Originally posted Feb 1, 2015 / The Associated Press / Website: https://archive.triblive.com/news/goats-offered-as-alternative-for-clearing-area-of-plutonium/
BOULDER, Colo. — A goat herder who has a college degree in weed sciences told federal wildlife officials that she could eliminate the need for a possible 700-acre controlled burn in the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge by turning her goats loose there and eliminate concerns over spreading radioactive plutonium.
Lani Malmberg said it’s unwise to burn land that has been exposed to the toxic metal, and she said her goats won’t suffer ill consequences.
The refuge was made in 2006 because of a nuclear weapons site’s closure, and a $7 billion cleanup was finished in 2005. Concerns that a controlled burn could put plutonium into the air prompted Boulder’s Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center and surrounding communities to take a stance against that happening.
A spokesman for the Fish and Wildlife Service eight-state Mountain-Prairie regional office in Denver said it’s the agency’s position that grazing is not an option at the Department of Energy weapons plant-turned-wildlife refuge because of a lack of fencing and staff.
Fish and Wildlife regional spokesman John Bryan said options are being considered by the service and no final decision has been made, the Boulder Daily Camera reported.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment on Jan. 20 issued a permit allowing for the burn in what is known as the South Woman Creek area at the southwestern edge of the refuge, near housing developments.
Boulder City Councilwoman Lisa Morzell said officials are concerned that the animals would have to be euthanized, and there would be protests from animal rights activists. She said those concerns are unfounded.
“Why would you have to euthanize them?” Morzell asked. “They are not used for milk or meat; they are used for grazing. And the individual that owns these goats is able to make a sufficient income that way. They are not intended for dairy or for meat.”
