DOE chief to reveal plan for Utah waste

Friday, Jan. 14, 2000 | 11:14 a.m.

Energy Secretary Bill Richardson was expected today to announce details for cleaning up radioactive wastes piled near Moab, Utah, that threaten the Colorado River, which supplies drinking water to 20 million people downstream.

Richardson is expected to commit the DOE to take ownership of the 150-acre site and move its contents away from the river for permanent disposal.

To help pay for the cleanup, Richardson is proposing a land swap.

Atlas Corp. of Denver went bankrupt and left responsibility for the 10.5 million tons of waste from mining uranium during the Cold War to a court-appointed trustee, Dames & Moore.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission had approved a cap for the existing 40-foot-high tailings perched 750 feet from the river. But Nevada, California and Arizona officials have pushed for the DOE to take control of the radioactive wastes to prevent a flood from washing the piles into the river.

Once uranium contaminates a water source, there is no way to remove it, water officials said.

Under the bankruptcy agreement, costs to cap the wastes were an estimated $18 million. The NRC's approved plan estimated between $47 million and $77 million was needed to leave the radioactive piles in place under a clay cover.

Outraged environmental groups and officials in the Southwest complained that the solution would not protect the river.

Permanent disposal of the tailings could cost an estimated $150 million.

DOE scientists estimated that 57,600 gallons of radioactive pollution and toxic chemicals seep into the river from the piles daily. The DOE's Oak Ridge National Laboratory estimated that if covered, the site will continue to seep almost four gallons per minute for more than 200 years.

In 1993, 1994 and 1997, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California detected slight increases of radiation in Lake Mead, Lake Powell and Lake Havasu. The radiation levels were not a threat to human health, but the Southern Nevada Water Authority expanded its tests of water quality to check for traces of radium.

The last water authority test in October detected 4.9 picocuries per liter of radiation and further sampling showed no radium, SNWA spokesman J.C. Davis said. Although the federal trigger to launch a search for radium is 5.0 picocuries per liter, the water authority tests for radium no matter what the result is, he said.

Congress also responded. Two bills introduced in the House would shift the responsibility for the Utah tailings from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to the DOE. State representatives were quick to respond to Richardson's action.

"This is an important victory for public health and safety and the Las Vegas water supply, which was under the very real threat of uranium runoff leaking into the Colorado River," Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., said. "An ounce of contamination prevention can stop tons of toxic waste in our water supply."

The waste has already contaminated part of the river and killed off some wildlife immediately downstream.

Rep. Grace Napolitano, D-Calif., said she was pleased that Richardson recognized the dangers.