EPA Halts Waste Shipment to Uranium Mill Near Bears Ears

 by Chaitna Sinha, Staff Attorney

Late last year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) halted shipments of radioactive waste from the Midnite Mine Superfund site on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Washington to the White Mesa uranium mill in southeastern Utah after finding that the mill had egregiously violated environmental laws. 

The mill sits one mile from the boundary of Bears Ears National Monument and not far from the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe’s White Mesa community. For decades, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe and environmental organizations, including the Grand Canyon Trust, have raised concerns that the mill poses a threat to human health and the environment. 

Members of the White Mesa community lead a spiritual walk to protest the White Mesa Mill in November 2021. TIM PETERSON

On December 2, 2021, the EPA validated these concerns, finding that the mill had significant amounts of radioactive wastes sitting in its waste pits that were not covered with liquid (as required by EPA rules). The EPA estimated that these uncovered wastes were emitting 10 times more radon — a cancer-causing gas — than covered material. The EPA called this violation “egregious” and deemed the mill “unacceptable for the receipt of off-site wastes” from Superfund sites, EPA’s list of contaminated places that are badly polluted and prioritized for cleanup. The agency barred the mill from accepting Superfund waste.

The EPA’s findings are particularly concerning because the mill is authorized to accept numerous radioactive wastes from sites across the United States and abroad. While this order is an important first step, it does not require the mill to address the radon emissions, or any of the other environmental issues at the facility. Finally, the order only prevents the mill from accepting waste from Superfund sites; it does not stop the mill from accepting waste from other locations.

The world’s dumping ground

How is radioactive waste from across the country ending up so close to tribal communities and a national monument? 

Starting in the 1990s, the White Mesa Mill’s owners determined they could increase profits by accepting radioactive wastes containing remnants of uranium, which the mill referred to as “alternate feeds.” The mill processed these materials, removing small amounts of uranium, and then discarded the remaining waste in massive outdoor waste pits. In at least some, if not many cases, the fees the mill charges to accept wastes for “processing” are lower than the fees waste-disposal facilities charge. This makes the mill attractive to military and industrial sites seeking to minimize waste-disposal costs. 

The mill has been authorized to process and then serve as the final disposal site for alternative feeds from Superfund sites including the Midnite Mine, and from other contaminated sites within the United States and as far away as Canada, Japan, and Estonia. As of December 2021, over 700 million pounds of waste have been shipped to the mill as alternate feeds, although the total volume of waste disposed of at the mill remains unknown.

What the EPA’s order means

In short, the order means that, to avoid turning one Superfund site into another, the mill will no longer be allowed to accept waste from Superfund sites. The EPA’s goal is to inspire the mill’s owner to comply with EPA radon-emission rules, but the order itself does not require the mill to address the radon emissions, or any of the other environmental issues at the facility. Nor does it prevent the mill from continuing to accept radioactive materials. 

The EPA’s order prevents the mill from accepting waste from Superfund sites such as the Midnite Mine, but the mill can continue to accept alternate feeds from other contaminated sites, including foreign sites.

What next?

It’s good news that the EPA has directed the mill to stop accepting additional waste from Superfund sites, but the work isn’t done. The EPA, and the state of Utah, need to use their regulatory authority to ensure the mill protects human health and the environment from other problems, like groundwater contamination and radon emissions. Regulators should also be looking at whether the mill is safe for any additional type of radioactive waste, not just waste from Superfund sites.

Finally, the concerns of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe and its members are valid. Regulators must address the tribe’s concerns. Please send a note to the EPA’s Region 8 office at r8eisc@epa.gov thanking them for their action on the White Mesa Mill and asking them to continue to take further action at the mill to protect human health and the environment.

Please also send a note to the Utah Radiation Control Board at wmrcboard@utah.gov and let regulators know that you want them to ensure that operations at the mill are safe for human health and the environment, and that the EPA’s findings merit a new evaluation of the overall safety of the mill.