Fwd: [bangla-vision] Cleanup planned for uranium sites on Indian land

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From: Romi Elnagar <bluesapphire48@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, Sep 14, 2010 at 9:00 PM
Subject: [bangla-vision] Cleanup planned for uranium sites on Indian land
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Cleanup planned for uranium sites on Indian land 9 comments by Shaun McKinnon - Sept. 14, 2010 12:00 AM The Arizona Republic A mining company and a federal agency agreed Monday to spend about $2.5 million on efforts to clean up two uranium-contaminated sites on the Navajo and Hopi reservations, where tribal leaders have pressed the government for years to take action. The projects at both locations represent incremental progress in a decades-long attempt to repair the environmental damage left by more than 500 Cold War-era uranium mines, most long since abandoned, across Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. The old operations, with their history of pollution-sickened residents, have become a rallying point for tribes and environmental groups opposed to new uranium mines near the Grand Canyon. Tribal officials welcomed the planned cleanup work Monday but referred to the agreements as "first steps." At the first site, near Gallup, N.M., Canadian mine operator Rio Algom Mining will build fences to keep people and animals away from uranium waste and pave a road to reduce the contaminated dust tracked away from the old mine site. Work at the second site, a landfill at Tuba City, won't initially result in any on-the-ground cleanup, but it will produce by 2012 an analysis of how much uranium from mining operations has seeped into the water and ground, as well as a plan to remove the soil and other waste that pose the most serious threats to people in the area. Uranium-tainted materials from a nearby uranium mill may have been disposed of at the landfill, but the EPA says no solid waste has been found. The EPA agreed in 2008 to work with four other agencies - the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Department of Energy, Indian Health Service and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission - on a five-year plan to assess the contamination and develop cleanup plans, starting with the areas most at risk. Monday's agreements were part of that plan. "Uranium mining has left a toxic legacy, and we are working as partners with the Navajo Nation, the Hopi Tribe and other federal agencies to clean up contaminated homes, mines and water supplies," said Jared Blumenfeld, administrator for the EPA's Pacific Southwest Region. Navajo and Hopi officials have pushed the federal government to begin aggressive cleanup efforts and have voiced frustration at a string of studies and assessments. Although the Tuba City project includes another study, EPA officials say it will lead to the promised site cleanup. Navajo officials were measured in their response Monday. In a statement, Stephen Etsitty, director of the Navajo Nation EPA, said the tribe appreciates the U.S. EPA's actions. He called the work at Gallup "a good first step in making Rio Algom accept responsibility for its past mining practices." Rio Algom, a subsidiary of BHP Billiton, agreed to spend about $1 million at the Quivira Mine site outside Gallup. In addition to paving roads and limiting access to old mine operations, the company will also assess what needs to be done to clean up the mine itself. The Quivira Mine is near a larger operation known as the Northeast Church Rock Mine, which produced uranium from 1967 to 1982. That site is among the top priorities in the five-year regional cleanup plan. The Tuba City landfill, which sits on about 30 acres along U.S. 160, was a mostly unregulated dumping area for many years. It was used primarily by local residents and businesses. Uranium has been found in shallow groundwater at the site, which is within 2 miles of wells and springs that supply drinking water for nearby communities. The BIA will focus on the landfill under the settlement announced Monday, said Clancy Tenley, assistant director for EPA Superfund projects in the Pacific Southwest Region. The BIA closed the landfill in 1998 and has spent about $4.5 million since then to evaluate environmental conditions and try to address risks by building fences and stabilizing contaminated soil. The site study and cleanup plan will cost about $1.5 million. The Energy Department is working on cleanup work at an old uranium mill site northeast of the landfill. One of the DOE's goals is to figure out if the mill is the source of the uranium contamination at the landfill. As part of the five-year cleanup plan, the EPA and the other agencies have evaluated about 200 abandoned mines, sampled about 235 water sources, replaced 14 homes and funded clean-water delivery systems that will serve about 3,000 people. Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2010/09/14/20100914arizona-indian-reservations-uranium-clean-up.html#ixzz0zWAeNIoU

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Palash Biswas
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