http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rocky_Flats_NWR.JPG

The Board of Directors of PLAN-Boulder County adopted the following position statement about the Jefferson Parkway:

PLAN-Boulder County opposes the creation of the Jefferson Parkway and will continue to do so. Among our concerns about this project are its potential impacts on the health and safety of residents and workers downwind from the existing plutonium contamination in the Rocky Mountain Wildlife Refuge and on the health and safety of construction workers who may build the section of the Parkway proposed to be located in the Refuge.

Nevertheless, PLAN-Boulder County supports the withdrawal of opposition to the Jefferson Parkway in its currently proposed configuration by the City of Boulder and County of Boulder in exchange for $5 million from Jefferson County to be used to buy Section 16 (along with contributions of $2 million each from the City and Boulder County), subject to the following additional conditions:

1. The mineral rights to Section 16 must be purchased at or near the same time as the surface rights are purchased.
2. A binding Intergovernmental Agreement must be entered into by the City and Jefferson County and Boulder County under which the surface and mineral rights to Section 16 will be purchased and then forthwith transferred to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service in perpetuity for a wildlife refuge so that no liability for environmental contamination of Section 16 will be incurred by the City or Boulder County. The preservation of Section 16 as a wildlife refuge will complement and enhance the City’s investment in the adjoining Jewel Mountain open space and enable the migration of wildlife between the two properties.
3. An Environmental Impact Study following techniques and standards approved by  the United States Environmental Protection Agency must be conducted along the entire proposed route of the Jefferson Parkway and plutonium contamination that would otherwise occur as a result of the construction of the Parkway be fully remediated.
4. Jefferson County, Boulder County and the City must agree not to permit, when it is within their powers to permit, and to oppose in good faith, when they lack the powers to permit, any restrictions on improvements for safety, transit capacity or maintenance on Highway 93 and other state highways as a result of the creation of Jefferson Parkway.

Rate this article: (No Ratings Yet)

Loading...