July 24, 2009 01:54 AM UTC

Mercury in Grand Junction

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• by: Jim Carpenter

(In response to this story–Josh Penry? Your district? Hello? – promoted by Colorado Pols)

FRIDAY POLS UPDATE #2: Liberal activist group Progress Now opens fire, just got a release from them hammering both Scott McInnis and Josh Penry equally for their “failure to act.” Full text after the jump–says the ubiquitous Michael Huttner, “It is unconscionable that days after the Department of Energy presented plans to store toxic mercury at a Mesa County landfill, in violation of previous agreements, they have remained silent.”

POLS FRIDAY AM UPDATE: The Grand Junction Sentinel reports:

Gov. Bill Ritter will oppose any federal effort to store mercury in Mesa County, drawing a harder line than state health officials had in telling their federal counterparts earlier this week they had a “high burden” of showing that the project could move forward.

“Colorado’s Western Slope is no place for the federal government to deposit thousands of tons of mercury,” Ritter said in a statement issued Thursday. “The risks to ground and surface water are too great. The risks to our air quality are too great. The risks of transporting elemental mercury over long distances and on routes that run adjacent to or cross major water sources, such as the Colorado River, are too great.”

Ritter’s announcement was a disappointment, said Ray Plieness, director of the Office of Site Operations within the Energy Department’s Office of Legacy Management.

“This could certainly put into question whether that could even happen,” Plieness said, stressing the federal agency has a long history of “extremely good relations” working with the state in Mesa County and at 10 other sites in Colorado.

This story has now been at full steam since Tuesday, and it’s increasingly peculiar that Colorado’s GOP gubernatorial candidates, Josh Penry and Scott McInnis, both of whom ostensibly live in Mesa County, have been ‘unavailable for comment’ the whole time. Getting kind of late in the news cycle, wouldn’t you say? What’s the problem here? Original post follows.

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Gov. Ritter opposes the shipment of thousands of tons of mercury to the Grand Junction Disposal Site in Grand Junction. The Colo. Dept of Public Heath and Environment earlier this week laid out in great detail its concerns to the US Dept of Energy.

Gov. Ritter said: “The risks to ground and surface water are too great. The risks to our air quality are too great. The risks of transporting elemental mercury over long distances and on routes that run adjacent to or cross major water sources, such as the Colorado River, are too great.”

Another issue is that when the DOE sited the facility in western Mesa County for long-term disposal of uranium mill tailings, it publicly assured everyone that the site would never be used to store other hazardous wastes.

This is one of 7 sites DOE says it is considering. Colorado’s Health Department would have to issue permits for this to happen. DOE has an especially high burden here, particularly since they promised not to store other waste here.

ProgressNow Colorado Demands McInnis, Penry Stand Up for Public Health in Mesa County

Why Are Scott McInnis, Josh Penry Silent on Mercury Dump?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Friday, July 24, 2009

CONTACT: Michael Huttner at 303-931-4547

DENVER–As elected officials around Colorado grew increasingly wary of Department of Energy proposals to store large quantities of toxic mercury near the city of Grand Junction, ProgressNow Colorado, the state’s largest online progressive advocacy organization released the following statement:

“We demand that Scott ‘McLobbyist’ McInnis and Josh Penry stand up to protect the public health now,” said ProgressNow Colorado founder Michael Huttner.  “It is unconscionable that days after the Department of Energy presented plans to store toxic mercury at a Mesa County landfill, in violation of previous agreements, they have remained silent.

“Yesterday, Rep. Steve King, Republican from Grand Junction, told reporters that he would oppose any attempt by the Department of Energy to transport mercury to Mesa County.[1] Governor Bill Ritter also announced his opposition to this proposal.[2] Both of them are to be commended for taking swift action to protect the public health,” Huttner said.

The area’s other representative in the General Assembly, Sen. Josh Penry, ‘could not be reached for comment’ according to the Grand Junction Sentinel.[3] Scott McInnis, who represented the area in Congress from 1993-2005, has also been completely silent.

“It’s totally unacceptable,” concluded Huttner, “and the people of Mesa County should demand accountability for their failure to act.”

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[1] Grand Junction Sentinel. Rep. King: Feds should look elsewhere to store mercury. 7/23/2009.

[2] Grand Junction Sentinel. Ritter says he’ll oppose mercury on West Slope. 7/24/2009.

[3] Grand Junction Sentinel. Local officials lukewarm on idea of storing mercury within Mesa County. 7/22/2009.