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" '002573 SunumlViIle Was fined $100.000 earlier this year after officials blamed a cyanide spill for killing all the aquatic life in 17 miles of the Alamosa River and the Terrace Reservoir. Source: Denver Post 11120191. 11/11191 Bill Introduced to Renew UMTRA Legislation to reauthorize the U,S, Department of Energy's UMTRA program for the cleanup of uranium mill tailings was introduced in November. Without reauthorization it will end in 1994, and projects on the waiting list will not be completed, Senator Hank Brown (R-CO) introduced the legislation. Senator Tim Wirth (D-CO) supports reauthorization but bas called for specific time limits for completing the cleanup projects. Source: Grand Junction Daily Sentinel 1119191 DOE Says Rumor of Delay Not True U.S, Department of Energy officials assured Rifle and Garfield County officials tlutt cleanup of Rifle's uranium mill tailings will start in April 1992 as planned. Assurance was sought after a re(X)rt was leaked that said the cleanup start would be delayed until 1994, Source: Grand Junction Daily Sentinel 1111191 Toxin Detected In New Locatlon at Arsenal An extremely toxic rocket-fuel agent has been detected in a groundwater test well close to the north boundM}' of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal and environmental officia!s are trying to learn more about it before it seeps into nearby residential wells. Laboratory tests by the Army show that none of the N-nitrosodium- methylamine, called NOMA, has been found in 17 test wells that monitor grOlmdwater quality in Adams COlDlty communities near the arsenal's boundary. But NDMA has now been discovered in a groundwater test well near the arsenal's north boundary. and the groundwater there flows north and northwest towards Commerce City, Adams City, Dupont and Henderson, NOMA is a chemical compound that forms as the rocket propellant hydrazine breaks down in the envirorunent, The Army blended hydrazine at the Arsenal from 1959 to 1982 and disposed of the fuel and its ingredients in the post's liquid-waste basins. It is extremely toxic but there is no indication that it is off.post, according to Connally Mears, who monitors the Arsenal for the EPA. In a separate incident, a backup protection system contained a spill. discovered November 7. of about 250 to 300 gallons of water that leaked from a tank at the Arsenal, The leak was caused by a faulty valve. but all the pollution was trapped by a special berm outside the tank before it reached any groundwater, according to the Army, The fluid was water used 20 years ago to rinse out industrial tanks in which the rocket fuel was blended, Source: Rocky Mountain News 10/5191. Denver Post 1119191 Mining Cleanup Plans Outllned The U,S, Enviromnental Protection Agency and the Colorado 21 Department of Health have outlined plans for cleaning up a 400, square-mile area contaminated by mining operations in Gilpin and Clear Creek counties, Daily discharge into Clear Creek of an estimated 1200 pounds of heavy metals from the Argo Tunnel will be handled at a water treatment plant. Dangerous levels of lead. arsenic. copper. zinc and manganese have been found in the water. Burleigh Tunnel discharges will be treated with biological instead of chemical methods, Chemicals will be filtered through manmade wetlands, No remedy is proposed for discharges from the McClelland and Rockford Tunnels. and officials will issue a waiver of water quality regulations governing the Big Five Tunnel discharge until other cleanup options are evaluated. Discharge from Quartz Hill. National Tunnels. and the Gregory Incline will be collected and piped to a site below the Black Hawk/Central City wastewater treatment plant, where the state health department will conduct routine tests of area gro\D1dwater wells. Residents whose wells are contaminated will be given an alternative source of drinking water. Owners of mine waste piles will have one year to remine or process the waste before they will be required to put in soil caps. Active mill sites will be required to have runoff barriers. Source: Denver Post 10/1191 New Groundwater Standards Approved The Colorado Water Quality Control Commission has approved groundwater standards for South Platte River aquifers that should limit further contamination. The standards, effective October 30, will not allow groundwater quality along the river and in four other state aquifers to deteriorate further nnless it is better than the drinking-water standard. Groundwater better than the current standard may not fall below the standard. Source: Denver Post 9/15191 Gas Company Sued Over leaking Tanks The city of Brighton has filed a lawsuit against Petroleum Wholesale of Texas Inc, to stop the underground migration of gasoline from a service station owned by the fIrm onto adjacent property owned by the city, Geotechnical and hydrological consultants detennined that the petroleum in the soil was migrating toward two wells that are part of Brighton.s water supply, but the wells had not been contaminated yet. Brighton changed its construction process on the site to handle the problem. An "historic survey" conducted around the service station determined that the contamination could not have come from a source other than the station. The city has not been able to get assistance from the company to remedy the problem and has not been able to investigate the station's underground storage tanks to determine definitively that they are the source, Source: Denver Post 1119191 Battery Acid SpUl Contained Cleanup crews worked to prevent hazardous chemicals from contaminating Gore Creek near Vail after a truck carrying electrical storage batteries overturned on Interstate 70 September 29, The