A former uranium mine and mill located near Canon City, Colorado, operated by Cotter Corporation, a subsidiary of Commonwealth Edison Company of Illinois, between 1958 and 1987, extracted uranium from ore by an alkaline leach process. The two types of waste produced by that process, tailings, dust-like particles of ore, and raffinate, a liquid recovered from the uranium extraction solutions, eventually contaminated the area, including the community of Lincoln Park, and triggered its designation as a Superfund site on the EPA's National Priority List (NPL). Subsequently, some five hundred Lincoln Park residents filed an action under the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) and Colorado law alleging Cotter's negligent operation of the mill caused damage to their health and property.
展开▼
