Solar panels OK at uranium waste site: There is not much else that would be compatible with the site,

Comment:  So the uranium mill has ruin this area except to to place solar panels on the land, look at this comment:  "There is not much else that would be compatible with the site, Shaw said!"
Maybe the VA leaders should visit this place instead of being bribe by the French uranium group with their fairy tells that uranium mining and milling is great as cotton candy!  Demand the leaders of VA to keep The Ban on uranium mining! 

Feds say Bodo Canyon project viable
By Dale Rodebaugh Herald Staff Writer
Article Last Updated: Friday, June 24, 2011 8:25pm

A U.S. Department of Energy study finds there would be no significant environmental impact from installing photovoltaic collectors where 2.5 million cubic yards of radioactive mill tailings are buried in Bodo Canyon.

The department issued its decision– a final environmental assessment – Friday.

Maximum development of a solar-energy system would encompass 21 acres of a site southwest of Durango where waste from a mill that processed uranium in Durango is buried.

The mill operated for all but three years from 1942 to 1963.

A photovoltaic solar-energy system would generate 4.5 megawatts or more of electrical power, the agency said.

A 4.5-megawatt system would supply power for about 300 average homes.

Mark Schwantes, manager of corporate services at La Plata Electric Association, said in a statement:

“We have been following the effort since its inception and are in support of a community solar garden at the old tailings site.

“We have heard of interest from local solar installers and entrepreneurs who might take the lead on the project,” Schwantes said.

There is not much else that would be compatible with the site, Shaw said.

The Bodo Canyon site is located 3.5 miles southwest of Durango. It covers 120 acres, 42 acres of which constitute the burial cell.

The burial cell is 2,400 feet long and 1,300 feet wide. It’s covered with 7 feet of layered protective materials, including a radon membrane, a sand-filter drain, clay mat, rocks to protect against the invasion of vegetation and a rock/soil cap.

Construction was completed in 1991.

The Department of Energy intends to award a 20-year lease with one five-year option to a qualified lessee, the agency statement said.

daler@durangoherald.com
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http://durangoherald.com/article/20110625/NEWS01/706259958/-1/s