A hot issue in Colorado has just gotten even hotter.

It's about the U.S. Army's Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site in southeast Colorado, still ablaze from a fire that has ravaged thousands of acres of land used for military training and threatening neighboring ranches beyond. As the flames begin to be doused, new issues now arise from the embers: evidence suggesting that the military site is contaminated with radioactive and other toxic metals.

Earlier this week, Colorado State Representative Wes McKinley (D-Walsh) held a news conference at the state capitol, calling on the Army to answer some hot questions. Among them, what might have actually caused the fire itself given conflicting accounts, and the Army's poor handling of it, even refusing help offered to contain the blaze in its early stages before it jumped the Purgatoire River and burned neighboring ranchers' land. The now-scorched earth is within a huge chunk of Colorado the Army is now seeking to grab, sparking a hotly contested battle with private landowners and the state's legislature as the Pentagon seeks to further militarize the State of Colorado.

But the hottest issue now being brought to the front burner are questions over what might have been dispersed further into the winds that could pose still further risks to surrounding residents, as well as soldiers training on the grounds.

Rep. McKinley this week disclosed results of an independent environmental investigation of Army lands at Pinon Canyon that he and a few other ranchers from the region began last year during a legislative tour of the area. With the Army's permission, the group collected samples of soil, plants and water for independent laboratory analysis.

The findings revealed that at each locale sampled throughout the military grounds, high levels of uranium - a long-lived radioactive element - were found in the surface soil, along with several other toxic metals.

The Nuclear Nexus Project of the Rocky Mountain Peace & Justice Center was asked by Rep. McKinley to review the independent laboratory's findings and compare them to levels elsewhere. RMPJC researched uranium levels considered naturally occurring around the world, and compared the Pinon Canyon findings to another radioactive site in Colorado where uranium in surface soils is considered a public health and environmental threat.

According to the independent lab analyses, the surface soils collected and analyzed for uranium ranged from a low of 47 to a high of 61 mg/kg, and all samples also had significant levels of other toxic metals, including cadmium, chromium and lead.

In searching for comparisons for uranium contamination in Colorado, RMPJC found that the Colorado Department of Health and Environment had required excavation and consolidation of radioactive, uranium-contaminated soils considered an environmental and public health threat at the Cotter Corporation's uranium milling site in Canon City -- an EPA-designated Superfund site -- at levels half that found at the Army's Pinon Canyon site. Further, RMPJC found that the soil uranium levels were many times those considered to be within the range for naturally occurring uranium for Colorado or worldwide, as measured at locales around the globe.

Asked at the Capitol news conference why he felt sampling the area for radioactive elements was necessary, Rep. McKinley reiterated his history as a foreman of the Rocky Flats Grand Jury, and anecdotal reports of southeast Colorado citizens and others going back decades reporting that trucks from Rocky Flats dumped hazardous wastes in Pinon Canyon.

The Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center has further raised questions as to whether radioactive weaponry may have been tested at the Pinon Canyon site during training activities. The Army has denied use of any uranium-based weapons at Pinon Canyon, but its credibility is considered slim to none on such claims. Last year, the Army was caught lying to Hawaii citizens in its years of denial about use of DU-based weaponry at firing ranges on the islands after high radiation levels measured by an independent citizens' investigation were widely reported and prompted public outcry.

RMPJC echoes the concerns Representative McKinley has raised about hazards at the Army's Pinon Canyon site and supports calls for a comprehensive environmental investigation of the region for the range of radioactive and toxic compounds often found at such military ranges. In 2007 the RMPJC notified the CDPHE of our concerns about potential toxic and radioactive hazards at the Pinon Canyon, for the protection of troops training there, as well as neighboring residents and livestock that might be at risk from the Army's activities there.

Yes, we are against this war. It's immoral and illegal. But we are also against Army's misuse of our lands and threatening our own citizens' health and safety here at home. We also support those who have called for a halt to any proposed expansion of the Army's lands in southeast Colorado.

After all, it's already hot enough down there as it is.

Adrienne Anderson is Coordinator of the Nuclear Nexus Project of the Rocky Mountain Peace & Justice Center. For over a decade, she served on the CU Faculty, teaching courses for the Environmental Studies and Ethnic Studies programs in environmental justice and military toxic hazards. "Peace Train" runs in the Daily every Friday. The views expressed in the column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Colorado Daily management or staff.