For anyone unfamiliar with the regulation of uranium in the State of Colorado, the Uranium Regulation Forum in Montrose Sept. 24 was a real eye-opener. Indeed, it was like staring into a black hole. Officials from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) were on hand to present information and answer questions from those assembled. The meeting was called to update county government on the application of radioactive materials licenses. Montrose County Commissioner Gary Ellis opened the meeting, which, despite the clear presence of a quorum of county officials and appointed committee members, he clarified was not an open meeting. (One wonders if anyone in Montrose County government has actually read the Colorado Open Meeting Act.) He specified that questions would come only from the county officials, those dignitaries given tables, chairs and glass water jars. The pubic, seated on plastic chairs and clutching incomplete notes, could ask questions only if time permitted, and only then if directed to the panel of, as Ellis put it, “eminently qualified gentlemen.” The tone and tenor of this introduction seemed to anticipate some grave civil uproar. Sitting in the audience, one felt like a naughty child waiting for some punishment the grownups were busy deliberating. The watchful eye of a Law Enforcement Officer from the rear of the room surveyed those in attendance, just in case, one supposes. The panel charged ...
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