Colo. Legislature passes uranium cleanup bill

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Source: Associated Press

DENVER -- Colorado lawmakers have passed a bill that requires uranium mills to clean up radioactive waste before accepting more radioactive material.

The Senate voted 24-9 in favor of the bill Wednesday. Later the House agreed with changes made in the Senate and readopted the bill by a vote of 60-3. It now goes to Gov. Bill Ritter.

Mills are now allowed to postpone cleanup until they finish production and decommission their facilities. Lawmakers are concerned that a national focus on nuclear energy will allow mines to postpone cleanup while they ramp up production.

Plans to revive a uranium mill in Canon City - a Superfund site since 1984 - and open a mill in Montrose County led environmentalists and activists to push for a change this year.

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Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/28/AR2010042803895.html