FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Betty Ball, rmpjc@earthlink.net, 303-903-0412
Susan Noble, nobleaccounts@q.com, 303-579-3477
Anne Lee Foster, anneleefoster@gmail.com, 757-870-5102
***PRESS RELEASE***
ROCKY FLATS AND ROCKY MOUNTAIN ARSENAL UNDER THREAT OF FRACKING
APPLICATIONS ARE UNDERWAY FOR APPROVAL TO DRILL BOTH NUCLEAR WASTE SITES
DENVER – Last Friday, several homeowners near Rocky Flats received documents in the mail notifying them about a recently submitted application for new oil and gas development at the former nuclear facility and Standley Lake. Rocky Flats has a long and controversial history as the former site of a nuclear weapons processing plant that now has large amounts of plutonium buried underneath the site.
According to maps that accompanied the application, drilling would take place in the Northeast quadrant of Rocky Flats which is the area most contaminated with buried nuclear waste. The application, submitted by Highlands Natural Resources Corporation, is requesting permits to drill as many as 31 wells on four well-pads in Rocky Flats. In addition, the application includes two sections of Standley Lake. The map indicates the application includes a total of 16 well pads with up to 109 wells. Densely-populated areas immediately adjacent to the site include Arvada, Westminster, Superior, and Broomfield.
Neighborhoods in Northfield, Stapleton, Montbello, and Green Valley Ranch are also immediately adjacent to a radioactive waste site that is under review for potential drilling next to the Rocky Mountain Arsenal. Last January, the Colorado State Land Board voted to postpone the auctioning of minerals under the Arsenal due to public outcry from concerned residents in surrounding areas. However, the State Land Board will have the option to reconsider the possibility of leasing the minerals as early as this January.
Supporters of Proposition 112 believe it is critical that the state postpones any decision on these applications until after the election when voters will have the opportunity to weigh in on increasing setbacks for new oil & gas operations. Proposition 112 would allow drilling plans like these to be taken off the table before their permits are granted.
The application for permits to drill Rocky Flats is currently under review with the Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC). The COGCC has never denied a permit and is known for its rubber-stamp approval of drilling permits.
“How money-hungry are these companies that they think drilling through buried plutonium waste is a good idea? This industry will stop at nothing to make a buck while exposing us all to a radioactive nightmare scenario that nobody here wants to re-live,” said Anne Lee Foster with Colorado Rising.
“If you take fracking, which is dangerous in and of itself, and combines it with the still contaminated Rocky Flats former nuclear weapons production plant, it’s unthinkable what the results could be,” said Betty Ball, co-administrator with Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center.
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Colorado Rising is powering the grassroots movement to pass Proposition 112 – a common-sense measure that will protect public health & safety by creating a 2500 foot buffer zone between new oil & gas operations and our homes, schools, and water sources.
To learn more about Prop 112, please go to www.corising.org
