Geological Survey says ammonia from uranium tailings endangers fish

Tuesday, April 4, 2000 | 10:52 a.m.

SALT LAKE CITY - As legislation to deal with uranium tailings adjacent to the Colorado River was being readied for introduction in Congress, the U.S. Geological Survey issued a report indicating ammonia from the tailings is potentially lethal to fish.

The 10.5 million ton pile of uranium tailings sits 750 feet from the Colorado River outside Moab in southeastern Utah. The last owner was the now-bankrupt Denver-based Atlas Corp., which posted a $6.5 million cleanup bond, a small fraction of the expected cost.

Officials of various government agencies and environmentalists have debated for years whether the tailings pile should be capped to halt the leaching of toxic and radioactive minerals into the groundwater or the tailings should be moved and who should pay the costs.

Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, has been preparing legislation, which could be introduced as early as today, to shift the cleanup responsibility from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to the Department of Energy. The legislation also would provide money for moving the tailings, which is expected to cost more than $300 million.

Some of the money is to come from a deal announced in January in which 80,000 acres of oil- and gas-rich land would be returned to the Ute Indian Tribe. The Utes agreed to return a portion of the royalties to help pay for the tailings cleanup.

Environmentalists have contended that contaminants from the tailings could threaten three species of endangered fish: the southwestern willow flycatcher, the razorback sucker and the Colorado squawfish.

A report by the U.S. Geological Survey was released Monday which summarized its research since 1998 on the tailings risk. The studies are continuing.

It said ammonia levels have been routinely measured in surface water exceeding 20 milligrams per liter and some samples have been as high as 1,500 milligrams per liter.

James F. Richfield, research ecologist for the Geological Survey, said tests in the laboratory and onsite tests show the levels are high enough to kill the fish. The onsite tests involved putting caged fish in contaminated backwaters. In some cases, minnows died within an hour.