city and close to Nunn.

Councilman Wade Troxell abstained from voting, which according to city law counts as an affirmative vote, so the vote was 7-0.

City staff members prepared a background statement to accompany the resolution, but there was no formal presentation to council. According to city documents, three council members asked that the resolution be drafted.

The resolution addresses plans by Powertech Uranium Corp. to mine for the radioactive material beneath a 15-mile chunk of Northern Colorado. The company estimates about 9.7 million pounds of uranium lie in that land.

The resolution notes that Powertech has not ruled out the possibility of open-pit mining to extract the uranium, and also discusses the risks and unknown factors involved with the other extraction method, called in-situ or on-site leaching.

“The City Council believes the Colorado North Front Range and, in particular, the site presently under consideration by Powertech is not a suitable location for uranium mining,” the resolution reads. It continues that such an operation will “almost certainly hae a detrimental effect on the image and economic well-being of the city.”

The resolution is not binding and urges various agencies to deny all Powertech’s permit applications for extracting the uranium.