January 17, 2008--Water-quality plans for mines offered (Denver Post)
Northern Colorado lawmakers from both parties joined forces Wednesday to back bills that would impose strict water-quality regulations on uranium-mining companies. One bill would essentially require mining companies, before they started drilling, to prove they could leave the groundwater they would use in the operation as clean as they found it. Another would affirm local governments' power to regulate water-quality and health standards. "This is not an effort to stop uranium mining in Colorado," said Rep. Randy Fischer, D-Fort Collins, a bill sponsor. "It's an effort to put protections in place before it gets started."