BY GAIL BINKLY

Radioactive wastes from the Shattuck Superfund site in Denver could be a boon for the Western Slope, State Rep. Kay Alexander (R-Montrose) believes, and she has introduced a bill that would make it likely the wastes would be transported to the tiny town of Uravan northwest of Nucla for permanent disposal.

HB 1366 recommends that some 100,000 cubic yards of low-level radioactive wastes from the site be disposed of at a facility in Colorado.

There are only two sites in the state licensed to handle such materials, Alexander said by phone on Wednesday: Cotter, near Cañon City, and Umetco, in Uravan.

Because the residents of Cotter don’t want the waste, Umetco would be a likely place for it, according to Alexander.

"My thoughts are, let’s keep that money in the state if a community is willing, and the community will realize some benefits from that," Alexander said.

"I can’t tell you what that dollar figure will be at this point because we don’t know what the disposal will cost."

The project will go out for bid after March 17, when the Environmental Protection Agency’s public-comment period on the removal proposal ends, she said. Preliminary estimates for hauling the materials to Umetco are around $22 million.

Of that amount, the state would normally contribute 10 percent while the EPA’s Superfund would pay for the remainder. However, the Legislature has indicated its willingness to pay any extra costs involved in disposing of the wastes within Colorado rather than at a site such as Envirocare in Utah.

However much it costs, the waste disposal is guaranteed to bring some "temporary economic activity" into the local community, Alexander said, what with trucks refueling and drivers needing lodging and food.

"The local businesses should benefit by people coming in and out of the community for about two weeks," she said.

From 1917 to 1984, the S.W. Shattuck Chemical Company in south Denver processed carnolite ores for uranium and vanadium, as well as radium slimes, tungsten ores, and molybdenum ores, according to the EPA.

Rob Henneke, EPA spokesman on Shattuck, said Wednesday that the wastes involved in the Shattuck cleanup are "very, very, very low-level" in terms of their radioactivity.

Low-level wastes are defined as those with fewer than 100 nanocuries per gram, he said, and the Shattuck wastes have fewer than 10 nCi/g.

The materials would probably be transported by rail to Grand Junction and from there by truck to Uravan, Henneke said.