URANIUM GROUNDWATER POLLUTION CONTINUES
Even after uranium tailings have been removed from several closed uranium mills throughout the West, groundwater contamination continues as the plume below these sites expands. One such site is just south of Gunnison, Colorado. The Department of Energy moved the tailings to a lined burial site several miles from town and the State paid the county to replace all groundwater wells in the area with a surface water supply. This was Phase I of the cleanup. Phase II of the cleanup involves remediation of the groundwater contamination. Department of Energy is proposing “natural attenuation.” Besides uranium contamination, sulfates and nitrates from the refining process are a contaminant concern. An EIS on alternatives is due out soon.
