by Anne Mariah Tapp, Energy Director
America’s last uranium mill claims it has a clean record when it comes to protecting groundwater underneath its toxic waste ponds, but a laundry list of citations from the Utah Department of Environmental Quality tells a different story.
In May 2016, a spokesperson for Energy Fuels, the company that owns and operates the nation’s last uranium mill in White Mesa, in southeastern Utah, told The Cortez Journal:
“We take protection of groundwater very seriously, and we have not received any violations relating to the tailing ponds or groundwater. It is extremely monitored, and if a problem was found, we would address it.”
The company seems to have forgotten a few details, so let’s refresh our memories.
According to Utah's list, between 1999 and 2013, the state cited the White Mesa Mill on 28 occasions for violating state water-quality regulations.
It’s easy to misplace things, but if anyone needs another copy of the list, it can be found conveniently online, thanks to the Utah Department of Environmental Quality, which has posted the record of violations and civil penalties for public viewing.
And you won’t need to read very far to find entries that fault the company for groundwater contamination. In fact, the very first violation on the list is for "discharging pollutants to waters of the State, causing groundwater pollution which constitutes a menace to public health and the environment and impairs beneficial uses of water, and for placing wastes in a location where there is probable cause to believe it will cause groundwater pollution."
Over the last year, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, whose White Mesa tribal community lies only a few miles from the mill, commissioned a data review and evaluation of the groundwater monitoring around the White Mesa Mill site. GeoLogic, the independent experts evaluating the data, concluded:
“[s]eepage from the tailings cells (particularly the older cells) is indicated by increased concentrations of heavy metals, reduced pH (increased acidity), and lower bicarbonate concentrations.”
In short, there is evidence that the tailings cells—huge ponds containing millions of gallons of toxic and radioactive waste—are leaking.
And regardless of whether the groundwater contamination at the mill has been caused by the tailings cells, the published record of groundwater violations stands in stark contrast to the company's recent press statements.
Learn more about groundwater concerns near the White Mesa Mill:
Time for a reality check. Read a response to some of the company’s other statements.
*This blog entry was updated on 10/5/2016.
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