Region 8
Superfund Program
National Information
Regional Information
Site Information
National Priorities List (NPL) History
Proposed Date
9/8/1983
Final Date
9/21/1984
Lincoln Park
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Site Type: Final NPL Current Colorado Radiation Control License City: Cañon City County: Fremont Street Address: 0502 Fremont County Road 68 ZIP Code: 81212 EPA ID: COD042167858 Site ID: 0800115 Site Aliases: Uranium Mill Congressional District: 5 |
Site Status & Updates
- Water use survey underway.
- Five-year review update, May 2008.
- State groundwater standards established for uranium and molybdenum, 30 μg/l and 35 μg/l respectively, effective May 2008.
- Old Ponds Area reclamation progressing under State license.
- Groundwater assessment of the Shadow Hills Golf Course area in progress.
- First Five-Year Review Report for OU2, September 2007.
Site Description
The Lincoln Park site is a uranium ore processing mill on 2,600 acres, with a current license to operate issued by the Colorado Radiation Control Program. The facility is not currently processing ore. Releases to the environment were found to affect surface soils and groundwater in neighboring Lincoln Park. The site was added to the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL) in 1984. The listing includes the Cotter Mill and areas where contaminants have come to be located.
In 1988, the State of Colorado settled a lawsuit for natural-resource damages with Cotter Corporation. As part of the settlement, the State and Cotter agreed on how the site would be cleaned up further at Cotter's expense. EPA and the State signed a Memorandum of Understanding giving the State the lead role in overseeing the cleanup of the site.
Lincoln Park is a semi-rural community, two miles south of Cañon City, about 1.5 miles from the Cotter uranium mill. Many of the residents have gardens and orchards. Some raise livestock. The mill is in the Sand Creek drainage, which flows through Lincoln Park to the Arkansas River.
Cotter disposed of tailings and other wastes from uranium processing into unlined ponds before 1980, following the custom of the times. Contaminants leached into groundwater, then migrated to Lincoln Park, affecting local wells. Few residents use groundwater for domestic purposes. Most are connected to the Cañon City water supply. Some individuals in Lincoln Park still use groundwater to irrigate lawns and gardens.
The contaminants of concern at the site are molybdenum, uranium and uranium daughter products. Repeated exposure to molybdenum can cause increased uric acid accompanied by gout-like symptoms.
In cud-chewing animals eating feed low in copper, molybdenum poisoning can be severe. Uranium is a radioactive metal. It occurs naturally in most rocks and soil. In its natural state, it has low levels of radioactivity. If swallowed, it can be toxic to the kidneys. Uranium breaks down or "decays" very slowly. It decays to radium through a series of chemical and radiological changes. Radium, radon gas, and polonium are among the daughter products of uranium. Selenium and sulfate are also included in the contaminants of potential concern.
Site Risk
In 1958, the Cotter Corporation began milling uranium ore outside Cañon City, Colorado. Mill operations released radionuclides (radioactive particles) and metals into the environment, causing soil contamination around the mill itself, as well as groundwater contamination in the nearby community of Lincoln Park.
Cotter has been cleaning up the contamination, under a radioactive-materials license and a court settlement with the State of Colorado, as well as with EPA oversight. The company resumed milling operations in May 1999.
| Media Affected | Contaminants | Source of Contamination |
| air, groundwater, surface water, soil | molybdenum, uranium, uranium daughter products | uranium milling operations |
Cleanup Progress
Cleanup takes place under the joint authorities of the Radiation Control license, the court-ordered settlement of a Natural Resource Damage Suit, and the Superfund NPL program. Cleanup plans for both on-site, i.e. Operable Unit 1 (OU1), and off-site, i.e. OU2, areas are documented in the Remedial Action Plan (RAP). The RAP requires Cotter to perform cleanup actions in OU1 and OU2, monitor groundwater and air, and to conduct additional studies. The RAP is incorporated into the Federal Consent Decree (CD) for Civil Action No. 83-C-2389. The RAP was also incorporated into Cotter's Radioactive Materials License in 1987. Remedial action and monitoring under the RAP begin in 1988 and continues today. Cleanup takes place concurrent with ongoing license activities.
Off-site exposures are managed by the following measures:
- A water use survey to identify existing users of contaminated groundwater (late 1980s).
- Continuing review of new wells of record at the State Engineer's office, reported annually in the Cotter As Low as is Reasonably Achievable (ALARA) Report to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE).
- Provision of alternate water supply as appropriate (ongoing responsibility).
- Nine thousand cubic yards of contaminated tailings, soil and sediment were excavated from 1.25 miles of Sand Creek (Sand Creek Soil Cleanup Action) from 1993 to 1999.
The first five-year review of the site in 2007 indicated these measures are currently protective; however, ongoing protectiveness is uncertain because of the long timeframe since the last water use survey in the neighborhood and a lack of formal institutional controls on groundwater use. An updated water use survey was conducted in 2008.
Source areas have been managed by the following activities:
- A main impoundment which included a liner system was constructed in 1979.
- Two and one-half million cubic yards of tailings from unlined impoundments were excavated and disposed in the main (lined) impoundment, 1981–1983.
- Additional contaminated soil was excavated to the top of bedrock in the old, unlined impoundments and disposed in the main (lined) impoundment, 1989.
- Flushing and chemical fixation of the Old Tailings Ponds Area, 1996–1997, was found to be ineffective.
Off-site migration is mitigated by the following:
- A subsurface hydraulic barrier and groundwater collection system was installed upstream of the SCS dam. Groundwater and surface water was collected in a sump and discharged into the main (lined) impoundment (1988).
- Construction of a permeable reactive treatment wall (PRTW) at the Soil Conservation Service Dam (2000). This wall was successful for a short time, then became cemented by precipitation within the wall.
- The PRTW was retrofitted (after evidence of fouling) to allow collection of groundwater up-gradient of the PRTW with conveyance and discharge to the main (lined) impoundment (2004).
- The Wolf Park Mine Shaft, connecting to coal mine workings beneath the site area, was backfilled in 1978.
- Monitoring of groundwater, surface water, soil, vegetation and air is ongoing and reported annually in the Cotter ALARA report to CDPHE.
- Assessment of groundwater migration under the Shadow Hills Golf Course is in progress through the State Radiation License.
Other:
- The State determined wastes from the Li Tungsten Superfund Site in Maywood, New Jersey could not be processed at the site in 2002. This decision was upheld in court in late 2007. Cotter determined it would not appeal the decision.
- The Cotter lab was closed down in 2002 and reopened in 2006 after State reviews. The Quality Assurance Plan, which describes how decision-quality data will be collected produced, is being updated in 2008.
- State groundwater standards were established for uranium and molybdenum at 30 μg/l and 35 μg/l, respectively, effective May 2008.
Cleanup and monitoring under the RAP continue with State oversight. In January 2002, EPA issued a Record of Decision (ROD) for No Further Action for surface soils within Lincoln Park. This decision was made because previous surface-soil cleanup activities eliminated or reduced risks to acceptable levels. However, there has been activity involving the Cotter uranium milling facility since that time.
Community Involvement
Cañon City area residents are actively involved in the remediation of the Cotter Mill/Lincoln Park Superfund Site. Colorado Citizens Against Toxic Waste (CCAT) represents citizens in Fremont County opposed to Cotter's accepting hazardous material from remote locations. CCAT argues that the mill's license permits only the processing of uranium ore and not the general storage or direct disposal of toxic waste. In 2005, CCAT was awarded a Technical Assistance Grant (TAG) from EPA. A TAG provides funds to hire an independent technical advisor to help inform the community. The Fremont County Independent Outreach Committee (FCIOC) makes current Cotter Mill updates available and publishes frequent informational columns in the local newspaper, the Cañon City Daily Record. A Citizens Advisory Group (CAG) meets monthly in Cañon City and provides a forum for citizens to present opinions and for Cotter Mill officials and CDPHE and EPA regulatory officials to present current information. CDPHE and EPA also issue newsletters and fact sheets, and interview citizens to ensure that the concerns of the community are heard by the regulatory agencies.
Site Documents
You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view some of the files on this page. See EPA's PDF page to learn more.
Annual Update to the Five-Year Review, January 2009 (PDF, 6 pp, 51K)
OU2 First Five-Year Review Report, September 2007 (PDF, 48 pp, 1.6MB)
Residential Soils Sampling Project, Fall 2005 (PDF, 16 pp, 113K)
– Appendix A: Site Sketch Maps (PDF, 22 pp, 2MB)
– Appendix B: Sample Custody Sheets (PDF, 16 pp, 832K)
– Appendix C: Off-Site Lab Analytical Results (PDF, 13 pp, 761K)
– Appendix D: Sample Summary Results (PDF, 3 pp, 13K)
More Cotter-EPA Correspondence
OU2 Record of Decision, January 3, 2002 (PDF, 87 pp, 1MB)
Contacts
EPA
Fran Costanzi
Remedial Project Manager
U.S Environmental Protection Agency, Region 8
1595 Wynkoop Street (8EPR-SR)
Denver, CO 80202-1129
303-312-6571 or
800-227-8917 ext. 312-6571 (toll free Region 8 only)
303-312-7110 FAX
costanzi.frances@epa.gov
Jennifer Lane
Community Involvement Coordinator
U.S Environmental Protection Agency, Region 8
1595 Wynkoop Street (8OC)
Denver, CO 80202-1129
303-312-6813 or
800-227-8917 ext. 312-6813 (toll free Region 8 only)
303-312-7110 FAX
lane.jennifer@epa.gov
CDPHE
Edgar Ethington
Lincoln Park Project Manager
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
Hazardous Materials and Waste Management Division
4300 Cherry Creek Drive South
Denver, CO 80246-1530
303-692-3438
888-569-1831, ext. 3438 (toll free)
303-692-3692 FAX
edgar.ethington@state.co.us
Jeannine Natterman
State Community Involvement Coordinator
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
Hazardous Materials and Waste Management Division
4300 Cherry Creek Drive South B2
Denver, CO 80246-1530
303-692-3303
888-569-1831 ext. 3303 (toll-free)
303-759-5355 FAX
jeannine.natterman@state.co.us
View Documents at:
The Royal Gorge Regional Museum and History Center
612 Royal Gorge Boulevard
P.O. Box 1460
Cañon City, CO 81215
719-269-9036
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
HMWMD Records Center
4300 Cherry Creek Drive South
Denver, Colorado 80246-1530
303-692-3331
888-569-1831 (toll free)
303-759-5355 FAX
M–F, 8 a.m.–Noon and 1:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m.
Appointment is recommended
EPA Superfund Records Center
1595 Wynkoop Street
Denver, CO 80202-1129
303-312-6473
800-227-8917 ext. 312-6473 (toll free Region 8 only)
M-F, 8 a.m.–4:30 p.m.
Appointment is recommended
Links
Lincoln Park site at the CDPHE Hazardous Materials and Waste Management Division
Colorado Citizens Against Toxic Waste, Inc. (C.C.A.T.)
Fremont County Independent Outreach Committee - FCIOC