Grand Canyon Trust has filed a 60-day notice of intent to sue Energy Fuels Resources for violations of the Clean Air Act and illegal tailing storage practices at its White Mesa uranium mill in southeast Utah.
The Jan. 29 notice claims ongoing violations of radon emissions from tailing piles at the mill that exceed Clean Air Act standards. It also blames the mill and Utah regulatory agencies for the operation of tailing impoundments that are out of compliance for the number allowed and size under federal environmental laws.
“Our position is simple: Radiological pollution is dangerous, and uranium milling must comply with laws lessening that danger,” said Anne Mariah Tapp, an attorney for Grand Canyon Trust.
Under the Clean Air Act’s National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Pollutants, “Radon-222 emissions to the ambient air from an existing uranium mill tailings pile shall not exceed 20 (picocuries).”
According to Grand Canyon Trust, the White Mesa mill exceeded the allowable radon emission at impoundment cell 2 based on monthly reports filed with the Utah Department of Environmental Quality Division of Radiation Control.
Citing poor market conditions, Energy Fuels announced in December it planned to close the White Mesa mill in 2014 and potentially reopen it in 2015.
Energy Fuels spokesman Curtis Moore, responding to Grand Canyon Trust’s legal actions from Denver, said the company disagrees with the claims and that matters are being resolved.
“The issues raised by this group are either inaccurate, have been addressed, or are being addressed as part of the normal regulatory processes,” Moore said. “Energy Fuels and the regulators are well aware of these matters, none of which has resulted in a violation.”
Grand Canyon Trust claims Energy Fuel’s own report shows average radon emissions from cell 2 in 2012 were above standards set in the Clean Air Act.
As a result of the 2012 emissions readings, Energy Fuels commenced monthly monitoring in April 2013. Averaging the results from April to December 2013, the average radon levels from cell 2 were reported at 20.42, which also exceeded the standard.
The White Mesa Mill is the only conventional uranium mill operating in the U.S. The mill, in San Juan County, Utah, is within 10 miles Blanding, population 3,000, and White Mesa, a satellite reservation community of the Ute Mountain Ute tribe numbering 300 residents.
The mill processes uranium ore into yellowcake, which is shipped to processing plants and made into fuel rods for nuclear power plants. For every pound of yellowcake produced, about 1 ton of still-radioactive processing wastes is left at the mill stored in tailings cells, called impoundments.
These disposal pits for radioactive wastes are the most significant source of Radon-222, according to legal documents filed by Grand Canyon Trust.
