A lively public hearing about a license renewal for the controversial White Mesa uranium mill drew supporters and detractors June 15 on the University of Utah campus.
Thirty-three speakers from a crowd of 90 debated the benefits of the mill, such as jobs and tax revenues, versus the environmental risks of having permanent radioactive waste stored so close to towns and underground water sources.
The mill is owned by Energy Fuels of Canada and is the only conventional operating uranium mill in the U.S. providing fuel for nuclear power plants. It’s located on U.S. Highway 191 between Blanding and White Mesa, a satellite reservation town of the Ute Mountain Ute tribe.
Energy Fuels seeks to renew its groundwater-discharge permit and radioactive materials license issued by the Waste Management and Radiation Control Division of the Utah Department of Environmental Quality.
The agency is hosting public hearings and is accepting public comment on the renewal application until July 31.
Blanding residents and public officials were very supportive of the mill and were confident that stringent regulations were keeping the community safe.
“The mill operates in a proper manner and provides fuel for U.S. power plants,” said Bruce Adams, a San Juan County commissioner. “It also makes sense to clean up uranium sites on the Navajo Nation by bringing the tailings to the mill so they can be processed in careful, proper way.”
San Juan County Commissioner Phil Lyman praised the mill and the nuclear power industry.
“Uranium is natural and a tremendous benefit to mankind and the nation,” he said. “The ingenuity and technology to convert it into power is beautiful and holds the key to a peaceful and clean world.”
Ron Nelson, associate superintendent of the San Juan School District, said the district relies on the mill’s hefty property tax contributions of $200,000 to $400,000 per year.
“It’s a tremendous benefit for our 12 schools,” he said. “With it, we were able to finance a preschool in the White Mesa (reservation) community.”
But residents of Bluff and White Mesa, along with Ute Mountain tribe officials, were critical of the mill and the license renewal, citing radioactive threats to groundwater and air, and the risk of accidents transporting wastes to the mill.
“We are downwind and downstream of the mill,” said Thelma Whiskers, a Ute from White Mesa. “When the wind blows, we can smell the smoke from that. Our children and grandchildren playing outside breathe in the smoke and dust. Close it down or move it somewhere else.”
Scott Clow, environmental director for the Ute Mountain Ute tribe, urged more groundwater monitoring wells near the White Mesa community, stricter testing standards, a larger reclamation bond and more radon monitoring to ensure public safety.
The current mill reclamation bond is $23 million, but Clow said their comprehensive studies show cleanup costs could be between $30 million and $130 million.
“It’s underfunded. The tribe is concerned that radioactive, toxic waste will be stored near the White Mesa community forever,” he said. “It is imperative that reclamation is technically sound and timely if Energy Fuels decides to close the mill.”
Clow said Utah methodology for testing for contaminates in monitoring wells is outdated, and are therefore not effective. He said older waste-storage cells are not designed to handle alternate-feed materials being delivered from other radioactive cleanup sites in the country.
“On the mill property there are two contaminate plumes currently being remediated, and there are statistically significant trends in the well-monitoring network of continuing groundwater-quality degradation,” Clow said.
Tribal attorney Peter Ortego warned about the promise of jobs and money, saying that one day it will dry up, and the waste left over is “there in perpetuity.”
“Health and the environment, social justice are the most important. When there is bankruptcy, or the mill is shut down, who will pay to clean it up? We will be stuck with this, just as the Navajos were stuck with abandoned uranium mines.”
jmimiaga@the-journal.com
To comment
Written comments on the White Mesa license renewal will be accepted through July 31. Comments can be mailed to P.O. Box 144880, Salt Lake City, UT 84114-4850 or emailed to dwmrcpublic@utah.gov, with Public Comment on White Mesa RML Renewal as the subject line. Documents related to the White Mesa Uranium Mill license and permit renewals are available on the Utah Department of Environmental Quality website:
deq.utah.gov/NewsNotices/notices/waste/index.htm#efr
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