U.S. Senate
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(D) J. Hickenlooper*
(R) Somebody
80%
20%
Governor
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(D) Joe Neguse
(D) Phil Weiser
(D) Jena Griswold
60%
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40%↓
Att. General
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(D) M. Dougherty
(D) Alexis King
(D) Brian Mason
40%
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30%
Sec. of State
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(D) George Stern
(D) A. Gonzalez
(R) Sheri Davis
40%
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State Treasurer
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(D) Brianna Titone
(R) Kevin Grantham
(D) Jerry DiTullio
60%
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CO-01 (Denver)
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(D) Diana DeGette*
(R) Somebody
90%
2%
CO-02 (Boulder-ish)
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(D) Joe Neguse*
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CO-03 (West & Southern CO)
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(R) Jeff Hurd*
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40%
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(R) Lauren Boebert*
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90%
10%
CO-05 (Colorado Springs)
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(R) Jeff Crank*
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CO-06 (Aurora)
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(D) Jason Crow*
(R) Somebody
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CO-07 (Jefferson County)
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(D) B. Pettersen*
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CO-08 (Northern Colo.)
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(R) Gabe Evans*
(D) Yadira Caraveo
(D) Joe Salazar
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State Senate Majority
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DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
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State House Majority
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DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
95%
5%
July 24, 2009 01:54 AM UTC
22 Comments
1. We should not risk our water supply and environment with this mercury waste.
2. DOE promised not to use this site for other hazardous waste.
When the Gov. makes a blunder we have called him on it. If he takes a positive stand for Colorado on an issue he deserves our support on that issue. Thanks Gov.
who live around the Rulison Nuclear Blast Site about DOE promises.
Governor Ritter has done exactly the right thing.
Was I not clear? I said “Good job Gov. Ritter on this issue” and also said Thank you to the Gov.
Sorry if I wasn’t clear.
I appreciate this insight. Would rather hear it directly from the Governor but something is better than nothing.
However, I note it was posted on government time.
Jim, help the Governor fix the problems and stop worrying about the blogs. By posting on blogs you only give fuel to the fire that Elliman has undercut you.
Help solve the problem-don’t create one.
Keep it up, Jim.
…you’re upset that the governor is making sure we know how he stands on an issue? That’s called democracy oh clueless one.
Governor Ritter has taken exactly the right position on this issue. As you pointed out, the site was and has always been designated to store uranium mill tailings which in the past has been a significant problem on the West Slope, and therefore it makes sense for that kind of facility to be located in that area.
This is another example of Governor Ritter’s commitment to enhancing and preserving our Colorado way of life for us and our children.
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does that remove the threat to our water supply ? They are downhill.
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it would eventually end up downstream and poison Las Vegas and LA which would be… on second thought, let’s do it!
…this sounded like an astrology reading. “Venus is in the second house, Jupiter is in opposition, Mercury is in Grand Junction.” I’m almost relieved that it’s talking about the toxic metal instead.
One thing that is not clear to me – why/how is the US accumulating large quantities of mercury? Side effect of mining/refining other metals? Recycled leftovers from millions of rectal thermometers? The article did not explain, and I have not found a good explanation via googling.
…bans the export of mercury.
Since mercury is used in compact fluorescent bulbs, and since most of those are made in China, we have become a net importer of mercury. We want to recycle the mercury because we don’t want it in our landfills, but since we can no longer ship it to the countries where compact fluorescents are made, and we keep importing more lightbulbs every year, it’s going to build up.
The rationale behind the ban was apparently that companies who wanted to circumvent U.S. law would simply export the mercury to third-world contries, where it would be disposed of illegally and find its way into the ocean. There, it accumulates in fish and poisons those of us who eat them. I don’t think the law will stop illegal dumping of mercury, but I guess it will stop the dumping of OUR mercury.
Thermometers are not the only source of metallic mercury. It’s also used in switches and relays. Take the cover off of an older, non-computerized thermostat, for example, and you’ll find a mercury switch. It’s also used in the chlor-alkalai process to produce chlorine and sodium hydroxide.
A large quantity of mercury that is currently stockpiled in the DOE system was used in the production of the isotope Lithium-6, which is used in thermonuclear weapons.
I wrote about the background of the project here. The politics of how the repository came to be proposed in locations other than Oak Ridge, where the DOE’s mercury is currently stored, was something the DOE left out of its presentation at the Grand Junction meeting.
He’s not taking Penry to task on this right now. The fact that neither of them have responded is very telling as to how they would act as Governor.
Meanwhile the guy who’s supposed to be a weak leader comes out and takes a clear stand on it right away.
Side note: why are we always trying to poison the Western Slope? I mean, I know that a candidate doesn’t need them to carry the state, but this is getting ridiculous. 🙂
are well understood, regardless of geography. Neonatal poisoning is a devastating thing. It’s a major reason pregnant and nursing mothers are cautioned against eating fish anymore. Sad.
I’ve written three articles about it.
So I’ve been ignoring my usual daily blog roll.
Unbelievable that this was requested, not forced upon them by the feds.
They have projects, but in my opinion (and I worked at that facility for 18 years) the office is at or below the “critical mass” of staff at which the DOE can comfortably justify having a facility here. Most of the work they do is environmental monitoring of sites elsewhere in the US that DOE has either actively or passively remediated.
There used to be a world-class analytical chemistry laboratory at the site, but that has been torn down.
To be quite honest, most of the work that Grand Junction does can be done from almost anywhere. A plane ticket is a plane ticket. I think the DOE and Contractor staff recognize that as a significant vulnerability. The alternative to Grand Junction would be to transfer the work to Morgantown. I think that as far as keeping an office here compared to moving the work elsewhere, it’s a wash. If the office gets smaller, it will no longer be a wash.
They have the Moab project, but that project isn’t going to last forever.
They’re looking for things close to home to justify their existence as a field office. Kind of like putting their thumbs on the scale.
Here it is Saturday and still no comment at all from Penry and McInnis.
Why not, guys?
No shills preaching about how they’re really very very good on the issue, and whatever they end up saying will be amazing.
People of Mesa County be damned. If they can’t make it a political issue, it isn’t worth talking about.
But their obsession traps them in the untenable situation of either tacitly supporting a really stupid thing or agreeing with Bill.
This is fun!
but no problem coming off as uncaring for the health of residents (constituents)in his own district?
I choose to focus on Sen. Penry because this is the district he’s serving. He’s still serving, right? He hasn’t pulled up stakes and moved the family to Denver yet?