BOARD01465

• Board Meeting Date: 5/11/1998
• Description: CF Section - Animas-La Plata Project - Status of Land Acquisition for Pump Station
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

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Colorado Water Conservation Board
Department of Natural Resources
721 Centennial Building
1 31 3 Sherman Street
Denver, Colorado 80203
Phone: [phone]
fAX, [phone]

STATE OF COLORADO

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Roy Romer
Governor

lames s. Lochheild
Executive Director, DNR

DariesC.lile, P.E.
Director, eweB

MEMORANDUM

TO: Colorado Water Conservation Board Members

FROM: Bill Green, P.E. ~y
Project Planning and Construction

DATE: April 30, 1998

SUBJECT: Agenda Item 17, May 11-12, 1998 Board Meeting - Water Project
Construction Loan Program - Animas-La Plata Project - Status of
Land Acquisition for Pump Station

Introduction
The Board will be asked to accept a quitclaim deed from the Colorado Department of
Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) for 46 acres ofland that is proposed to be used
for the Durango Pumping Plant site of the Animas-La Plata (A-LP) Project. The Board
will also be asked to approve the subsequent conveyance of this property to the Animas-
La Plata Water Conservancy District (the District).

The property is located in the southern part of Durango on the west bank of the Animas
River near the U.S. Highway 550/160 bridge. Please see the attached map.

Background
The CDPHE obtained title to the property in 1990 through a condemnation action in the
La Plata County District Court. The property was part of a uranium mill site that was
condemned and cleaned up by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), in cooperation with
the CDPHE, under the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act (UMTRCA) of
1978. The surface cleanup was approved by DOE and the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission with the exception of a 30-foot by 30-foot "hot spot" which is not expected
to be a serious problem for surface use of the property. Some groundwater contamination
remains, which the DOE expects to be flushed naturally by groundwater movement.

DOE requires that a Restricted Use Plan be a condition of any conveyance of the
property. The Restricted Use Plan, which is contained in the quitclaim deed from the
CDPHE, limits how the property rnay be used in the future and includes the following
requirements: