Above: The Navajo Nation has many uranium mining sites that are not funded for cleanup.

The US NRC has assessed that moving waste from a New Mexico mine site to a neighboring mine site is beneficial for communities wishing to remove waste outside of the state. This site is just one of hundreds of sites that influence members of his Navajo Nation.

Northeast Church Rock (NECR) is a former uranium mine in McKinley County, New Mexico, USA, operated by United Nuclear Corporation (UNC) from 1967 to 1982. , from 1977 to 1982 under a license issued by the State of New Mexico.

Uranium from the NECR mine site and other local mines was processed at the plant facility and the residue (“tailings”) was placed in a reservoir (also known as a tailings dam).

Work at these two sites will have a direct impact on the local population. The three small communities of Red Water Pond Road, Pipeline Road and Pinedale are all within a kilometer or two of the site or in between.

These sites are just two of hundreds in the region, but they illustrate the complexity of coping with environmental degradation in procuring the fuel needed for the nuclear industry in the last century. . Most importantly, on July 16, 1979, the UNC mill site and The neighboring countries were hit by the largest radiation accident in US history. Sand drift below. After a tailings spill and related corrective actions at the NECR, UNC resumed uranium refining operations and eventually approximately 3.2Mt of tailings were retained in the tailings pool at his UNC plant site.

The US NRC is currently proposing a $42 million project to move pollutants from the mines to long-term storage at milling facilities. It says the project will free up land for locals and reduce the potential for pollution to spread, with many local Navajo people using trucks for about four years rather than moving their waste short distances. Displacement and confusion with other locals – they want the waste to be completely cleared from the area.

unwanted legacy

Between 1944 and 1986, 524 abandoned uranium mining sites were constructed on the lands that make up the Navajo Nation, often in areas of social and religious significance to the people living in the region. , is known to have been operated. During that time, he extracted more than 30 million tons of uranium from mining sites on Navajo land, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The Navajo Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) believes there is more potential.

Navajo representatives during meetings with Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez and City Councilman Ricky Nez, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Commissioner Michael S. Regan, and Deputy Commissioner Janet McCabe in September 2022 asked for faster work on improvements. They said only 219 mines had funds available for cleanup and remediation efforts, leaving a total of 305 mine sites unresolved.

The Nezu Council Representative, who chairs the Resource Development Commission, called on the Federal EPA to clean up the Navajo Nation’s uranium sites as quickly as possible. “Over the last few years, working with the Biden-Harris administration has built a lot of momentum on many issues, including the cleanup of uranium waste. of landmines will be dealt with,” said President Nez.

Administrator Regan said the Federal EPA has field offices in the Navajo Nation’s capital and in Flagstaff, Arizona, dedicated to working with the Navajo Nation EPA. The EPA also reported that it was working with the U.S. Department of Energy and the Navajo Nation to conduct an assessment, prioritizing the more than 300 uranium mining sites he has not yet funded for remediation.

According to a press release issued after the meeting, Director Reagan visited an abandoned uranium mine near a home that had been occupied the previous year, and USNRC representatives visited the Redwater Pond Road community in April, Local Navajo residents “heard about the devastating effects caused by uranium mining.”

Two sites in the spotlight

Two sites in McKinley County are among the sites on the restoration agenda. But deciding on the next steps for the two sites was a long process.

UNC Mill Site: In 1986, the NRC again assumed the role of regulator for the UNC Mill Site and, after several iterations, approved the reclamation plan in 1991. Surface decommissioning and reclamation of the former mill facility and three tailings cells (south, center, north) and two borbs are now underway, except for the area of ​​the south cell, which is covered by two evaporation ponds. Done. The NRC-approved groundwater corrective action plan includes a pump and treatment groundwater extraction system and evaporation ponds for disposal of treated water. Remaining final site reclamation activities include installation of final radon barriers and erosion protection, and other groundwater remedial actions.

NECR Mine Site: While the NECR Mine Site mine was in operation, it was the primary mineral source for the UNC plant. Its 83.8 hectares are mostly on Navajo Nation land or Navajo Nation Trust land and private property. The NECR mine site consists of two shafts, two uranium ore waste piles, multiple mine vent holes, and a 550 m deep production well that was used to dewater mine operations during operations. increase. After the mine was closed, residues such as low-grade uranium ore, waste rock, and overburden waste remained at the site. Between 1986 and 1994, UNC undertook a variety of closure activities, including backfilling and sealing the two shafts and their associated vents, reclaiming the stockyard, covering, and revegetation.

Tailings material from the UNC mill site had previously been allowed by the State of New Mexico to backfill mining operations at the NECR mine site, so residual tailings material remained in the mine site’s stockpile area, which also required remediation. was. After the NRC took over his UNC Mill Tailings licensing authority, the residual tailings at the NECR Mine Site were removed and returned to the UNC Mill Site Tailings Storage, and the associated facilities at the Mine Site were decommissioned pursuant to his NRC license. it was done.

next step

The EPA has determined that mine waste poses a public health threat, and the NRC has issued an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). The site was in active use. It said the NECR mine waste should be removed in order to rehabilitate the NECR mine site and enable the productive use of the land for grazing, agriculture, and the cultivation of traditional plants for dyes and medicinal purposes. The EIA said the “do nothing” option would imply land-use restrictions that would “continue to have a noticeable impact on the Navajo’s ability to use the land.” NRC staff have concluded that under the no-action alternative, uranium mining will result in a “significant” impact on land use.

Different parts of the two covered sites are licensed by different agencies. For example, the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) has licensed tailings storage at his UNC mill site, but not the rest of the site.
An interim EPA cleanup has removed more than 200,000 tons of pollutants from residential areas, addressing immediate exposure concerns. In 2005, at the request of the Navajo Nationwide Environmental Protection Agency (NNEPA), the EPA agreed to administer mine cleanup and act as the primary regulatory agency for the NECR mine site.

In a next step, UNC would like to transfer approximately 765,000 m3 of waste from the NECR mines to be stored above the tailings storage facility at the UNC plant site.

Primary Threat Waste (PTW) is not moved. PTW is defined by the EPA as raw materials that are considered highly toxic or highly mobile. EPA defines a site’s PTW as a material containing 7.40 Bq/g or more of Ra-226 and/or 500 (mg/kg). [500 ppm] Total uranium above. The material cannot be sent to a landfill above the UNC Tailing Reservoir. Instead, UNC’s proposal is to transport PTW to the White Messau Uranium Plant in Blanding, Utah, but UNC does not plan to finalize disposal arrangements until current work is completed.

suggestion

The UNC Tailings Reservoir is an engineered and covered reservoir located at the UNC Mill that was designed and constructed to isolate tailings from the environment, control radiation hazards, and meet NRC standards to limit radon emissions for up to 1,000 years. It’s a reservoir. Ultimately, the NRC hopes that the tailings pool will be transferred to government custody for long-term monitoring.

Since both originate from the same uranium ore source, the mine waste has radiological properties comparable to tailings at the UNC mill site. NECR mine waste with Ra-226 concentrations greater than 200 pCi/g is considered PTW and is not sent to UNC plant sites.

UNC is proposing to transport NECR’s mine waste to the proposed disposal site using articulated dump trucks on the access road and haul road connecting the two sites. One alternative is to use an elevated conveyor system that moves most of the waste at an additional cost of $1 million. In this case, about 5% of NECR’s mining waste will have to be moved by truck (slightly more impactful than the main proposal, as specially constructed haul roads and access roads cannot be used). However, most of NECR’s mining waste is transported above ground to avoid crossing Mexico’s Highway 566, mitigating potential transportation-related impacts. UNC estimates that this alternative would impose 0.8 hectares less obstacles than the proposed transit and access roads, but construction of the conveyor and bridge over the highway would require shipments and temporary lane closures and road closures. It entails transportation interruptions.

Another alternative is to source cover material from other regions. The valuation says this will save $3 million in costs.

UNC is proposing to install permanent stormwater controls at the proposed disposal site, using existing wetlands and channels built into the tailings reservoir, with retrofits and supplemental controls as needed. increase.

The proposed project phase will last approximately four years, including the construction and transfer of NECR mine waste and the closure of the constructed repository. Other activities, such as the reclamation of the UNC factory site, groundwater remediation and the completion of the NECR mine site, may require another decade.

The long-term (post-closure) timeframe includes the long-term sequestration of tailings and waste, and the impact of land use restrictions, and the factory tailings disposal facility “provides reasonable assurance of control of radiation hazards.” It must be designed to provide… valid for 1,000 years to the extent reasonably achievable, and in any case valid for at least 200 years.”

In the EIA, the NRC stated, “The Navajo Nation government and members of the local Navajo community are opposed to the proposed action of moving the mine waste to an existing UNC factory site for disposal, and are moving the waste away from the Navajo Nation.” I would like to move to a remote location.” ”. Also, “Navajo Nation communities are closer to the proposed project area than any other community and are disproportionately affected by transportation-related impacts, air quality impacts, increased noise levels, and visual impairment.” I am also aware that I am deaf. Mitigation measures included an EPA program to provide voluntary alternative housing for members of the community and mitigation measures proposed by his UNC during action.

Overall, however, the NRC concluded that the program was beneficial. Removal of mine waste from the former NECR mine site and integration of the mine feedstock into existing mill tailings on private property will minimize the footprint of the waste disposal facility and beneficial reuse of the NECR mine site. becomes possible.