Environmental groups file multiple legal challenges
This blog post is an edited version of an article published in Fuel Cycle Week, V9:N366, March 3, 2010, by International Nuclear Associates, Washington, DC.
The Sheep Mountain Alliance (
SMA), a
Telluride, Colo., environmental group, and its legal counsel, the Energy Minerals Law Center (
EMLC), located in
Durango, Colo, have taken a two-pronged approach to try to stop the development of the
Pinion Ridge uranium mill. The 500 ton/day facility is being developed by Energy Fuels (
TSE:EFR) and will be located in
Naturita, Colo., about 50 miles northwest of Telluride.
The most significant legal action is a lawsuit filed in Montrose County District Court which alleges the County Commissioners erred by issuing a special use permit for industrial operations in an agricultural zone.
Travis Stills, attorney for the Sheep Mountain Alliance, told FCW the claim is a uranium mill is not an allowed use in an agricultural zone and that the county should have re-zone the site to industrial uses before issuing the special use permit.
Mediation may not work
For now a judge has told the county and the Sheep Mountain Alliance to develop a . ... read more >>