URANIUM MINE WASTE | WASTE MANAGEMENT Council Delegate Nez, who serves as the chair of the
Resources and Development Committee, called on the federal EPA to clean up uranium sites on the Navajo Nation as quickly as possible. “By working together with the Biden-Harris Administration over the last couple of years, we have built a lot of momentum on many issues including the cleanup of uranium waste. Progress is in the works and we will begin to see more mines addressed in our communities” said President Nez. Administrator Regan said that the federal EPA is creating field offices located in the capital of the Navajo Nation and Flagstaff, Arizona, dedicated to working with the Navajo Nation EPA. The EPA also reported that it is working with the US Department of Energy and the Navajo Nation to conduct assessments and are prioritising more than 300 uranium mine sites that do not yet have funding for remediation. According to a press release issued following the meeting, Administrator Regan visited an abandoned uranium mine close to occupied homes the previous year, while in April, USNRC representatives visited the Redwater Pond Road Community, to hear from local Navajo residents about the “devastating impacts caused by uranium mining”.
Two sites in the spotlight The two sites in McKinley county are among those that are on the agenda for remediation. But deciding in the next steps for the two sites has been a long process. UNC Mill Site: In 1986 the NRC reassumed regulatory authority for the UNC Mill Site and it approved a reclamation plan in 1991, after several iterations. Now surface decommissioning and reclamation of the former mill facilities and three tailings cells (South, Central, and North) and two borrow pits is complete, except for the area on the South Cell covered by two evaporation ponds. An NRC-approved groundwater corrective action plan includes a pump-and-treat groundwater extraction system and evaporation ponds for disposal of treated water. Remaining final site reclamation activities include placing a final radon barrier and erosion protection, with other groundwater corrective actions.
NECR Mine Site: While the NECR Mine Site mine operated,
it was the principal mineral source for the UNC mill. Its 83.8Ha area is mostly on Navajo Nation land or Navajo Nation Trust land and private land. The NECR Mine Site consists of two shafts, two uranium ore waste piles, several mine vent holes, and a production well 550m deep that was used to dewater the mine workings during operations. After the mine was shut down, residual materials, including low grade uranium ore, waste rock, and overburden wastes, remained at the site. UNC undertook various closure activities between 1986 and 1994, including backfilling and sealing the two mine shafts and associated vent holes and regrading, covering, and revegetation of materials storage areas. Because tailings material from the UNC Mill Site had
been previously authorised by the State of New Mexico for backfilling mine workings at the NECR Mine Site, residual tailings materials remained in stockpile areas at the mine site that also required remediation. After the NRC assumed licensing authority over the UNC mill tailings, the residual tailings at the NECR Mine Site were removed and transferred back to the UNC Mill Site tailings impoundment, and related facilities at the mine site were decommissioned in accordance with the NRC licence.
Next steps The EPA has determined that the mine waste presents a threat to public health and now the NRC has published an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) – a significant step in the process of cleaning up the sites – a process that has already lasted much longer than either site was in active use. It says it is necessary to remove the NECR mine waste to allow for remediation of the NECR Mine Site and productive uses of the land, such as grazing and farming, and cultivating traditional plants for dyes and medicinal uses. The EIA says that the ‘no-action’ option would mean restricted land use “would continue to noticeably influence the ability of the Navajo Nation to use the land”. The NRC staff conclude that under the no- action alternative, there would be a ‘large’ impact on land use as a result of uranium mining. U
Above: Rio Puerco remains contaminated after the Church Rock tailings dam spill
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