The White Mesa uranium mill, located just a mile from Bears Ears National Monument, now houses more than 700 million pounds of toxic waste — making the Utah desert site “America’s cheapest radioactive waste dump,” a new report has found.
Among the contents of the dump are remnants of the World War II-era Manhattan Project, as well as radioactive waste from around the country, according to the report, which was published on Monday by the Grand Canyon Trust. While the White Mesa Mill was built to process uranium ore, the site eventually became home to a waste-disposal service, despite its proximity to the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe’s White Mesa Community...