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I -/ " Decision delayed on east Adams dump 186. Den\'el',CoIo. By JANET DAY Rocky Mountain News Envlronmenlal Writer State health officials yesterday granted east- ern Colorado residents a delay in a decision on opening a hazardous-waste disposal site in east. ern Adams County. Browning-Ferris Inc. for 6 years has tried to get a pennit to open a 325.acre toxic waste disposal site near the plains hamlet of Last Chance. The company's third application was accepted by the Colorado Health Dep3rtment and opened last month for public comment. Members of Citizens Concerned fo[ Eastern Colorado yesterday asked health officials to extend the comment and study period for a year, or at least until November. The officials granted an extension for the comment period to Nov. 19. "It's a complicated issue, and there arc a lot of unanswered questions," said Pam Whelden, K\"\ I" ~ spokeswoman for CCEe. "We'd like to see the deadline extended for a year or longer for some of these issues to be resolved." An operating permit could be issued within 90 days of the end of the public comment period, which had been set for Sept. 12. U approved, the facillty would be the first hazardous-waste dump opened in the country since federal waste disposal laws were tight- ened in 1984. It also would be the first site in the state for toxic waste disposal since Lowry Landfill stopped accepting hazardous wastes in the early 1980s. Among the farming community's major con- cerns is potential water contamination. "There's no feasible alternative for the water supply in that area if the aquifer is contaminat- ed by this dump," said Pat Baker, also a memo ber of CCEC. "There's been no full site charac- terization done. They don't know what the hydrology is in that area." Leaks, spills and runoff could contaminate ~ the surface water, residents said. State he;aUh engineers yesterday acknowl- edged residents' complaints that we.ather prob- lems in the area had been underestimated. "We're re-evaluating the adequacy of our estimate of the 100.year storm," said Greg Starkebaum, a health department engineer. Current estimates use a maximum rainfall p0- tential of 2; inches in 15 minutes. Longtime residents of the area, however. said much hard- er rains, tornadoes and hail stonns are common occurrances ('In the eastern plains. "The permit dangerously understates the po- tential for disastrous weather," said Jeff Bower of to.!organ County. Seventy.five groundwater monitoring .....ells will be drilled at the site before any waste is accepted. Starkebaum said. More than 200 wells are expected to be drilled at the site when the dump is in full operation. If a permit is granted, the facility could begin accepting waste by 1988. :::> o c:.., (). W ~